07 corrupt file; delete when compacting

[Pendragon]

I have a client that alerted me to a problem they have encountered several
times. I logged in and rant he same process and got the same result.
Thankfully, I made a copy of the data file (back end) before testing.

On their server resides the back end data file at
S:\SomeDir\SomeDataFile.MDB (they have Office 07 in the office but retain an
03 extension for the databases because too many laptops are still on 03).
Once per week, when everybody has logged out of the system, a person opens
the data file and performs a compact and repair. Recently, as in the last
few months or so, the compact & repair process is popping up with a message
saying that S:\SomeDir\SomeDataFile.mdb is corrupt etc etc......The file will
be saved as S:\SomeDir\Database.MDB. The user clicks OK and Access closes
out completely. (!!)

Unfortunately, what they discovered was that not only was
S:\SomeDir\SomeDataFile.MDB deleted entirely, there was no
S:\SomeDir\Database.MDB anywhere on the server or locally. They simply
reloaded the previous night's backup copy (why it took them several instances
of this before calling me I don't know!).

I backed up the data file and then ran my own test. The same results. Has
anyone had any problems with Access 07 crashing on Compact and then deleting
not only the original data file but also the supposed saved backup copy
generated by the Compact?

 

[Tom Wickerath]

I believe there is an issue with Vista + Access 2007, in regards to using
Offline Folders. Here is a statement that came from a person on the Access
Development team at Microsoft, and which we are allowed to share:

"General guidance is not to use Access database files in Vista Offline
folders until Vista SP1 and Office 2007 SP1 are both available."

Not sure if this applies to your case, but the symptom is the same.


Tom Wickerath
Microsoft Access MVP
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Tom
http://www.access.qbuilt.com/html/expert_contributors.html
__________________________________________

 

[Pendragon]

I will look into it to see if there is anything which will lead to an
explanation; my client, however, only upgraded to Office 07. They are still
on WinXP and not Vista.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Allen Browne]

I don't know that the "off-line folders" issue is limited to Vista.

There have been reports of users losing their database in the compact/repair
process in A2007, but AFAIK, none of us have seen a reproducible scenario
for this. Any info you can provide would be appreciated.

 

[Pendragon]

I did another test run today on the data file (cleaned and compacted from
yesterday) and the Compact & Repair worked without error. However, I had
saved copies of the bloated data file from yesterday so I did a test run on
that. The deletion of the data file happened again. (btw, I made sure
everyone had closed out of the FE/BE database and out of Access just for
insurance).

- I clicked on the Windows icon, selected Manage and then selected Compact &
Repair.
- The process continued until this message appeared:

"Microsoft Access can't delete S:\SomeDir\SomeDataFile.mdb after compacting
it. The compacted database has been named S:\SomeDir\Database.mdb

If you compact a database using the same name, Microsoft Office Access
creates a new compacted database and then deletes the original database. In
this case, however, the original database wasn't deleted because it is
read-only.

If you can, remove the read-only status, delete the original database, and
then rename the new database using the original name. If you can't remove
the read-only status, inform your workgroup administrator."

Two things wrong here: 1) the original database was in fact deleted; 2) the
database is not read-only (verified by a right-click properties on the data
file as well as with the file open and viewing database properties - yeah, I
know, same thing!)

- After clicking OK (the only option given), three instances of the same
message appeared:

"Could not find the file S:\SomeDir\SomeDataFile.mdb"

The client is running MS Small Business Server 2003; however, this problem
is occurring on LAN desktops utilizing Windows XP and Office 2007 as I am
logged in directly to a PC and not the server (via GoToMyPC).

I'm guessing that something with the bloating of the data file (this is a
FE/BE set-up with the BE on a server) is causing corruption and that is
bombing out the Compact process. I also am thinking that perhaps there is a
problem here with a bloated/corrupted Access 2003 MDB file being
run/compacted in Access 2007?

This is not a large file, either; the data file typically hovers around
26Mb. The bloated file I was testing was 66Mb.

I'll be interested to hear any responses or musings.

Thanks for the consideration!

 

[Allen Browne]

Pendragon, thaks for posting these details.

I have alerted the MS Access team to this thread, in the hope that something
from the details you provided might give them a useful lead to tracking this
issue down. It's a really elusive one, so every clue helps.

(They may not respond directly, but you can be sure they will read your
comments.)

 

[Allen Browne]

Can you confirm whether his is in an off-line folder or not?