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Thread: How to find VBAProject password in MSExcel

  1. #1

    How to find VBAProject password in MSExcel

    Hi,

    I've to modify macro of an excel workbook in my office.
    The person who wrote them originally is no longer worked here.
    He put a password protection on VBAproject so I can't even see the macro.
    Is there anyway to recover or crack the password.

    Cheers
    Darknite
    The more one comes to know a man the more one admires a dog.

  2. #2
    AOs Resident Troll
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    Contact Microsoft...they maybe able to help you

    MLF
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  3. #3
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Yes,

    Firstly, there are a lot of tools around to do this. Google for "excel password recovery" and you will find loads

    A lot depends on the version of Excel that it was written in and the OS that you are using, so make sure you pick one of the right ones. You will probably have to pay, but as it is for work, that might actually be a good idea?

    If it is an option. you might also have to "take ownership" of the files (I can't quite remember that bit, as it has been a long time )

  4. #4
    Some Assembly Required ShagDevil's Avatar
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    darknite,
    you can follow Nihil's advice and google to see if there is a way to recover the password. However, depending on how complex the macro is, why not write your own macro?. There are a bunch of sites that provide code snippets depending on what you're looking to do.
    Also, it's pretty bad company policy for only one guy to know the password to this macro (or anything else for that matter) that you need to change.

    I just don't get it.

    Your company knows of this macro (because they've asked you to modify it)...Yet the company doesn't know the password to the macro, has no documentation on this macro, has no one else in the company who knows of its password, and doesn't have any way to contact former employees (to obtain the password)?

    Yet, you've been asked you to modify it...
    The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his - George Patton

  5. #5
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    ShagDevil my friend, I am afraid that I am all too familiar with this sort of situation

    The problem begins when you give "tools" rather than applications to your user community. There will always be some with above average knowledge who start to use the "advanced features" to develop little applications of their own.

    We used to call them "user mushrooms" and the majority of the company and especially IT were totally unaware of them until something goes wrong.......................

    The chances are that the person who wrote them will not even remember what the password is......they probably haven't typed it since they finished the mushroom.

    Certainly with earlier versions of MS Office, I do not consider these passwords to be true "security features". They are really only intended to prevent someone inadvertently screwing things up.

    I always use the password "password" in these situations, but any other agreed common value will do.

    A Google search as I suggested gives 388,000 hits................ so this is quite a common problem.

    I seem to recall back then that MS Office was quite vulnerable to copying/importing into a new version of the item You didn't even need a tool.

  6. #6
    Senior Member chizra's Avatar
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    darknite

    this is password protected file or the individual vba project?
    Hindsight is an exact science.
    MudBubble

  7. #7
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi Chizra from what he has said it is the VBA Project.

    What I forgot to ask was does he get a prompt for a password or some message that says that the project is not viewable when he tries to open/edit the project?

    I believe that if you just get the "not viewable" message then there might be a problem with him not using a compatible version of Excel as well.

    I seem to recall having problems with Office 97 projects that had had their passwords set in Office 2000.


  8. #8
    Senior Member chizra's Avatar
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    nihil,

    the vba project is (embedded) within the .xls file itself rite? And that file is protected?
    Hindsight is an exact science.
    MudBubble

  9. #9
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi Chizra, as you can see it would really help if we knew what version(s) we were dealing with

    I would normally associate two files with Excel (OK forget templates), these being .xls, which is the spreadsheet, and .xla which are add-ins. The VB code would be in the .xla and the compiled version would run in the .xls

    The .xla files are not viewable by the casual observer going into the Excel spreadsheet. They can be password locked from viewing/editing, which seems to be the situation that we have here?

    The spreadsheet can also be password protected, but the Users would have to know it to use it?

    I have a terrible confession to make............. I am more of an Access fan myself (assuming we are not talking anything heavy duty) and would prefer to give the users a database with Excel feeding off it, so they can grow "mushrooms" to their hearts' content



    PS. I think that in later versions you convert the .xls/xla files? If I knew which version, I would go and check.

  10. #10
    Hi All,

    Thanks for your valuable suggestions and questions.
    The version of excel is 2003 and OS is WinXP SP2.
    The VBAproject is protect by password. In VBA project properties there's a tab for protection and that person put a password there. When I click on VBAproject it prompts for password.
    Usually it is not the policy to put a password on macro. But may be the macro also contains password for some important systems as it runs a BW report also and this guy put it so that end user of the report can't see them. And as he was a contractor so before leaving he forget to tell to anyone.
    Now I need to change the BW query so I want to see first what macro is exactly doing and does my change going to make an impact on its working.

    Cheers
    The more one comes to know a man the more one admires a dog.

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