How to Recover MS Access Database from a Crashed Operating System

About MS Access

Microsoft Access is a tool used to manage information related to reference, reporting, and analysis. Using Microsoft Access, you can analyze a huge database of information, and manage it more efficiently compared with other data management applications like Microsoft Excel.It has a format that runs on the Access Jet Database Engine, and it is used by software developers and data scientists to develop various applications.

OS Crash and Data Recovery

It’s common for an OS to crash sometimes owing to different reasons such as file corruption, memory issues, virus attacks, bad drivers, disk failure, hardware failure, etc. If an OS crashes, there are chances that you may lose your access database as well. Fortunately, there are manual as well as software-based methods available to recover MS Access Database from a crashed OS.

Follow some DIY methods below to recover your access database from a crashed operating system.

Method 1: Remove your hard drive and connect it to a different computer

Check whether the drive is still functional by connecting it to a different computer. If it shows up and you’re able to access your Access Database files, then copy and paste them on the new system. If the hard drive is not visible altogether, even during the bios start-up, your hard drive is damaged, and you may need to send it to a professional data recovery & repair service.

Method 2: Try the Compact and Repair option in MS Access

In case the hard drive is functional, but for some reason, you’re unable to open the Access files in the new system, try the Compact and Repair option available in MS Access. Follow these steps below:

1. Open MS Access application in Windows and go to the Database Tools tab.
2. Select Compact & Repair Database in the Tools section.
3. Now select the database file(s) you want to repair.
4. Next, enter the file name for your repaired database and click Save.

Method 3: Recover lost Access Database using a Data Recovery tool

Information stored in Access Database is usually critical since MS Access is used by individuals and organizations alike to develop state-of-the-art applications. Note that manual recovery is only possible in case the hard drive is functional. And even if the hard drive is detected, it is not guaranteed that your access files will be accessible. Therefore, to recover lost access database files due to OS crash, we recommend using a specialized access database recovery tool such as Stellar Repair for Access.

This is a highly popular tool among access database administrators. It repairs corrupt database with ease and recovers the access files in a new database. Using this software, you can restore deleted records, password-protected forms & modules, etc. Stellar Repair for Access supports MS Access versions 2019, 2016, 2013, 2010, 2007, etc. The software can efficiently repair corrupt .ACCDB and .MDB files. It can also repair and recover tables, queries, reports, forms, indexes, macros, and relational databases.

Use Stellar Repair for Access when Compact & Repair Database utility in the system fails. You can also run the software if you get error code 9505 when there are inconsistencies in the table data. Another common issue you may face after your OS crashes is the “unrecognized database error.” This error occurs as a result of: using Access 2016 with Visual Studio2012, lack of permissions to access the database, or opening the database in different versions.

Conclusion

In this post, we covered the methods you can apply for MS Access Database recovery from a crashed operating system. You can recover inaccessible access files from a crashed OS by merely connecting the hard drive to another working system. If the hard drive is detected, you can go ahead and copy-paste your MS Access files to the new computer. Even if the files do not open, try using the Compact and Repair feature in MS Access. Note that this utility may or may not work in severe cases. If all else fails, go for a professional repair software like Stellar Repair for Access to repair corrupt access database tables, queries, reports, forms, indexes, macros, and relational databases.