Cannot open mxd !! help appreciated

Question

Hi all,

I cannot open a mxd containing the basis for my work.

In the original mxd the data included was located on a database that I accessed via a database connection.

Recently the data on the original database was transferred to a new database, and this was when my troubles began.

Now I can't open the mxd.... not good.... If I try it just says "loading" for hours and hours

I suspect that it is because when loading the project arcmap doesn't respond because all the data links/paths are not pointing to anything (but shouldn't Arcmap just open and give me grey squares with red marks??).

If I create a new mxd I can access the new database but given the hours spend on my projects I would like to use my old mxd...

I tried to run the mxd-doctor without any success - it is just running "loading" for hours without anything happening

Any Ideas on how to solve this ??

Best regards,

Kristian

Reynaldde_Castro · Answer

Open up the 'MXD Doctor' app under ArcGIS/Desktop Tools.  That might give you an idea what's going on.

JakeSkinner · Answer

Hi Kristian,

You can set the data sources to the new geodatabase by right-click on the MXD in the catalog window > Set Data Sources.  By default, this will create a copy of the MXD:

Just rename the output to the same name if you want to replace the existing MXD.  After setting the data sources to the new geodatabase, see if the MXD will open successfully.