The Media Family on Device is Incorrectly Formed.

Applies to: SQL Server 2005 Express Edition.

Error Message.
 

We were trying to restore a database from a backup file using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), but SSMS raised the following error message:

An exception occurred while executing a Transact-SQL statement or batch. (Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo)

Additional information:

The media family on device 'Backupfile.bak' is incorrectly formed. SQL Server cannot process this media family.
RESTORE HEADERONLY is terminating abnormally. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 3241)

Problem Description.
 

A friend transferred a backup file (with the extension .BAK) of a SQL Server 2005 Express database from a web hosting to his PC using File Transfer Protocol (ftp). As soon as the transfer finished, he tried to restore the database on his PC using SSMS but he got the above error message.

Cause.

The backup was corrupted. The file file was transferred using FTP in text mode rather than binary mode.

 

Solution.

The backup file was transferred again using FTP in binary mode. Then the restore operation was successful.

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