Anyone know how to get by password protection on a doc?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eric Gilmore
  • Start date Start date
E

Eric Gilmore

For a good few years now I have been keeping my 'diary'
or journal in MS Word, and not long ago I put password
protection on each doc to foil a rather snoopy girlfriend.

She's not around now, and neither are the passwords -- in
my memory, that is. The prompt comes up as designed when
I try to open the doc, and I can't open to read or do
anything.

Is there any way to crack this, and reset the security in
such a case with forgotten doc-level passwords? I'd
really appreciate the help if anyone knows. Half the
value of a journal is to go back and see what an idiot
you used to be . . .

Thanks,

EG
 
There are some password cracking utilities out there but the success
rate depends on what you used for the password and those that actually
work aren't free.

I created a password that contained numbers, symbols and alpha
characters both upper case and lower case, no words which can be found
in the dictionary, and used 9 characters.

I tested some popular password cracking software which claims they can
crack a password of any length provided it is a dictionary word, and
up to 9 characters using brute force. I let the utility run on a PC I
wasn't using for 123 hours, 49 minutes, and 5 seconds. It never
cracked the password - I finally gave up!

Also note that the utility uses so many resources it's next to
impossible to run additional software while it is running.

Something else to keep in mind, if you purchase such a utility you are
giving your credit card number to a known crack. <g>


--
Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
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