Resolve “Server: Msg 8966” & “Server: Msg 8944” Errors

DBCC DBREINDEX is a command used by DBAs to drop a previous index and then re-create a new index. The offline operation helps the DBAs to reorder indexes and recreate new disk space by compacting all the pages. While DBCC DBREINDEX command provides more optimization than executing separate DROP INDEX and CREATE INDEX commands, it is advisable not to use this command very frequently. A tightly packed database index is always a better option because there might be instances when after recreating indexes, the database table becomes corrupt and unmountable. In such situations, it becomes almost impossible to access the records saved in the database.

Furthermore, when a DBA tries to repair the table by using DBCC CHECKTABLE command, s/he might encounter the below error message:

“Server: Msg 8966, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Could not read and latch page (1:24) with latch type SH. sysindexes
failed.
Server: Msg 8944, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Table error: Object ID 2, index ID 0, page (1:24), row 11. Test
(!(hdr->r_tagA & (VERSION_MASK | RECTAG_RESV_A | RECTAG_RESV_B)))
failed. Values are 95 and 193.
Server: Msg 8944, Level 16, State 1, Line 1
Table error: Object ID 2, index ID 0, page (1:24), row 11. Test
(GetRecType (pRec) >= 0 && GetRecType (pRec) <= LAST_REC_TYPE) failed.
Values are 14 and 12.
CHECKTABLE found 0 allocation errors and 2 consistency errors in table
'sysindexes' (object ID 2).
DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error messages, contact your
system administrator.”

Repairing Database Table:

To surmount the above error message and access the database table records, a DBA needs to delete the database table and restore the table from an up-to-date database backup. The option of restoring the table might fall short under below circumstances:

• DBA has not maintained full backup of the database table.
• The backup of database table is unavailable or incomplete.

In case the above problem persists due to any of the two reasons, then the DBA can opt for an third-party SQL recovery application that can repair the table and restore it at user-specified location.

Data Recovery Info:

A commercial SQL recovery tool repairs corrupted SQL database tables and brings them back in usuable state. Such recovery software also provide a preview of all the recoverable records saved in the table. The table can be restored at default or new location.

Applied For:

SQL Server 2005

How to Solve an ‘Unable to display the folder’ Error?

For those who use Microsoft Office Outlook, PST (Personal Storage Folder) corruption is an all-too-often incidence. Such can be the case when you receive one of the following error messages while opening MS Outlook or opening any of its folders:

“Error: Unable to display the folder”

A PST can get corrupted due to following reasons:

• PST exceeds its file size limit i.e. 2 GB
• You shut down the computer before exiting Outlook and hence closing PST
• You share the PST over a networked drive

Repairing PST

Microsoft Outlook comes with a pre-installed PST Repair utility called Inbox Repair Tool (Executable through Scanpst.exe file). The tool analyzes the entire PST structure and item headers. It then recovers whatever that is recoverable and deletes the unreadable.

To start with, take a backup of your corrupted PST and run Inbox Repair Tool (Scanpst.exe) on one of the PST files. To do so, follow these steps:

• Exit MS Outlook
• Click Start and then point to Search or Find (depending on your operating system)
• Type ‘scanpst.exe’ in Search for files or folders named box and hit ENTER
• Double click the file resulted in search results
• In Enter The Name Of The File You Want To Scan box, type the file name and path or locate the file using Browse
• Click Start
• After PST Recovery, launch MS Outlook and open the profile that is associated with the damaged PST
• The recovered folders and items can be viewed in Recovered Personal Folders or Lost and Found folder

If the PST is still not accessible, the file is probably damaged beyond repair. You might need to delete the damaged PST from the profile.

Data Recovery Info

 

In situations when Inbox Repair Tool fails to repair the PST, you can use a third-party tool. In contrast to Inbox Repair Tool, these PST Recovery Software run much effective scanning algorithms and do not delete the data. These are easily available tools and can help you get most out of your corrupted PST.

