Recent rash of Microsoft Access database files in an inconsistent state

Question

A large number of our clients operating a split front end/back end Microsoft Access application we built are encountering frequent but intermittent database file corruption issues. When the back end file is opened this message appears: "Microsoft Access has detected that this database is in an inconsistent state, and will attempt to recover the database … "

Opening the database with DAO using Visual Basic code results in error code 3343, "Unrecognized database format."

The repair attempt succeeds and we have not witnessed any data loss or dropping of primary keys, indexes, or relationships. Most cases involve where the back end file is located on a shared network drive. Some searches suggest that the latest Windows 10 update 1803 is suspect. Has anybody else encountered this?

Tasse

There are many reasons for this issue. Most likely it is your network. Connection loss/intermittence, LAN traffic, power outage, low disk space, etc. while BE was opened. Check with network IT. Be sure to never run Access on non-Windows environments, in WAN connections, hard drives/thumb drives, and internet folders (Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.). – Benevolent

Parfait, LAN traffic, disk space, Non-Windows environments, WAN, thumb drives, and internet folders have been eliminated as factors in this case. The affected systems have been stable for months or years. – Tasse

What changed in these stable systems then? Please edit post, describing your architecture and environment. How many BE/FE systems are we discussing here? How many users? MS Office version? OS version? Server version? Otherwise this question is too broad to be answerable. – Benevolent

For a potential solution without editing the registry, see: https://mcmap.net/q/1777646/-microsoft-access-database-is-in-an-inconsistent-state-duplicate – Copro

Answer 1

It has recently been reported several times. A very thorough coverage of this issue can be found here.

Strangely, the cure can - at least for some cases - be found in old support threads:

Moved to Server 2012 getting Access Database Corruption

Cannot access shared files or folders on a drive in Windows Server 2012 or Windows Server 2012 R2

Comments:

It’s a bit strange though as the patch to fix the issue is back in May 2014 which is already installed on the server.

I can only think that something in the latest Windows 10 Build 1803 has brought up the issue again as it was PC’s that are running that build were causing the problem.

The fix is adding the following entry into Vospers Server 2012 R2 registry:

Key:   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\lanmanserver\parameters
Value: DisableLeasing
Type:  DWORD
Data:  0x1

We testing this on our server and the problem went away. As soon as we changed the ‘Disable leasing’ value to ‘0’ again, the problem returned.

I can’t find a reasonable explanation yet as to why this has started to happen last week but if it works and doesn’t cause any further issues elsewhere then I’m ok with that.

Morion

Gustav, we will test your suggested registry mod. Thanks. – Tasse

I'm just referring. I haven't seen the issue myself. – Morion

Applying this suggestion appears to have resolved the "Inconsistent State' issue for us. Our clients reported no significant change to their systems, but enough of our clients ran into the issue all pretty much at the same time, which coincided with Build 1803 more or less. – Tasse

support.office.com/en-us/article/… – Preacher

Answer 2

Also note that homegroups have been removed from Win10 1803. This may affect rights on shared folders.

Lugubrious