Sometimes when you copy files from one storage device to another or download them from the internet, they might get corrupted owing to many reasons like incomplete downloads, faulty data cable or erratic power supply unit in your computer. I recently got my MP3 files corrupted due to a faulty cable. Fortunately, there is a program called MP3 Validator which can help you fix and repair the corrupted MP3 files.
MP3 Validator is an open-source application that can be used to check the integrity of MPEG audio files integrity. It is also called MP3val. It is a small, high-speed, free software tool for finding corrupted files (e.g. incompletely downloaded, truncated, containing garbage). MP3val is also able to fix most of the problems. Being a multiplatform application, MP3val can be run both under Windows and under Linux (or BSD). The most common MPEG audio file type is MPEG 1 Layer III (popularly known as MP3), but MP3val supports also other MPEG versions and layers. The tool is also aware of the most common types of tags (ID3v1, ID3v2, APEv2).
You can download MP3val from its sourceforge website. It is an open-source application, so you can download its source code as well. For running the program in Windows, you need to download the Windows binary edition. The download is a portable program, so you do not have to install it and can start using it right-away.
The MP3val application is very easy to use. You can click on the add buttons in the toolbar to add a single MP3 file or an entire folder of MP3 files. Then click on the magnifying-glass icon in the toolbar to start scanning the added MP3 files. If an MP3 file is corrupt, you would see a Problem state for it, else it would show an OK state. If you find an MP3 file with problems, then just click on the gear like icon in the toolbar to start repairing/fixing them. The state of the repaired files should now change from Problem to Fixed. MP3val makes a backup of the original file before fixing it.
MP3 Validator (or MP3val in short) is a simple, small and very useful tool for MP3 collectors. You can easily scan, fix and repair all the MP3 files on your hard disk in a single click. You can download MP3 Validator from its web site at http://mp3val.sourceforge.net/.