What are some solutions for a corrupted MS Project file with 6000+ tasks?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around potential solutions for recovering a corrupted MS Project file containing over 6000 tasks. Participants explore various methods for data recovery, file manipulation, and troubleshooting techniques, focusing on retaining original task identifiers and addressing compatibility issues between different versions of MS Project.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested
  • Experimental/applied

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes their attempts to recover a corrupted MS Project file, including various standard fixes that did not succeed and a method involving exporting to an MDB file and attempting to retain original TASK_UIDs, which ultimately failed.
  • Another participant shares their experience of writing a VB.NET program to extract data directly from an MPP file, suggesting that while the MPP format is complex, it is possible to retrieve tasks and dependencies.
  • A third participant provides links to Microsoft support resources related to opening MPP files from different versions and migration issues, indicating these might be relevant to the problem at hand.
  • One suggestion involves setting TASK_ID as the primary key in the MSP_TASKS table and reopening the MDB in Project, which could potentially recover the tasks with expected UIDs, though this remains an assumption that requires validation.
  • Another participant mentions a general troubleshooting step of using the Detect and Repair feature in Microsoft Project, noting that it addresses installation issues rather than personal project files.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of approaches and suggestions for recovery, with no consensus reached on a definitive solution. Some methods proposed are based on personal experience, while others reference external resources, indicating a range of opinions and techniques without agreement on effectiveness.

Contextual Notes

Participants acknowledge the complexity of the MPP file format and the challenges associated with data recovery, including the importance of retaining original identifiers. There are also limitations regarding the inability to share the file with external recovery specialists due to security constraints.

nietoramos
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I have a MS Project 03 mpp with 6000+ tasks that has become corrupted. We can still open and work with the file in Proj03, but it will not open in Proj07, which has now become our standard version.
I have tried all of the standard fixes without success (compact by saving on open, export to mpd/mdb/xml and reimport).
I was able to import the project to a new mpp file successfully, but this results in the assignment of new TASK_UIDs. It is important that we retain the original UIDs: I hit upon the idea of exporting the mpp to an mdb, using TASK_ID as a join field, updating TASK_UID to the corresponding TASK_UID in the corrupted file in all MSP_* tables in which TASK_UID appears, and then importing the result back into Project. This also failed, but I'm not sure why - only about a dozen of the original 6000+ records were imported back to Project.
We do have daily backups of the file but so far have not been able to determine when the corruption occurred. It was not within the past couple of months, which means that there have been countless edits to the file since the last good version was saved.
If anybody has any further suggestions I'd appreciate hearing them. Unfortunately, because this file resides in a secure environment it is not possible to turn it over to outside recovery specialists.
 
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Many years ago I wrote a VB.NET program to get data directly out of an MPP file, without doing any export, because of a similar problem. The MPP format is just unbelievably nasty but it CAN be conquered. That would be a lot of work, but it would allow you to extract all of the tasks and dependencies and possibly tell which are corrupted.
 
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HI,

Set TASK_ID in MSP_TASKS to primary key and then re-open the mdb in Project. Now the tasks are all will there and will have the expected UIDs, so it seems will be work: you need to validate the file thoroughly.

May thus be able to recover it. this is just my assumption. it is necessary to test all methods. only pre-make a backup copy of the file!
 
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Read more about on this topic. maybe this information will come in handy.
http://community.office365.com/en-us/f/158/t/255273.aspx
 
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Thank you guys for your feedback and help. Sorry, that long time did not respond. This is because the issue was solved and I forgot to tell.) Thank you!
 
I often use this statement.

1 On the Help menu, click Detect and Repair.

To restore program shortcuts to the Windows Start menu, make sure to select the Restore my shortcuts while repairing check box.

2 Click Start.

Notes: This procedure detects and repairs problems associated with the installation of Microsoft Project, such as registry settings and missing installation files. It does not repair personal files, such as project files or templates.

If this procedure does not fix the problem, you may need to reinstall Microsoft Project.
 

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