How to Read MDF Files?

Microsoft SQL Server is an extensively used application to manage databases. This software application is widely used in many big and small set ups. In fact, it has almost become an indispensable part of many organizations worldwide. It is a stable and strong tool that stores the information in .MDF files.

Let’s consider two common scenarios that people come across while using Microsoft SQL Server:

Case 1: MDF files corrupt and user needs to read those corrupted MDF files and recover the data from them.
Though safe, MDF files of SQL Server are still susceptible to corruption in some adverse circumstances. Various unforeseen reasons can cause corruption in the MDF files like cache problem, hard disk failure, improper system shut down, invalid database file header, internal program errors etc. Sadly, these causes cannot be avoided as, most of the time, they are sudden and unanticipated. Data loss is a common outcome of such corruption that can result in serious damage because the mission-critical MDF files are largely used to store data like clients’ information, inventory details and other such important information. Mostly, when MDF files corrupt, users are unable to get an access to them and it becomes impossible for the users to read MDF files.

Case 2: A user is holding some SQL data in an external storage device and he wants to read MDF file data on a system where SQL Server is not installed.
This is also a common case when a user, holding some SQL data in an external storage media, wants to read SQL file to view SQL database. But, SQL Server is not installed on the machine where he needs to view the MDF file.

Now, how to read MDF files in these two common problematic scenarios?
In these scenarios, the user would need a third-party software to read MDF files. SysTools SQL Recovery software is one such tool that acts as an MDF file reader. It can not only read MDF files but also recover corrupted MDF file data.