Methods to Fix SQL Server Database Error 5171 Manually

 

All About SQL Server

Before explaining you anything I would like to tell you SQL Server save the data in the form of pages known as MDF database. Every page has a particular size, 8KB. The first page is the file header page that has important information about the MDF file like file signature, file size, compatibility, etc.

And other left pages contain other information which includes the page allocation information and the real data. If the header page or any other page in the MDF database gets damaged due to any reason, SQL Server fails to recall the database file. Hence, you face Microsoft SQL Server error 5171.

MS SQL Server Error 5171

Don’t get panic if you are facing trouble in the SQL server, it is common. The problem you may face is it will affect the MDF working and database. And due to database corruption in SQL Server, there are chances for data loss.

Common Reasons for SQL Server Error

1. Virus Infection: One of the main reasons is the Virus attack. Due to the Virus attack system get to spoil, and it may spoil the MDF Database as well.
2. Power Failure: Sometimes while we are working on MDF Database and unknowingly power failure occurs, this may face corruption in the file.
3. Hard Disk Crash: If the system hard disk gets damaged or gets corrupted due to any reason. This will affect our MDF files also.

Here, are two conditions where SQL error 5171 occurs and how you can fix the error.

Method – 1 The Database Corruption in Mirrored Databases

Step 1: First, set the database principal and modify the MDF file information by using the “ALTER DATABASE MODIFY FILE” command.

Step 2: Stop the currently running instance of SQL Server. As done in the screenshot.

Step 3: After that, copy the MDF and LDF files to a different directory.

Step 4: Finally, restart the SQL Server and attach both MDF and LDF files.

Method 2 – Updation of SQL Server is improper

One condition where the  SQL Server 5171 error occurs is that, if you are working on SQL Server 2014. So you have to update your SQL Server 2016 to separate the MDF Database. After completing the installation successfully, now you can attach the MDF database again by adding the primary and secondary data files.

Or you can use command “sp_attach_db”  to fix the SQL error 5171. The same way as you can see in the screenshot.

I would suggest you even after performing these manual tricks, if your problem is not solved then you have to be smarter and go with the expert tool solution that will help you a lot as there is numerous software available in the market.

In my knowledge, there is a tool introduced by SysInfoTools SQL database recovery software to fix this SQL Server error code 5171. It is a very effective application that can repair the corrupted MDF file and fix this error message. You can even go with the free trial version of the tool.

Suggested Reads: 
How to Fix SQL Server Error 8942

Fix Database Consistency Error in SQL Server

Conclusion

In this article, it is explained that the SQL database can get damaged because of database mirroring and during the attaching MDF file in an upgraded SQL Server.  But, with the help of SQL Database Recovery Tool, this problem can be resolved easily. You should be wise while using tools. Hope this article helps you to solve your problem.