Rectifying Error 5242 and recovering corrupt database in SQL Server 2008

A page is the most primitive unit of storage in an MS SQL Server database. The memory space allotted to a database file is divided into pages having contiguous address location. An Index Allocation Map (IAM) is a page type that stores the details about the extents used by a table per allocation unit. However, sometimes these pages do not function properly because of database corruption. You should take appropriate corrective measures to recover SQL database. However, if you are not able to restore the database then you should use a third-party SQL recovery software to do the needful for you.

Consider a scenario wherein you encounter the following error message while working on an SQL Server 2008 database table:

“An inconsistency was detected during an internal operation in database '%.*ls'(ID:%d) on page %S_PGID. Please contact technical support. Reference number %ld.”

Cause:

The root cause of this error message is that some inconsistency has occurred in the structure of the database page. It could have happened because of various reasons such as virus infections, abrupt system shutdown, hardware issues, etc.

Resolution:

To resolve this erroneous situation, you should perform either of the following methods, preferably in the given order:

Check for hardware issues: You should check the hardware components and the report logs to check whether the issue has occurred because of any hardware malfunctions. You should also swap the hardware components to isolate the error. Last but not the least, you can also consider reformatting the hard disks and reinstalling the operating system.

Restore from backup: If the issue is not hardware related, then you should check the backup of the database. If it is clean and updated, then restore the database from its backup.

Run DBCC CHECKDB: If the backup is not clean or updated, then you should run the DBCC CHECKDB utility without the repair clause to know the corruption level. Then, you should the run it with the suggested repair clause.

The aforementioned methods should be able to bring about the solution to the problem. However, if you are not able to repair the corrupted database then you should use a third-party SQL database recovery software to do the needful. Such read-only tools are able to recover SQL database using fast yet sophisticated scanning algorithms.

Stellar Phoenix SQL Database Recovery is an MS SQL recovery software that repairs the corrupted databases created in SQL Server 2008, 2005, and 2000. It is able to recover various database objects such as tables, queries, stored procedures, triggers, defaults, etc. In addition, this SQL server repair tool is able to recover the user-defined functions and data types. It is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and Server 2000.