If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Password Crack
And since the file was protected in the first place, maybe you shouldn't be
trying to break into it. -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] "Peter Foldes" wrote in message ... Maybe you can ask the person that set the password. That will be free -- Peter Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged. "Eric Fehlhaber" wrote in message ... Does anyone know of any software that can crack a password protected .xls file for free? I found this one... http://www.elcomsoft.com/aopr.html I don't think it's worth it for one document though. Thanks Eric |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP] wrote...
And since the file was protected in the first place, maybe you shouldn't be trying to break into it. .... Then again if the file was created by person A at work, legally the file would belong to A's employer. If A quit or was fired and is unable or unwilling to give the password, and if the OP works for A's former employer, the OP would have the legal right to crack the password. That's the most common scenario claimed by people asking how to open password-protected Excel workbooks, at least in the Excel newsgroups. If it weren't legal to crack some files, it's hard to imagine why the people providing the service for a fee aren't all in prison by now. |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
You mean that's what they *say* is the situation. I'm a skeptic. If it was
that situation, I'd think there'd have been some mention of the situation. But when I read "What do you think of this password crack?" or "Where can I find a free crack?", I don't immediately think, "Gee, some poor employer is getting done over by a disgruntled former employee!" -- JoAnn Paules MVP Microsoft [Publisher] "Harlan Grove" wrote in message ups.com... JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP] wrote... And since the file was protected in the first place, maybe you shouldn't be trying to break into it. ... Then again if the file was created by person A at work, legally the file would belong to A's employer. If A quit or was fired and is unable or unwilling to give the password, and if the OP works for A's former employer, the OP would have the legal right to crack the password. That's the most common scenario claimed by people asking how to open password-protected Excel workbooks, at least in the Excel newsgroups. If it weren't legal to crack some files, it's hard to imagine why the people providing the service for a fee aren't all in prison by now. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
On Thu, 11 Aug 2005 01:51:46 +0100, JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP] wrote
(in article ): You mean that's what they *say* is the situation. I'm a skeptic. If it was that situation, I'd think there'd have been some mention of the situation. But when I read "What do you think of this password crack?" or "Where can I find a free crack?", I don't immediately think, "Gee, some poor employer is getting done over by a disgruntled former employee!" I'm with Jo on this one - I wouldn't assist anyone in cracking a passworded document even if they say their intentions are honourable - I don't want to be party to any nefarious dealings. I believe it was Beth who said that she was once asked to crack a file and it turned out to be someone's personal journal. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Take a look at
http://www.mcgimpsey.com/excel/fileandvbapwords.html for a link to a less expensive solution. In article , "Eric Fehlhaber" wrote: Does anyone know of any software that can crack a password protected .xls file for free? I found this one... http://www.elcomsoft.com/aopr.html I don't think it's worth it for one document though. Thanks Eric |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
FWIW, I think JoAnn was rather out of line on this one. Assuming that
someone (who, BTW, posted under a real name and email address and who has been a relatively frequent poster to many groups) is "nefarious" is pretty harsh, not to mention horribly paternalistic. Just based on my experience, it's far more likely that the OP has forgotten the password on his own important file than that he was trying to do something illegal - there was nothing in the original post to indicate one way or the other, though the circumstantial evidence seems heavily weighted toward legitimacy. (I don't know where JoAnn's "You mean that's what they *say* is the situation" comes from, since the OP *didn't* say.) Unfortunately, XL's password protection is a sham. It ill-serves users to withhold commonly available tools - it may even lead them to think that XL's password protections are reliable, when they most definitely are not. I assist people on these groups because I like to, not because of what they might do with it. I'm not going to withhold commonly available information about passwords from a user just because they might be dishonest, any more than I worry about whether someone uses that nifty SUMPRODUCT() formula that I gave them to further their embezzlement. I've posted a method of bypassing internal password controls to my site as a convenience - the macro was being posted several times a week to the newsgroups anyway, so anyone with the sense to Google could find them. Likewise, if the OP had chosen to Google for a password crack, he'd have found hundreds of posts recommending cheap commercial solutions for file passwords (I don't know of any free ones that are worth anything for reasonably long passwords). In article , Sarah Balfour wrote: I'm with Jo on this one - I wouldn't assist anyone in cracking a passworded document even if they say their intentions are honourable - I don't want to be party to any nefarious dealings. I believe it was Beth who said that she was once asked to crack a file and it turned out to be someone's personal journal. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
JoAnn Paules [MSFT MVP] wrote...
You mean that's what they *say* is the situation. I'm a skeptic. If it was that situation, I'd think there'd have been some mention of the situation. But when I read "What do you think of this password crack?" or "Where can I find a free crack?", I don't immediately think, "Gee, some poor employer is getting done over by a disgruntled former employee!" .... Some requests are obviously illegal, e.g., "where can I download Office for free?" When I feel like replying to those requests, I point out they're illegal. Password cracking isn't necessarily illegal. Why assume OPs have illegal intent? |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
"Harlan Grove" wrote in:
Password cracking isn't necessarily illegal. Why assume OPs have illegal intent? Why assume they don't have illegal intent? It seems to me you'd have to at least consider the possibility of illegal intent and there's no way to tell on Usenet if you're being told the truth or a story, is there? -- David R. Norton MVP |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
David R. Norton MVP wrote...
"Harlan Grove" wrote in: Password cracking isn't necessarily illegal. Why assume OPs have illegal intent? Why assume they don't have illegal intent? It seems to me you'd have to at least consider the possibility of illegal intent and there's no way to tell on Usenet if you're being told the truth or a story, is there? No, there's no way to prove anyone else's intentions, on Usenet or in the real world. So does one walk around assuming everyone else is a criminal? so, for those whose first impression is that everyone else is a criminal, how should one deal with the OP's request? Certainly not provide the requested advice. That won't do! Remain silent (i.e., just don't reply)? For the busy-body sorts, that won't do either! The obvious answer is to become a net-nanny! How silly of me not to have realized that. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
What benefit to anyone is there in presuming illegal intent, given that
the cracks are commonly available and cheap? Especially since the OP, in this case, presumably used his real name and address, despite MS's warnings not to? If one presumes illegal intent, what should be done about such posts - does one have a duty to report solicitation to commit a crime? To what jurisdiction? Does one also have to report anyone who answers as a co-conspirator? IMO, it's better to freely admit that Office document protection schemes are not secure, and direct people to the available information. At the very least, being honest about the "security" of Office documents may educate the OP and lurkers that they shouldn't rely on Office protection for documents in which confidentiality is important. The presumption of illegal intent simply slows, or prevents, the ability of legitimate users to recover documents. In article , "David R. Norton MVP" wrote: Why assume they don't have illegal intent? It seems to me you'd have to at least consider the possibility of illegal intent and there's no way to tell on Usenet if you're being told the truth or a story, is there? |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Password Crack | Eric Fehlhaber | General Discussion | 68 | August 25th, 2005 12:52 PM |
How hard is it to crack a password that's been set for a Word or . | Jennifer | General Discussion | 2 | April 20th, 2005 10:10 PM |
excel password crack | bobf | General Discussion | 3 | April 14th, 2005 01:57 PM |
Can't save password in Account field | dgprice | Outlook Express | 3 | February 2nd, 2005 01:17 AM |
Changing dsn connection information (Password) | Mike N | Worksheet Functions | 2 | December 3rd, 2003 08:04 PM |