473,320 Members | 1,916 Online
Bytes | Software Development & Data Engineering Community
Post Job

Home Posts Topics Members FAQ

Join Bytes to post your question to a community of 473,320 software developers and data experts.

Unrecognized database format

418 256MB
I have been working on this DB for past several years. Sometimes while working from home, I e-mailed the updated version to and from work. Since last week, something went wrong. I couldn't open the DB at work, although it works fine on my laptop. I keep getting this error message: "Unrecognized database format: 'U:\pathname\filename.accdb'

So I made a copy of the file on a flash drive from my laptop and tried to open it using my desktop. Still getting the same error message.

What is wrong? I spent more than 6 hours worth of works on it past weekend. Need to open the file and get going. Can someone please give me some direciton?
Jun 16 '14 #1
16 14897
jimatqsi
1,271 Expert 1GB
Frequent backups are an absolute requirement when working with MS Access. I have learned that the hard way.

That being said, you're in the soup now so we should try to pull you out. You might be able to extract all the goodies out of it by creating a new database and importing the tables, forms etc.... There are also recovery programs available from a variety source. I believe when I last solved this problem I got by with a trial version of one of those tools, but I can't come up with the name now.

I'm sure some other experts will have additional guidance.

Jim
Jun 16 '14 #2
jimatqsi
1,271 Expert 1GB
I just reread your post and realize the file you are concerned with opens on your laptop. Are there other DB files involved? Is this a front-end/back-end setup? Is there a autoexec macro, form or function/sub being executed on startup?

Jim
Jun 16 '14 #3
MNNovice
418 256MB
1. I cannot even open the DB. Therefore, importing any forms or queries not possible.

2. Yes, I have a back up copy (my DB is backed up every day at the end of each day). I just don't feel like recreating 6 hours of work ...

3. Yes, a form is executed on startup.

4. What is puzzling is that when I worked on it at home, it worked just fine on my laptop. Eventhough the original was an e-mailed version (from work to myself). I just can't get the DB to open at work using the work desktop.

Thanks for taking the time to help me.
Jun 16 '14 #4
jimatqsi
1,271 Expert 1GB
You don't have to be able to open it, you open the new DB and try to import into. Sometimes that works, sometimes the import process cannot even recognize the DB. You might try changing the startup parameters on the laptop (hope you have already made another, safe, copy) so that no form is opened on startup. I'm not sure that will help with this error, it's been a long time since I ran into it.

Jim
Jun 16 '14 #5
MNNovice
418 256MB
Sorry, I am confused. How can I import ueries, forms and/or reports etc. without having to open the DB?

Yes, I have several safe copies with only a day old data.
Jun 16 '14 #6
jimatqsi
1,271 Expert 1GB
If the problem db is X and you create a new DB Y. You open Y. You click on External Data, Access, browse to file X and hopefully you will not get any complaint by Access about being able to read the content of X. It might be that you cannot do that successfully, but it is worth a shot.

Also, did you Compress and Repair file X on the laptop? That alone may fix your problem.

Jim
Jun 16 '14 #7
twinnyfo
3,653 Expert Mod 2GB
MNNovice,

My initial thought is that it sounds like your work DB might be in MS Access 2007 and your home in 2010? Although MS "told" us that these two versions are "compatible", they are definitely not--especially as it concerns the Tables themselves.

Jim, that is a smart workaround, and just might save the OP's work. Additionally, I echo his advice for frequent (or should I say, "constant") backups of your work. You can always get a bigger (or another) hard drive, but you can't get back lost work.
Jun 16 '14 #8
jimatqsi
1,271 Expert 1GB
Oh, right you are ...! I had that a month or so ago, a sometimes client called with this same problem with a DB I prepared for him. He sent me a copy and I noticed right away that it came up in Access 97 format. Of course he was like "who, what, me, no! I don't have '97 versions running anymore." But I know he must have, and he never called back, so I'm sure that was it.

Good catch, twinny.

Jim
Jun 16 '14 #9
MNNovice
418 256MB
twinnyfo & jimatqsi:

Thanks for your tips.

