Verify Data Integrity is the health check built into PCLaw. It reads through your books looking for records that are damaged, indexes that are out of step, and balances that do not match the transactions behind them. Used properly it catches problems early. Used carelessly, on data that is already badly damaged, it can make a recovery harder. This is how to use it properly.
What it does
The check has several options, each covering a different area of the data, and some of them repair what they find. That is the important point: it is not purely a read-only test. Options that reset or recalculate balances change your data.
For that reason, the first rule is always the same: back up first.
How to run it safely
- Ask everyone to exit PCLaw. The check needs the data to itself. If someone is still in, PCLaw may ask them to leave, and tables in use cannot be checked properly.
- Take a backup, and give the file a name with today's date so it cannot be confused with the nightly one. See our PCLaw backup guide.
- Log in as an administrator at the server, or at a wired workstation close to it. Do not run it over Wi-Fi or a remote VPN link.
- Open the Tools menu and choose Verify Data Integrity.
- Select the options to check. For a routine check, select them all.
- Let it finish. On a large database it can take an hour or more. Do not close PCLaw or restart the computer partway through.
- Save or print the report, even when it is clean. A history of reports is very useful later.
How often
- Monthly, before month-end, as routine.
- Before a year-end close, an upgrade, or a migration.
- After a server crash, a power cut, or any time PCLaw was closed abnormally while people were working.
- Whenever reports that should agree stop agreeing.
Reading the results
No errors. The data passed. Keep the report.
Errors found and corrected. Run the check a second time. A clean second pass means the problem was real and has been repaired. Note the date, and keep the first report so there is a record of what was wrong.
The same errors on the second pass. The repair is not holding. Do not keep running it. Go to "When to stop" below.
New or different errors each time. Something is damaging the data as you go: often a failing disk, a faulty network connection, or software interfering with the files. This is urgent.
The check stops, freezes or crashes at the same point. It has reached a record it cannot read. Note which option was running and how far it got.
When to stop and call
Stop, and do not run the check again, if:
- The same errors return after a repair.
- The number of errors grows from one run to the next.
- The check cannot complete.
- Balances have changed after a run and you cannot explain why.
- Errors appear together with any of the five warning signs of a failing database.
Each repair pass rewrites parts of the data. On a database with deeper damage, repeated passes can overwrite information that would have allowed a full repair. Keep the backup you made before the first run. It is the most valuable copy you have.
Common questions
Can I run it during the day? No. Everyone must be out for the whole run, so schedule it for the evening.
Does it fix everything? No. It handles common inconsistencies well. Structural damage, the kind caused by a failed disk or an interrupted upgrade, needs repair at database level.
We use PCLaw Enterprise on SQL Server. Do we still need it? Yes, and you also need SQL Server's own integrity check (DBCC CHECKDB) running on a schedule. The two look at different things: one checks that the accounting data makes sense, the other that the database files are physically sound.
It reported errors, but everything seems to work. Can we ignore it? No. Errors that are harmless today are how unreadable databases begin.
If it will not come clean
Send us the reports and we will tell you what they mean. Where the data needs repair, our PCLaw data recovery team works on a copy, checks the result against your financial reports, and returns a database that passes cleanly. For routine health checks and maintenance, see our PCLaw support service, or contact us.