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Document ID: 1999090209323001
Document Title: I Suspect My Database is Damaged. How Do I Repair It?
Product(s): ACT! 2000 - PC; ACT! 5.0 - PC; ACT! 6.0 - PC
Operating System(s):Windows 2000; Windows 95; Windows 98; Windows ME; Windows NT; Windows XP Home; Windows XP Pro

Situation:
While opening a database, you receive an error message or ACT! stops responding.

Solution:
In some cases, error messages received when working in ACT!, or the inability to open an ACT! database, may be caused by damage to the database itself. It is usually an easy process to remedy this situation. Occasionally, the damage is more serious. Follow in sequence the solutions that follow, first to determine if the database is the cause of the problem, then to repair the damage, if necessary.

Is the Database the Cause of the Problem?
In order to test for database damage, you need to try to start ACT! without opening a database. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Exit ACT!.
  2. Click Start, then click Run. The Run dialog box appears.
  3. Enter actdiag into the Open window, then click OK. The ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool appears.
  4. Click the Reset menu, then click Options and Window Positions.
  5. Enable the Default/Last Database, then click Reset.
  6. Click OK to confirm, then click Close and exit the ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool.
  7. Start ACT! as you normally would. ACT! will open without a database and you will see a gray window (the parent window).
  8. Click the File menu, then click Open. The Open dialog appears.
  9. Select a different database (for example; ACT6demo.dbf) then click Open.

    Note: If your database is on a network drive and your copy of ACT! is installed locally, you may need to change to the \ACT\Database folder on your local drive. If an alternate database is not available, cancel the Open dialog box. Click the File menu then click New. The New dialog appears.

  10. Ensure that ACT! Database is selected, then click OK. The Enter "My Record" Information dialog appears.
  11. Once the My Record information has been completed, click OK. Click Yes to confirm.
  12. If this new database opens without an error, there likely is a problem with the original database that ACT! tried to open, not with the ACT! program itself. If this is the case, proceed to the next section.

Rebuild the Index Files of the Database
The database Index Files may have become corrupted and need to be rebuilt. To do so, follow these steps:
  1. Exit ACT!.
  2. Click Start, then click Run. The Run dialog appears.
  3. Type actdiag, then click OK. The ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool appears.
  4. Click the Maintenance menu, select Backup Database.
  5. Locate the folder that contains your ACT! database, select the problem database, and click Open. The tool will create a quick backup of your database before proceeding. Click Close when the backup is complete.
  6. Click the Options menu, then click Remove Index Files.
  7. Locate the folder that contains your ACT! database, select the problem database, and click Open. Click Yes at the prompt verifying that you want to delete the index files.
  8. ACT! will now begin to open and you will see a message indicating that your Index Files are missing or are corrupt. Click Yes to this message, and ACT! will rebuild the index files.
  9. Log into your database if prompted, and the database may now open.
  10. To complete the repair of this database, click the File Menu, point to Administration, then click Database Maintenance. The Database Maintenance dialog appears.
  11. Ensure the Compress Database checkbox is enabled, then click the Reindex button.
    If the database did not open correctly, or you still experience problems, proceed to the next section.

Scan and Repair the Database
The Scan and Repair function of the ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool will scan the database and attempt to repair any corruption it finds:

Note: Before using Scan and Repair, be sure you have the most recent version of the ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool. See the following document for information about finding out what version of the tool you have and how to update it, if necessary:
Title : ACTDIAG: The ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool
Document ID : 2000020710185201
Web URL : http://itdomino.act.com/act.nsf/docid/2000020710185201
  1. Be sure ACT! is not open.
  2. Click Start, then click Run. The Run dialog appears.
  3. Type actdiag, then click OK. The ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool appears.
  4. Click the Maintenance menu, then click Scan and Repair Database.
  5. You will be prompted to make a backup of your database. Click Yes, then select the problem database and click Open.
  6. Once the backup process is finished, click Yes to continue. The repair process will begin. It cannot be interrupted.
  7. When the repair process is finished, click OK, then click Close. Exit the ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool.
  8. Start ACT! as you normally would.
    • If a database other than the repaired database does open, go on to step 9.
    • If the repaired database opens, skip to step 10.
  9. Click the File menu, then click Open. Select the repaired database, then click Open.
  10. The following message appears: The index files are missing or they are corrupt. ACT! can reindex your database. Do you want to do this now? Click Yes.
  11. ACT! will now reindex the database. This could take some time. Do not attempt to interrupt the process. When it is finished, the database may open.
  12. If the database still is damaged or does not open, proceed to the next section.

Manual Reindex
If the Reindex and Scan-and-Repair through the ACT! Data Diagnostic Tool fail, there is a manual technique for forcing a more thorough reindexing of the database. This process will also rebuild other components of the database that may be corrupt. The components you can safely remove are:
    • The Index Files
    • The Transaction Log
    • Locking Files
    • Address Book Cache Files (ACT! 6 only)

Caution: Before following any of these steps, be sure that you have a functional, current backup of your database. In addition, if your database is stored on a network drive, either copy the database to a local hard drive for repair purposes, or work from the machine which hosts the database to perform these steps:
  1. Close ACT!.
  2. Open Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the Windows Start button, then clicking Explore.
  3. Navigate to the folder where your database resides. Select the folder in the left-hand pane. You will then be able to see the files which reside in that folder in the right-hand pane.
  4. Click the Tools menu, then click Folder Options. (For Windows 95, click the View menu, then click Options.)
  5. Under the View tab, disable the Hide file extensions for known file types checkbox then click Apply and OK. This will allow you to see all the file extensions.
  6. Click the View menu, then click Details.
  7. Locate the files that begin with the name of your database. There will be between 16 and 25 of them (the actual number varies with different versions of ACT!).
  8. Step through the files one at a time, deleting files with the following extensions (not all the files may be present):
    Type of File File Extensions
    Index Files .ADX, .DDX, .EDX, .GDX, .HDX, .MDX, .REX, .SDX, .TDX
    Transaction Log .TDB
    Locking Files .LCK, .HK4, .HK5, .TL2
    Address Book Cache Files .ABC, .ABU (ACT! 6.0 only)
  9. Once you have deleted all the preceding files, the following files will remain:

    .ADB, .BLB, .DBF, .DDB, .DDF, .EDB, .GDB, .HDB, .REL, .REM, .SDB

    Caution: Do not delete any of these files.
  10. Close Windows Explorer.
  11. Open ACT!. If you copied the database locally, open the copy of the database in the folder you just deleted all the files from in Step 9.
  12. ACT! will give you a message indicating the Index files are either missing or they are corrupt. Click Yes to repair the database. ACT! will rebuild the Indexes as well as default versions of the transaction log, lock files, and cache files.
  13. If the database is still damaged or refuses to open, proceed to the next section.

Corrupt User Record
If the above suggestions failed to repair the database, and you are using a multi-user database, corruption may be tied to a single user's login. If you can log in as other users without difficulty, create a new user to take the place of the corrupt user, then delete the corrupt user, being sure to reassign the records to the new user. For additional help with this, refer to the following document: Database Repair
If the previous solution was not successful, you may not be able to repair the database yourself. Your alternatives are to restore from a backup, call ACT! Product Support for additional suggestions or send the database in for repair. For information on ACT!'s database repair service, please go to: http://www.act.com/support/databaseservices/databaserepair/

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