1. Yes, I have Access 2007 at work and 2010 at home. But this didn't cause any problem until a week ago.

2. Yes, I compress and repair each time I close out the DB no matter where I am. But this didn't resolved the matter.

3. Yes, I save a back up copy of the DB at the end of each day before heading home.

4. When I am at work and email a copy from work to my personal e-mail - I have no problem opening it. But when I e-mail the same copy from home I cannot open it at work the next day. I tried making a second copy on a flash drive, that didn't help either. I also don't have problem opening the DB from home that is mailed from work.

This is driving me crazy. I wish I knew more...

Thanks to both of you for your time.
Jun 18 '14 #10
twinnyfo
3,653 Expert Mod 2GB
MNNovice,

You have described the problem to a "T". MS Access 2010 can open MS Access 2007 files. MS Access 2007 cannot open MS Access 2010 files.

As far as I know, there is no resolution for this issue. MS Access 2010, when it opens a 2007 file does "something" to the Tables which makes them unusable back in the 2007 environment.
Jun 18 '14 #11
MNNovice
418 256MB
Well, that's unfortunate. I don't know when (or if at all), we will get MS Office updated. Until then what do you suggest I should be doing? Hold back any changes to the forms, queries, reports etc.?

Thanks.
Jun 18 '14 #12
twinnyfo
3,653 Expert Mod 2GB
I guess you just can't work from home anymore.....

Not sure if that isn't a good thing. :-)
Jun 18 '14 #13
MNNovice
418 256MB
Dang!!!

Well, I had the IT people help me open the updated DB. This is what they did. They opened the DB on a test machine with Office 2013 and saved the DB into a 2000-2003 version.

I was able to open it as well with the latest data. It seems there is one form that's not working. When I click on it, I get this error message: "Cannot save property; property is a schema property".

How can I fix this problem?

Thanks twinnyfo.
Jun 18 '14 #14
zmbd
5,501 Expert Mod 4TB
You have described the problem to a "T". MS Access 2010 can open MS Access 2007 files. MS Access 2007 cannot open MS Access 2010 files.
Not absolutely true, occationally true; however, not absolute.

The most common issue is that ACC2010 uses a new indexing method and tracks field/table-name changes.

[File][Options][General][Creating Databases][New database sort order]
Make sure that this is set to {General - Legacy}
ACC2007 will not open the {General} format, and unless you have the correct regional-os, none of the other sorting formats can be opened in ACC2007 once set by ACC2010 (and even if ACC2007 sets the regional sort, ACC2010 can potentially mess that up on compact and repair}.

This property can accidentally be set to {General}. I have had it happen while we were transitioning between ACC2003/2010 (skipped OFF2007 due to bugs). Once done and saved, you will have issues.

In fact, there was one such database I uploaded here for a member and this option was set to {General} and they could not open the database using ACC2007, when I re-saved it using {General - Legacy} they could open the file.

-- The name change tracking can cause ACC2007 to choke once the file saved by ACC2010 and this new feature can also cause some "out of memory" issues.

[File][Options][Current Database][Name Auto Correct Options]
Uncheck these options.
(( Problem properties Databases: Name AutoCorrect allenbrowne.com ))

It is best practice to develop your front-end entirely in one version or the other. You will continue to corrupt the database so long as two different versions are working on the same file. This issue has been noted many times in this site and in most of the other sites that deal with Access.


MNNovice
I was able to open it as well with the latest data. It seems there is one form that's not working. When I click on it, I get this error message: "Cannot save property; property is a schema property".
Normally, one question per thread; however, as this is so closely related... the error it's due to the down conversion from ACC2010 to ACC2003 via ACC2013

Think of it this way:
You started in American-English, Switched to British-English which used something colloquial that when you tried to use with Am.Engl. didn't quite work, then to fix the issue you translated to Japanese to have it back translated into French so that you could convert it back into Am.Engl. - but there's an issue in that Am.Engl is gender nutral where as French has M/F forms.
That's what the schema property error is telling you... there's something there that it can't translate.
Jun 18 '14 #15
MNNovice
418 256MB
Thanks for your time in clarifying the issues at hand. I will do my best to recreate the form in question.

Thanks again.
Jun 18 '14 #16
NeoPa
32,556 Expert Mod 16PB
If you want to continue working from home then you could try adopting the following approach :
  1. Work on DB at work.
  2. Transfer latest version to home at end of day.
  3. Work on various objects in the DB at home.
  4. Make a note of each object changed during your home session.
  5. Transfer updated version to work when done.
  6. Starting with the latest version you have saved at work (IE. the one you sent home the previous time) import from the new one transferred from home all of the objects changed in your home session.

