Error 3417 is an SQL server error that appears in Windows when data files become inaccessible.

Fortunately, there are several solutions for troubleshooting this SQL error.

Here, at Bobcares our Support Engineers are handling this SQL error frequently as a part of our Server Management Services.

In this article, we’re going to show you what the “SQL server 3417 error”  looks like and how our Support Engineers help to fix it.

Let’s get to work!

Why SQL server 3417 error?

Before we look into the error details, let’s understand what MDF and NDF are?

MDF and NDF files are primary and secondary data files of a SQL server database.

Due to many reasons, these data files get infected and make them inaccessible.

Today, let’s discuss the reasons and how our Support Engineers fix it for our customers.

What are the reasons?

There are many reasons for SQL Server Error 3417 to occur. This include:

Hardware failure, Virus intrusion, changes or modification in windows settings, Improper shutdown, etc.

Let’s see how we handle such scenarios.

How we sort out SQL Server 3417 error?

Recently, one of our customers having a dedicated server approached us with SQL error 3417 as shown:

We did some basic checks like virus attack, hardware failure, etc. But that was not the reason.

Finally, we found that due to an unexpected database server shutdown, the customer was unable to start the SQL server again.

Our Support Engineers checked in detail and found that the MDF file got compressed and need to decompress it.

To decompress we followed the steps:

• We navigated to the MSSQL data folder. The default location of the MDF files was present in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data.

Note: The location of the data folder will differ based on the Windows architecture and location of installation.

• We verified the MDF files. Selected the compressed MDF file, right-click on the file, and clicked on properties.
• Next, we clicked on the advanced button and unchecked “Compress contents to save disk space” and click ok.
• Then, uncheck the compress option.

This fixed the error.

It also ensures the prevention of occurring the error in the future.

We also handled the scenarios:

1. No network permission for the Network Service account.

Network Service account and the windows user needs to have full permission for the data folder. For granting full permission, we followed the steps:

•  In the Data folder >> clicked on Security/Permission settings.
•  Then added the Network Service account.

This fixed the SQL Server error of our customer.

2. Hardware failure

One of our customers encountered SQL error 3417 due to hardware failure.

In this case, our Support Engineers restored the database from the backup.

We always make sure to restore it from the recent copy of the SQL database.

3.SQL corruption

We handled a scenario, in which the above two fixes did not work as it was due to SQL corruption. So, here we used the SQL Database Recovery tool for recovering the database to fix the error.

Our Support Engineers do all the possible checks to find a perfect fit for our customers.

[Need more assistance to solve SQL Server 3417 error? We’re available 24/7 to help you.]​

Conclusion

In short, SQL server 3417 error occurs due to many reasons including, hardware failure, unexpected database server shutdown, etc. Today, we discussed in detail how our Support Engineers fix it for our customers.