Database Corruption

What causes a database to become corrupt or damaged?

Data problems such as out-of-balance situations can be caused by a number of factors. Any type of interruption that occurs while a database is open has the potential to cause varying levels of corruption within a data set. A few known factors are listed below:

  • Loss of power
  • Disk read/write errors
  • Bad sectors on a hard disk
  • System crashes
  • Network problems such as failure of hub, cabling, and network cards

These are all examples of uncontrollable events that can cause a database to become corrupted or damaged.

In addition to the uncontrollable events listed above, there are other causes of corruption over which there is some control. Some examples are listed below:

  • Hardware not up to specifications - An example is trying to process a very large batch of data with less than sufficient hard drive space or RAM. Limitations of the hardware may cause processes to fail to reach completion and contribute to unbalanced postings or system lockups.
  • End tasking during processes - A common mistake among users is to open the task manager and ending task on the program if there is a message that says "not responding." This Windows message is misleading. It does NOT mean the system has stopped working. If you end-task while performing a process, especially while saving or posting entries, there is a possibility of data corruption occurring.
  • Improper installation of software - The Installation guide provides the proper procedures for installing the software. Having multiple installations and/or different versions of the software running can also cause problems.
Can I make table and data changes to my database using SQL?

Even though the system can run on SQL Server, you should not use SQL to make changes to or add any tables or data to the database.