    If any fail to import or crash afterwards upon use then revert back to the original copy of the object.
This isn't foolproof, but it should leave you with problems only very rarely, and those will be limited only to individual objects rather than your whole database.

Needless to say, always keep your backups just in case.
Jun 29 '14 #17

Sign in to post your reply or Sign up for a free account.

Similar topics

7
by: qbsu21th | last post by:
Dear Sir/Madam, I'm writing a small VB6.0 and Access 2002 application in XP OS. I selected the data control property RecordSource, I got the "Unrecognized database format 'xxx/xx/*.mdb' " error....
14
by: L Mehl | last post by:
I tested a FE/BE application developed in A2000 on a A2002 machine and got this message when exiting the app. Clicking the only available button "OK", exits the application, as intended. The FE...
1
by: Rabbit | last post by:
Can anyone tell me why my web developed in .net 2.0, using Access database (.mdb). working fine at my development machines, but when I deploy it onto new Windows Server 2003, the web returns...
6
by: James12345 | last post by:
i have created a database for our advisors to log their call types. It is being run on about 10 different machines. Every couple of weeks, when someone tries to open it, the error Unrecognized...
1
by: syed_razi | last post by:
I have a VB 6.0 application using Access as backend. It is being used on a local area network. The backend database is password protected. The problem is that the database gives me a run time...
4
by: HeislerKurt | last post by:
I'm having trouble opening a database a client has sent me. I keep getting an "unrecognized database format" error. The database was created in Access 2003. I'm trying to open it with Access...
4
by: Hepburn08 | last post by:
Hi, I need some help opening a corrupt Microsoft Access database file. I get an error message that says "unrecognized database format". Since I can't open it, I can't export the data to another new...
6
by: MISASIA | last post by:
I really hope someone can help me... My office is using a Menu which running VB. There got many button in that Menu and one of the button which name as "GMR" hit error. Its prompt a message box...
1
by: vinayreddy | last post by:
unrecognized database format error vinay.mdb file size its showing has 1kb. so can you please provide me the solution for solving the problem.
1
by: wassimdaccache | last post by:
Dear friends I have an access file (*.mdb) working on office 2003 sp2 when i am opening the file i am getting the bellow : unrecognized database format I've tried to compact and repair...
0
by: ryjfgjl | last post by:
ExcelToDatabase: batch import excel into database automatically...
0
isladogs
by: isladogs | last post by:
The next Access Europe meeting will be on Wednesday 6 Mar 2024 starting at 18:00 UK time (6PM UTC) and finishing at about 19:15 (7.15PM). In this month's session, we are pleased to welcome back...
1
isladogs
by: isladogs | last post by:
The next Access Europe meeting will be on Wednesday 6 Mar 2024 starting at 18:00 UK time (6PM UTC) and finishing at about 19:15 (7.15PM). In this month's session, we are pleased to welcome back...
0
by: jfyes | last post by:
As a hardware engineer, after seeing that CEIWEI recently released a new tool for Modbus RTU Over TCP/UDP filtering and monitoring, I actively went to its official website to take a look. It turned...
1
by: PapaRatzi | last post by:
Hello, I am teaching myself MS Access forms design and Visual Basic. I've created a table to capture a list of Top 30 singles and forms to capture new entries. The final step is a form (unbound)...
0
by: CloudSolutions | last post by:
Introduction: For many beginners and individual users, requiring a credit card and email registration may pose a barrier when starting to use cloud servers. However, some cloud server providers now...
0
by: Shællîpôpï 09 | last post by:
If u are using a keypad phone, how do u turn on JavaScript, to access features like WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram....
0
by: af34tf | last post by:
Hi Guys, I have a domain whose name is BytesLimited.com, and I want to sell it. Does anyone know about platforms that allow me to list my domain in auction for free. Thank you
0
by: Faith0G | last post by:
I am starting a new it consulting business and it's been a while since I setup a new website. Is wordpress still the best web based software for hosting a 5 page website? The webpages will be...

By using Bytes.com and it's services, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

To disable or enable advertisements and analytics tracking please visit the manage ads & tracking page.