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Compacting and Repairing Microsoft Access Database

Overview

Compacting and repairing Microsoft Access database is necessary if one of the following scenarios are encountered:

  • A GFI product backend Access database has grown very large.
  • A GFI product backend Access database has been compromised or corrupted.

Currently, the GFI products do not perform the compact and repair of the databases automatically.

This article guides you on how to compact and repair the database through a command line and within Microsoft Access.

Process

Compact and Repair from the Command Line

  • If you have Microsoft Access installed on the same machine as your GFI product, you can process, compact, and repair from the command line.
  • This can be easily inserted in a batch file which automatically stops the GFI services, and the IIS services; compact the database and restart the services stopped initially.
  • The batch file can then be scheduled to run during the night, or when email flow is low for example.
  • If Microsoft Access is not installed on the same machine as the GFI product, you can try using Jet Compact Utility.
  1. Open a command line and use the following command to perform compact and repair.
msaccess <path to database file>\<database file name> /compact
For example: 
msaccess "C:\Program Files\GFI\MailEssentials\Data\Reports.mdb" /compact
  1. You can stop and start the required services using the Net Stop and Net Start commands.
    Identify the dependent services of the IIS Admin, so that you stop these before the IIS Admin and restart them after the IIS Admin starts.

Compact and Repair from Within Microsoft Access

  1. Take a backup copy of the .mdb file(s).
  2. After backing up the file, open each file in Microsoft Access.
  3. Go to Database Tools.
  4. Click Compact and Repair Database.
  5. Exit Microsoft Access.

NOTE: It is not recommended to let an MDB file exceed 1.7GB in size.


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  1. Priyanka Bhotika

  2. Posted
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