Applies To

• Microsoft Outlook 2002
• Microsoft Outlook 2000
• Microsoft Outlook 98
• Microsoft Outlook 97

How to Solve MS Access ‘Unrecognized Database Format’ Error?

The extensibility of MS Access database format is the main reason why sometimes users fail to determine the Access database corruption. This happens because crashes and errors can also root from macros, VBA code, plug-ins, and the like reasons. To exemplify, let’s consider the following error message that can occur while trying to open an Access database:

‘Unrecognized Database Format’

This error can appear for the reasons mentioned below:

• You are trying to open an Access database in an earlier version.
• You are trying to open a corrupted/damaged database.

Fixing the Issue 

If ‘Unrecognized Database Format’ occurs while attempting to open the database in an earlier version, you can apply any of the below possible solutions:

• Open the Access database in the later version of MS Access it was created
• Convert the database to the earlier version of MS Access. For this, you need to have the newer version of MS Access and follow the steps given below:
• Open the database (If the database is shared, ensure that it is not opened)
• Click Tools menu and point to Database Utilities. Click Convert Database and then To Access version File Format, where version is the version of MS Access to which you want to convert the database
• Type the name of the file in File name box of Convert Database Into dialog box and click Save

If ‘Unrecognized Database Format’ occurs while attempting to open the corrupted database, you need to implement any of the given solutions:

• Restore the database from your last working backup
• Use ‘Compact and Repair’ utility to repair Access database. To do so, follow these steps:
• Close the database (If the database is shared, ensure that it is not opened)
• Backup the database
• Click Tools menu and point to Database Utilities. Click Compact and Repair Database
• From Database to Compact From dialog box, specify the name of the file and click Compact
• In Compact Database Into dialog box, specify the destination and name of the compacted Access file and click Save

Data Recovery Info

 

If ‘Compact and Repair’ utility is unable to fix the database corruption, you need a powerful third-party Access Recovery software to perform the repair. These are well-equipped products that can repair Access Database within clicks. The software use high-end plus safe scanning algorithms that result a complete Access Repair of corrupted database.

Applies To

• Microsoft Access 97
• Microsoft Access 2000
• Microsoft Access 2002
• Microsoft Access 2003

Repairing database post “Msg 2570, Level 16, State…” Error

Data Purity is an option added to DBCC CHECKTABLE and DBCC CHECKDB commands to validate each column value in all the table rows of a SQL Server database. This command helps the user to ensure that the values saved in the columns are valid. And, in case the values saved in the table are invalid, then a user might encounter a 2570 error message, as listed below:

“DBCC results for 'table2'.
Msg 2570, Level 16, State 3, Line 1
Page (1:155), slot 0 in object ID 2105058535, index ID 0, partition ID 72057594038452224, alloc unit ID 72057594042449920 (type "In-row data"). Column "col2" value is out of range for data type "decimal". Update column to a legal value.
There are 4 rows in 1 pages for object "table2".
CHECKDB found 0 allocation errors and 1 consistency errors in table 'table2' (object ID 2105058535).
CHECKDB found 0 allocation errors and 1 consistency errors in database 'realdata'. DBCC execution completed. If DBCC printed error messages, contact your system administrator.”

Repairing Database

The values saved in the database become invalid only when the database gets logically damaged. In such cases, the user needs to follow any of the below actions to overcome the corruption:

• Delete the entire database and restore it from an online or offline backup.
• Insert a dummy value for all the invalid records in the database.

While the above solutions can resolve the error message, there are few problems that might arise with the above resolutions:

• In case of no backup availability, all the database records will be lost.
• In case of inserting dummy records, the user might not able to decide what shall be the dummy value. And if in case the user decides, he/she might not be able to enter all the values (in case there are millions of records).

The above problems do not allow the user to overcome a 2570 error message in most cases. To surpass these problems and to access the records saved in the database, a third party SQL recovery application comes in handy.

Data Recovery Info:

Such commercial SQL database recovery tools available within a single mouse click and do not require any hard core technical skills for understanding. These tools recover almost all the records from any logically damaged SQL Server database and save them at user specified location.

Applies to

SQL Server 2005