Q: When I start RTG Bills or RTG Timer Version 1, I get an error message that says the MDB file is corrupted or isn't a Microsoft Access database. Then the program exits. Do I need to restore the database from a backup?

A: Probably not. This problem can occur if your PC crashes while you are using RTG Bills or RTG Timer. In spite of the scary message, the database probably isn't "corrupted" -- it just wasn't closed properly because RTG Bills or RTG Timer couldn't exit normally.

Since you can't start RTG Bills or RTG Timer, you can't use the File > Repair Database command, which would fix the problem. Current versions of these programs usually handle this situation automatically, but there may be some circumstances which are not detected properly. We suggest you download the file Repair.exe and run it in the directory where the "corrupted" database file is located (e.g., C:\Rtgbills).

To download the repair program, just click here. The program is very short and should download quickly. Remember to move Repair.exe into the directory (or "folder") which has the problem MDB file.

The repair program looks for both Rtgbills.mdb and Rtgtimer.mdb. If it finds either one, it tries to open the database and it tells you if it was successful. If an error occurs, it tries to repair it. You will know if it succeeded, because RTG Bills or RTG Timer will work again.

If the repair program cannot fix the problem, perhaps the database really is corrupted. This can happen if you have hardware problems which cause errors on the hard disk. We suggest you send us a message with the details.