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

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A Microsoft Project 2003 file with over 6000 tasks has become corrupted, allowing access in Project 2003 but not in Project 2007. Standard fixes, including exporting to different formats and re-importing, have failed to retain original TASK_UIDs, which are crucial for the project. An attempt to update TASK_UIDs in an MDB file and re-import resulted in only a few records being restored. Daily backups exist, but the corruption's timing is unclear, complicating recovery efforts. A suggestion was made to set TASK_ID as the primary key in the MSP_TASKS table to facilitate recovery, emphasizing the need for thorough validation of the file. Additionally, standard troubleshooting steps like using the Detect and Repair function in Microsoft Project were mentioned, along with the possibility of reinstalling the software if issues persist. The complexity of the MPP file format presents challenges, but there are methods to extract data directly from the file.
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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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