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I make a copy of an .mdb database (and it's other partition) every night, and test it by opening it up to see if it works.

By "make a copy" I mean:

  1. I kick all the users out of the database who are connected via RDP (not automated...)
  2. Rename both backend files...and then proceed to make a copy of the files. (automated...)

And by "see if it works" I mean:

  1. Relink a frontend file (.mde) to both files (this is automated)
  2. Open it (and it's other partition) with a frontend (.mde) and workgroup security file (.mdw) on my local machine to see if it works. (this is not automated, and the part I am focusing on here...)

There are only two tables in the other partition, so I run the part of the frontend file I know uses that partition to test if the backup is going to work.

Would connecting to the backup of the files and doing a query on some table in both partitions be enough to prove that the backup is good without actually looking at it with human eyes?

I have also automated the process of compacting the live database, but I don't feel safe automating this part until I have verified that the backups indeed work.

Also before I get any posts along the lines of "Why are you still using access?", let me just state that I don't get to make those decisions and this database was here a long time before I got here.

(Please Note: if you feel I have posted this on SO in error please feel free to migrate to the DBA SE or to Serverfault)

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leeand00
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  • SQL-Server has this nice feature that logs to a file when you do a backup, and then you can check it to see if anything went wrong. Access, being file-based has no such niceties that I am aware of. But I know that if someone writes to the database file while you're copying it, that generally kills your copy of the backup, which is why I rename it. – leeand00 Sep 25 '14 at 01:16
  • (Could probably change the security on it too...but it's always good to test your backups) – leeand00 Sep 25 '14 at 01:16
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    Just a thought, no research File Compare http://www.computerhope.com/fchlp.htm – Fionnuala Sep 25 '14 at 03:47

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