SQL server backup restore issue

Question

Asking this question for a friend of mine.

My client had send me a Back up file of a database in SQL Server 2008.

I installed SQL Server 2008 Express Edition.

Then i tried to Restore the given Back file with this but unfortunately its throwing an error

"The media family on device is incorrectly formed . SQL Server can not process this media family.RESTORE HEADER ONLY is terminating abnormally .(Microsoft SQL Server, Error 3241)"

I searched for this error and evry where they says may be the back up might be corrupted.

But my client is able to restore the same at their end.

Any idea?

Answer 1

Have you applied the latest service packs to your copy of SQL Server 2008? Try that, and then do a RESTORE HEADERONLY command in Sql Enterprise manager. That will give you the properties of the file you're trying to backup. Is your client using Express Edition as well?

Answer 2

It is possible that the backup file became corrupt during transit.

I would suggest that the client either:

• re-send the database backup file
• or create another one.

It may also be pertinent to suggest to the client that when creating the Database Backup they use the CHECKSUM option to validate the contents of the backup file that is produced.

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CHECKSUM

Enables backup checksums, so that BACKUP can do the following:

1. Prior to writing a page to the backup media, BACKUP verifies the page (page checksum or torn page), if this information is present on the page.

2. Regardless of whether page checksums are present, BACKUP generates a separate backup checksum for the backup streams. Restore operations can optionally use the backup checksum to validate that the backup is not corrupted. The backup checksum is stored on the backup media, not on the database pages. The backup checksum can optionally be used at restore time.

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References

SQL Server Books Online - Backup Database