Opportunistic locking or Oplocks is a Windows mechanism designed for client/server databases that permits several processes to lock the same file, when on the same time local data caching improves the performance over network. But these default settings of the mechanism, which improves the performance of one type of client/server databases, can adversely affect database integrity of other type. This database corruption is also observed in Access databases. The odds of Access database getting corrupted increase if opportunistic locking is enabled. To repair the corrupted Access database, run 'Compact and Repair; utility. But if the tool fails to perform its task, restore it from backup or use access repair software to repair the database.
To illustrate this, consider that you use an application, which accesses an Microsoft Access database. This application runs on different client computers and a Windows File Server stores the databases. After some time, you observe that Access database is corrupt and reports errors.
Cause
The above Access database corruption issue could occur if 'opportunistic locking' is enabled. When the database file is accessed and shared among multiple clients on a network file server that supports opportunistic locking, it might get corrupt. The same issue applies to clients running Windows XP or 2000 and connected to a file server supporting the feature.
Solution
Following are the suggestions to solve the given problem:
If the file server is using Windows 200, install Windows 2000 SP3 or later on the server and on each of the clients connected to the server
For Windows XP computers, install the corresponding security update
If the corruption is persistent after installing the updates, disable opportunistic locking
Try to repair the damaged database using built-in Compact and Repair utility
If you fail to repair the database using the tool, restore the database from backup
You can also use third-party Access Database Repair software to repair and restore damaged Access database. Access Repair utilities are high-end tools using powerful scanning algorithms to repair Access files. Because of their interactive interface, these tools require no prior technical understanding.
Access Recovery is complete repair solution for damaged Access databases. It repairs files created with Microsoft Access 2007, 2003, 2002 and 2000. It is a safe access database repair utility that restores all database objects including queries, reports, forms, macros and modules. The tool is compatible with Windows Vista, XP, 2003, 2000 and NT.
