Problem Opening up a Database

[Anna]

I cannot open a database that I've been using for a long
time now. I get this error message: "Unrecognized Database
Format". Even though it always worked fine before and it
is an .mdb file. Does anyone know what is the problem and
how can I restore the database??? Any help would be
greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Rick Brandt]

I cannot open a database that I've been using for a long
time now. I get this error message: "Unrecognized Database
Format". Even though it always worked fine before and it
is an .mdb file. Does anyone know what is the problem and
how can I restore the database??? Any help would be
greatly appreciated. Thanks.

That error is commonly raised when the file has been converted to a newer
version than what you are using to open it. If you can't see any
circumstance where that might have happened then corruption is the next
likely reason. Have you tried to Compact/Repair the file?

 

[John Vinson]

I cannot open a database that I've been using for a long
time now. I get this error message: "Unrecognized Database
Format". Even though it always worked fine before and it
is an .mdb file. Does anyone know what is the problem and
how can I restore the database??? Any help would be
greatly appreciated. Thanks.

There are a couple of reasons you can get this message. For one,
you'll get it if you're using an older version of Access and you (or
someone else) has converted the database to a newer version.

More worrisome is that the database may have been corrupted (there are
many ways this can happen), and it may be toast at this point. See
Tony Toews' website

http://www.granite.ab.ca/access/corruptmdbs.htm

and references therein.

KEEP YOUR BACKUPS CURRENT! Databases are vulnerable to damage; if
(say) someone opens a .mdb file in Microsoft Word "just to see what's
in it", the database will be destroyed and cannot be recovered. Disk
head crashes will do the same. The only database that doesn't need to
be backed up is the one that you don't mind rebuilding from scratch at
the least convenient time!