Fix a corrupt history database for WatchFTP

When your computer abruptly shuts down or crashes, it can happen WatchFTP's history database becomes corrupt. Your task can not run anymore.

When this has happened you will typically get a message about SQL Errors (can not select from the housekeeping table). When you start the WatchFTP control center it tries to fix this but sometimes it needs a little help.

How to fix this issue

You will need to delete the current (corrupt) database, here is how:

• Open the WatchFTP Control Center
• Make sure the problem task is stopped
• Right-click the task and select "Explore Task Directory" from the popup menu. This will open Windows Explorer, typically inside (a subdirectory of) "C:\ProgramData\WatchFTP"
• Make sure you are in a subdirectory with the same name of the task
• Delete all files with names that start with "history", it is typically only one but there could be a few
• Stop the WatchFTP Control Center and start it again, this will create a new (empty) history database

After this, your task should run fine again.

 

Please note this will not work for WatchDirectory. A future blog will explain how to fix a WatchDirectory corrupt database.