What to do when the Error 8910 arises in an MS SQL Server 2000 database

An extent in the SQL Server databases is a collection of eight consecutive pages, whose details are stored in an IAM (Index Allocation Map) page. An IAM page stores the details of an object and index with the information of the previous and next objects as well. However, sometimes the IAM definitions get corrupt due to issues like header corruption, virus infections, damaged hardware parts, etc. For such cases, you can adopt corrective measures to rectify the issue. If none of the measures works, then there is a need of using a professional MDF file repair software to perform MDF recovery.

Looking at a practical situation in which you encounter the following error while working on an MS SQL Server 2000 database:

“Page P_ID in database ID DB_ID is allocated to both object ID O_ID1, index ID I_ID1, and object ID O_ID2, index ID I_ID2.”

Cause:

This problem has appeared as the P_ID page is allocated to two different objects, which is incorrect.

Resolution:

This error can be addressed using the following resolving techniques:

• Fixing the hardware-related issues: Usually it has been observed that such errors are caused due to problems in the hardware parts. For this issue, you should perform the following methods to recover SQL database:

  • Checking the error logs for errors: You should check the SQL Server error logs and analyze if some error has occurred because of any hardware-related problem. If yes, then try to fix the problem.

  • Running hardware diagnostics: You should run the hardware diagnostics and check if any error arises while doing so. If yes, then try to correct any such errors.

  • Swapping the hardware components: You should try to swap the hardware parts to see if the problem appears or not. If the problem does not appear after doing so, then the issue is solved.

• Using the database backup: If the hardware parts are perfectly in order, then you should check the status of the database backup. If it is updated, then you can use it by replacing the database with the backup.

• Running DBCC CHECKDB: You can also use the DBCC CHECKDB utility with the suggested repair clause to fix the damaged database.

These methods should bring normalcy to the SQL database failing which you should use a third-party MS SQL Server recovery software. Rich user interface, non-destructive scanning algorithms, and the ability to recover MDF file objects are some of the features of these SQL recovery tools.