Forgotten Password

[sobershea]

I have a lot of very old Excel files with passwords, saved several years ago and of course I don't remember what password I used. I found this online:

When it come to simple protection passwords, Accent OFFICE Password Recovery can instantly find or delete such passwords of any Excel version. As regards strong password protection, the program always performs the search at the maximum speed of the computer.

Has anyone used this product, or any other, with success?

These are files that I could probably delete, but I'd like to open them first to be sure. You know, curiosity killed the cat.

TIA

[HansV]

I haven't used it, but I've read some positive reviews.
Are they .xls workbooks (Office 97-2003), or .xlsx/.xlsm/.xlsb (Office 2007 and later)?

[sobershea]

Hi Hans, the files are Office 2007 and later.

[HansV]

I've sent you a private message.

[sobershea]

I tried using the demo version which will only give you the first two letters of the password. It ran for 2 days and found nothing. I used Brute Force and it appears it was only looking for word combos. Since my passwords are letters, numbers, and special characters, I think it is a lost cause.

Thank you for your input.

[HansV]

As I mentioned in my PM, the encryption used by recent versions of Excel is pretty strong...

[sobershea]

So it seems. I can't be the first person who wants to retrieve old files with a password.

[snb]

Just post a sample 'very old' file and let's see whether soneone can help you.