The file header is the bank of relevant information, whose absence or corruption can make the file inaccessible. For even the MDF file, which is the prime repository of data for SQL Server, the header corruption can occur with regard of many reasons ranging from virus attack to application faults. The situation is weird and hard to digest for the database administrator.

However, in this case, you may get error messages like the following:

“The file header is corrupted and is not a valid database file”

Or

“Msg 5172, Level 16, State 15, Line 1
The header for file ‘D:\DbName\DbFileName.mdf’ is not a valid database file header.  The <attribute> property is incorrect.”

Most of the reports say that these error messages occur when the user tries to attach the MDF file to SQL Server.

The file header of MDF is corrupt. So you can try out attaching the file by some other methods, instead trying it directly. Try to create the similar database and then swap the corrupt files after shutting down the SQL service. After this, you can attempt to extract all the valuable information from the database by putting it into the emergency mode.

If the results are not expected then this is better to look for the SQL repair solutions to have the valuable information back. This is quite good if you have the proper backup of the database as this would be the SQL recovery cure without the assistance of external help. However, for the users who don’t have the backup, MDF recovery tools are here at your door.

These MDF repair applications have the power to scan the corrupted database with much efficiency with the use of efficient scanning algorithms. With the ability to provide interactive user interface, these SQL recovery software benefit the users who use different file versions of SQL Server.

Stellar Phoenix SQL Database Recovery software does the splendid job in repairing and restoring the corrupted database. This MDF repair utility comes with the worth feature which are valuable for getting the results. Read-only and non-destructive nature of this SQL repair utility assures you safe recovery in all instances of corruption.

The software is applicable to SQL Server 2000 and creates the script files after SQL recovery. You can have SQL repair for all the database objects like tables, triggers, stored procedures and so on.