Here I’ll talk about my experience of using Stellar Repair for MS SQL. The software can recover a corrupted SQL database (MDF) file. I’ll share my thoughts on the whole process of recovering a corrupt/damaged SQL database using the software. I’ll show you how that can be done.
The installation of the software is pretty easy. I didn’t find any difficulty in installing the setup. I can say that the software interface is quite user-friendly. It uses a ribbon menu. So, if you use any Microsoft product, it’ll be very familiar to work with.
In the menu, you will see the following options:
The interface is clean and easy to follow. Now let’s see how we can recover a damaged MDF file.
After launching the software, this will be the first screen:
Then, click on select database to select the database file to recover. It is to be noted that you can only choose one file to recover.
After choosing the database file, you can start the recovery process with Standard or Advanced scan. I used both the options in my POC. They worked perfectly and brought back my corrupted database, and even recovered the deleted data.
The Scan depending on the size of the MDF file can take some time, especially if you choose the Advanced mode. But you can see the progress in the progress bar during the scan.
After that, you can preview the objects recovered from the MDF file.
And this is the best part. You can save the whole database into a new one to compare objects or save individual objects that you need.
In the Save menu, you can choose the option to create a new database, save in an existing database, or other format (csv file, xls file, or html).
One downside of the software is that it can only work with one recovery at a time. If possible, it should be permitted to open two MDF files at the same time to do the recovery in parallel.
Here just for a better understading. It would be interesting if it shows the Database Name instead of the path of the MDF file.
One thing that bothers me after recovery is that when I want to check the rows from a table, there is no option to select just TOP N rows.
For bigger tables, it took a long time to process and I was stuck viewing the table until it’s done.
For database objects, it would be great if it has a SAVE SELECTED ITEMS or even a SAVE BUTTON just for the object. For instance, if I want to save the DDL for this stored procedure, I have to copy and paste elsewhere.
If I want to open two instances of Stellar Repair for MS SQL to do work in parallel, it can’t be done.
It would be great if it is possible to open more than one window as it will save a lot of time if I have more than one database to work in a recovery situation.
In addition, saving the database to a new one should allow me to choose a name.
Besides a few improvements in the design of the product, the software works perfectly. It can recover databases no matter what is the problem – if it’s a deleted table, a wrong drop of tables, a corrupted database file, or even an encrypted data file.
Stellar Repair for MS SQL recovered and saved the data for us quickly and without much effort from the DBA.
Also Read:
