I have a word document that is password protected which I need to open and have forgotten the password?

Question

The document is password protected so I am unable to open it and do file save as. I have used many things like password studio pro etc but most I have tried say that the document is encrypted with microsoft enhanced cryptographic provider. Im not sure what that is or if it comes standard with Windows XP. Can anyone help? Or advise which is a good site to go to remove passwords or replace them? Many thanks

I have somehow managed to open it in note pad and then into word. How do I reformat it? many thanks

Answer 1

In old word you could have just opened the file in notepad and copied the text to another word document and reformatted it.

However....

Microsoft realised this and when you password protect something now the text is encrypted and its not possible to get it back. So the answerer above is right - your kind of ****ed.

best advise I can give is to try to remember what was in the document and retype it, and try not to passwiord protect itthis time.

Answer 2

If the document is that important you could always buy the licence for a password cracker suite.
I have one that use to help others gain access to password protected files, plus I have done like you and forgotten a password so the suite came in handy on that occasion too!
If the document isnt important then next time, choose a password that you can remember (just dont write it down and leave the password available for others to see).
If you feel that you will never remember it, then jot down clues as to what the password is.

Answer 3

Search for old versions of the document .. if you are lucky you may find one on your PC that you 'saved' as a back-up before you started setting passwords ..

If all else fails, find an old print out and type it in again

Answer 4

your f****ed; its not possible to change a password like that.
If you could change passwords easy, there isn't much use in useing a password.