Larry Linson - Module Password

[Bob Barnes]

Larry - I've been unable to Post/ Reply for over 2 days.

Details from 2 days ago. I tried, what was thought to be the Password to
the Modules for an Access App given to me by the Client, but it kicked out as
Invalid password.

I tried this offsite so the links to the Back-end fail (I have only the
Front-end offsite).
I'll be at the Client Sunday afternoon to test the Password again. Don't
know if the links failing voids the password login.

IF it's the incorrect Password, the Client needs me to get to the code. I
understand there's 3rd-party software to do that on this MDB.

How would you get to the code??

TIA - Bob

 

[Larry Linson]

Bob,

All the information I found on the subject came from searching the Internet
and pursuing leads I found. But I caution that I have done no exploration or
examination of "cracks" that apply specifically to the VBA modules in Access
2000 and later versions -- which seems to be what you need. The name of one
very accomplished cracker is included in the Resources list of an obsolete
website that was still available the last time I checked:
http://ntaccess.tripod.com, not least because he also creates some very good
Access tools and utilities. He has, for the record, given it up as a business
venture.

I am unwilling to be more specific than that in a public newsgroup. The
primary reason I post any information on the subject is as a caution/warning
that Access developers should not rely on Access' security for any
application or data that is important to them; I do not publish it to be of
assistance to anyone in breaking security.

It is rare for me to contact posters directly, but that is a moot point, as
there is no way for me to contact you directly since you posted through the
online user interface (which I had to use to see your message, as it did not
appear in the newsgroup via my Outlook Express) and did not include contact
information. I would not even have known you posted this, except that a
fellow MVP forwarded me your message. Also, I will not be in the newsgroups
very much over the weekend. Newsgroups are not a very effective means of
person-to-person communication.

On this, as many other issues, "Google is your friend."

 

[Bob Barnes]

Larry - Thank you.

I have been Googling today. It includes a below reference ..I'll have to
try one of these. We do have a 6-month-old backup w/ the module code, but
there have been too many changes since then. Looks like the best choice will
be a 3rd-party software.

If you can think of anything else (I'm lucky it's MDB, and not MDE), please
let us know. Thanks again - Bob

From Google...
Visual Basic Modules passwords

Starting with MS Access 2000 Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) modules can
be also protected with a password. VBA passwords are encrypted and stored in
the database file. Encryption is reversible and it is recommended to convert
the database into an 'MDE' format, making you proprietary code harder to
decompile.

Security gone awry

MS Access help file states: '.if you lose or forget your password, it can't
be recovered, and you won't be able to open your database.' If you still need
to open your database, try

http://www.LostPassword.com.

The site has password recovery tools for the most popular office software,
ranging from MS Access to FileMaker and from MS Word to WordPerfect.

Access Key is a Password Recovery Kit module that recovers both database and
user-level security accounts passwords. There's also an Access Security
Recovery service (available for legal owners/copyright holders only) that
comes handy if a Workgroup Information File is lost or corrupted. You can
find more info at http://ref.lostpassword.com/access.htm?900407

Dmitry Sumin,
Security Expert, Passware

 

[posted_by_anonymous]

Sorry, Larry, you may be too timid to give Bob the link, but he'll find Serge
Gavrilov at accesstools.narod.ru and Serge's stuff works, and the one Bob
wants is free.

 

[Bob Barnes]

Thank you.

I already bought from lostpassword.com. It WORKED.

The small $$$ I paid was well-worth getting the Client
back on course.