From: DCR on
Does anyone know a free program that will repair coruppted sql databases (mdf
files)? All I see on the net is paid ones.
Thanks
Dave
From: Erland Sommarskog on
DCR (DCR(a)discussions.microsoft.com) writes:
> Does anyone know a free program that will repair coruppted sql databases
> (mdf files)? All I see on the net is paid ones.

Tell me if you see free car repair shop as well!

If you have a corrupt database, and you don't have a backup to restore from,
the best bet is DBCC CHECKDB and add REPAIR_ALLOW_DATA_LOSS. Any attempt
beyond that, that is trying to recover the data that DBCC CHECKDB cannot
confidently rescue, is likely to be very time-consuming, and if you want
someone to do it for you, it will cost an arm and a leg. And if you want to
try yourself, take DBCC PAGE and a lot of time on your hands.

And whatever, if you have a corrupted database, make sure that you move the
rescued database to new hardware. Bad hardware is the main reason for
corruption.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel(a)sommarskog.se

Links for SQL Server Books Online:
SQL 2008: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/cc514207.aspx
SQL 2005: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/bb895970.aspx
SQL 2000: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/previousversions/books.mspx