Best Approach To Repair Corrupt SQL Database Files

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  • Published on
    February 21st, 2014
  • Updated on
    July 20, 2022
  • Read Time
    6 minutes
Summary:-SQL, formerly known as Structured Query Language, is a relational database that stores the collection of tables and a specific set of structured data. However, your SQL database can sometimes get corrupted due to power cuts, hardware crashes, or buggy code. Regardless, you want to repair and fix corrupt SQL Databases files within the minimum possible downtime. 

It can be a sluggish approach to repair corrupt SQL database if you don’t know the proper techniques. Manual techniques and many automated tools are available on the Internet to repair Corrupt SQL Databases, even though using the best and most reliable SQL Database Recovery is an authentic way. Before moving to the solution to fix Corrupt SQL databases, let’s know about SQL Server and the reasons for its corruption.

What is SQL Server and How it Work?

SQL Server is a database management system developed by Microsoft, primarily used for storing and retrieving data by other applications. It uses three types of files to store and manage data like Primary Files (MDF), Secondary Files (NDF), and Log Files (LDF).

  • Primary SQL Server database files come up with an extension of .mdf. It allows users to store objects, Values, Tables, Keys, Stored Procedures, Triggers, Default Values, Indexes, Columns, Views, Functions, and the startup information for the database.
  • Secondary Files come up with an extension of the .ndf file, which is optional for users. It is basically used to spread data across multiple disks and store user data. One can easily create various NDF files as per their requirements.
  • The final one is the Log Files, which allows users to take the backup of the SQL Server database. It is used to restore the database in case of corruption and comes up with an extension of .LDF. Almost every database has at least one log file.

Why Users Need to Repair Corrupt SQL Database?

There are various reasons behind the corruption of the SQL Server database. As we discussed earlier, MDF files are the primary database files holding the user data, and their corruption can corrupt the entire database.

  • There is a possibility that your Storage media will get corrupted.
  • Unfortunately, users store their SQL server database data in compressed folders.
  • Chance of corruption when users make changes in SQL Server accounts.
  • Accidental deletion of the data may also cause SQL database corruption.
  • It also happens due to file header corruption.
  • It is possible that there are bugs in disk drivers that corrupt your SQL database file.
  • While using the SQL server, users do not establish the proper internet connection.
  • Different failures are also responsible for that, like Hard disk failure, sudden power failure, unexpected system shutdown, virus attacks, and others.

Once your MDF file gets corrupted, you won’t be able to access the database because it shows you different error messages like:

How to Check Database Corruption in SQL Server?

Users of SQL Server databases always try to keep the database highly secure and available, so there is no possibility of corruption in the file. But sometimes, it may be a possibility that it may not show any symptoms of error, but the data remains unavailable on your server side. Hence, by considering these issues, we suggest methods to check the corruption of the SQL server database.

  • Try to Run the Database Backup Using CHECKSUM

When someone runs the database backup process, the CHECKSUM command should also be automatically included with the backup command. It will check the database for any corruption and stop the backup process if it finds any issues.

BACKUP DATABASE XYZ

TO DISK = ‘E:\Database Backup\XYZ.bak’

WITH CHECKSUM;

  • Try to Run the DBCC CHECKDB Command

This DBCC command runs the routine checkup of the database, and if it detects any issues, it stops the database’s working.

DBCC CHECKDB ;

Best 2 Methods to Repair Corrupt SQL Database

There are some manual approaches to repair corrupt SQL database files, but they do not guarantee full database recovery; thus, you can use the SQL Database Recovery Tool to recover SQL database files completely.

Repair corrupt SQL Database Manually

  1. One can use the log files (NDF) of SQL Server to restore the database data. However, log files are insufficient to recover the database in many corruption cases. Sometimes, backup files also get corrupted if corruption is grievous. But it is only compatible with a few simple processes; if the corruption is severe, it is not competent enough to recover the database. Furthermore, it may be possible that your backup files also get corrupted.
  2. If you would not fix the Corrupt SQL Databases by the above methods, you can use another method to repair corrupt SQL Database. In this way, you must use the database console commands, i.e. DBCC CHECKDB and DBCC DBREPAIR. Although it is beneficial for users to fix minor SQL database corruption issues, they aren’t very efficient for all corruption cases. It also needs technical knowledge to perform the steps, and not easier for non-technical users.

An Expert Solution to Repair Corrupt SQL Database

SysInfo SQL Database Recovery is the best and 100% trusted solution by professionals to fix or repair corrupt SQL database files,i.e., MDF and NDF. The software scans the corrupt SQL database and shows the recovered database in a preview pane. In addition, the software supports all the versions of SQL server databases. Thus follow the steps to repair corrupt SQL databases:

  1. Start the SysInfo SQL Database Recovery.
  2. Click on the Open button to select the MDF or LDF file.
  3. Select the Recovery mode and choose the Log file path.
  4. The software scans your files and displays the recovered data.
  5. Choose the folders and click on the Save button.
  6. Choose the SQL server option or SQL script.
  7. You can include the built-in features required.
  8. Finally, click Ok to start the SQL database recovery.

Salient Features of the SQL Database Recovery Tool

  • Recovery from MDF & NDF Files.
  • 50+ Data Types Supported.
  • Rich Preview Mode.
  • Dual Recovery Modes: Standard Mode and Advanced Mode.
  • Support for SQL Server Compressions.
  • Save as SQL Database and SQL Scripts.

Conclusion

In this blog, we discussed the best approaches to repair corrupt SQL databases. The manual methods can help fix minor SQL database corruption, but they can’t be efficient for crucial corruption cases. I suggest third-party software that allows users to repair corrupt SQL databases.

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