If you have a password on a file and you forgot it, how can we get
back into that spreadsheet?

Hi Milan1,
There are several programs that will let you do this.

"Password Remover 2003"is an Excel add-in which lets you to crack your
own forgotten password and regain access to your Excel data. The
program places "Unprotect workbook" and "Unprotect sheet" into your
Excel "Tools" menu. It will remove passwords of any length, also
passwords containing special characters.  Password Remover 2003 is
freeware. A $10 donation is suggested, but not required.
You can download the file from here
http://www.straxx.com/excel/password.html

"Excel Key" is another password recovery program. (Price $45) 
Demo version is available for download free of charge. It recovers
passwords that are not longer than 2 characters. All other features
are in place.
http://www.lostpassword.com/excel.htm
They also have offer a password recovery service
http://www.pwcrack.com/index.shtml
  
"ExcelLocksmith" - Price: $5
"This complete ExcelLocksmith program opens Excel files protected by
any password.	Complete the e-form,
then we will send you the file by e-mail!"
http://www.intertek.org.uk/downloads/excel.html
  
I hope one of these options is suitable!
regards,
jackburton-ga
  
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Search terms:
[ excel password file spreadsheet ]
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[ "Password Remover 2003" ]
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Request for Answer Clarification by milan1-ga on 15 Oct 2003 13:43 PDT

Thanks for the reply.  I was wondering if you have any other free
options that might work for us?

---

Clarification of Answer by jackburton-ga on 16 Oct 2003 07:04 PDT

There are a few that offer a free trial version, which may interest
you.
    
From the Password-Find.com website:
---------------------------------------------------------------
Ultimate Zip Cracker ($45)
Ultimate Zip Cracker offers a complete and cost effective recovery
solution.  It will unlock all the insecure password types (worksheet
and document passwords), will recover Office 97 VBA passwords and
remove Office 2000 and later VBA passwords, and also offers key
recovery.  For .XLA files, use Advanced VBA Password Recovery Pro, as
Ultimate Zip Cracker does not handle these types of files.  As an
added bonus, Ultimate Zip Cracker can also be used to recover
protected WinZip and ARJ archives.
Ultimate Zip Cracker is a very user friendly package that guides you
through recovery of your document, and provides a clean interface.  It
provides excellent performance and is a very effective tool.
Overall, we were impressed with the professionalism and refinement of
this product.  In our view, it is the best available recovery package
on the market, and offers great value against its competitors due to
the range of passwords and packages that it supports.  VDG Software
provides registered users with free upgrades as these become
available.
  
Download free trial version of Ultimate Zip Cracker
http://www.vdgsoftware.com/files/uzcsetup.exe
Download full version of Ultimate Zip Cracker
http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=2737-4&affiliate=11158
---------------------------------------------------------------
    
GuaWord and GuaExcel (from $29)
GuaWord and GuaExcel are sold separately, but operate in a similar
way.  As the names imply, GuaWord is for recovery of Word files, while
GuaExcel is for Excel files.  These packages are designed for one
thing - key recovery to unlock Word or Excel files protected with file
open passwords, and do not recover any other password types.
GuaWord and GuaExcel use a command line interface which may put off
some users, but the packages are both powerful and easy to use.  Both
Windows and Linux versions are available, and you can purchase
multi-CPU versions to use if you have a network available.  This
allows you to distribute the processing load over a number of PC's to
cut down the recovery time.
Download free trial version of GuaExcel software
http://www.password-crackers.com/DOWNLOAD/guaxcl12.zip
Download full version of GuaExcel
http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=4578-1&affiliate=15451
---------------------------------------------------------------
   
Advanced Office Password Breaker (from $79)
Advanced Office Password Breaker is a key recovery program that runs
under Windows.  It is impressively easy to use, with a clean
interface.  Elcomsoft are a leading provider of password recovery
software, and are constantly refining their products.  Registered
users can download the latest updated versions of the software free of
charge.
Once the program has started, it can run in the background if
required.  You can select the keys to search, from 0 to 65,535 and the
program will look for the key and recover the document.  Unlike
Ultimate Zip Cracker, but similarly to GuaWord and GuaExcel, this
package only recovers files with a file open password.
If you need software to recover other types of passwords, use Ultimate
Zip Cracker, or try Elcomsoft's Advanced Office XP Password Recovery
which does not provide key recovery, but will recover all other
password types (you can download a free trial version here:
http://www.elcomsoft.com/AOXPPR/aoxppr_p.zip , or check the price or
download the full version here
http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=1170-68&affiliate=15451
)
   
Download free trial version of Advanced Office Password Breaker
http://www.elcomsoft.com/AOPB/aopb.zip
Download full version of Advanced Office Password Breaker
http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=1170-88&affiliate=15451
---------------------------------------------------------------
  
Advanced VBA Password Recovery Pro (from $60)
We've used several VBA recovery tools for Word and Excel files.  One
tool (which we won't name) recovered version 97 VBA passwords
correctly, but when we tried it on version 2000 files, the passwords
didn't work.
We have come to rely solely on Elcomsoft's Advanced VBA Password
Recovery Pro software.  It hasn't let us down yet.  It allows you to
recover all Excel and Word 97 VBA passwords, and reset (rather than
recover) version 2000/XP Word and Excel VBA passwords.  It also works
for .XLA files.  In our experience, this package does not recover
other VBA passwords (e.g. Powerpoint).
The software is simple to use and stable, and there are free upgrades
for registered users.  Since we have used it for so long, we can
thoroughly recommend it to anyone who needs a powerful VBA password
recovery package.  If you need to recover different password types, we
recommend Ultimate Zip Cracker (which can remove Office 2000 VBA
passwords), but if you need to only recover or reset VBA passwords,
then this package is highly recommended.
   
Download trial version of Advanced VBA Password Recovery software
http://www.elcomsoft.com/AVPR/avprp.zip
Download full version of Advanced VBA Password Recovery Pro
http://www.regnow.com/softsell/nph-softsell.cgi?item=1170-70&affiliate=15451
---------------------------------------------------------------
   
Source: 
"Guide to buying Word and Excel password recovery software"
http://www.password-find.com/swpassword.html

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Clarification of Answer by jackburton-ga on 16 Oct 2003 07:13 PDT

Hi Milan1,
Here are two more...
--------------------------------------------------------------- 
Office Key 5.5
"Office Password Recovery Key is a five-in-one product that recovers
all types of passwords for MS Office files: Access, Excel, Outlook,
Word and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) modules. The best thing
that could possibly happen to you if a password is forgotten is lost
time. It is common to recreate a spreadsheet template or a word form
just because of a lost write-reservation password. Whatever type of
password is lost Office Key can save your time, data and nerves.
Download a free version now. This product supports all versions of MS
Office. Most of the passwords are recovered instantly. Uses
combination of Brute-Force, Xieve or Dictionary attacks to recover
other passwords. Office Key is easy to use. Has online help, full
install-uninstall support."
http://www.fileheaven.com/Office-Key/download/4353.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------- 
Accent Excel Password Recovery
"Accent Excel Password Recovery is a small but very powerful tool. It
can recover lost passwords for any document created and protected by
Microsoft® Excel 97/2000/XP. Its easy-to-use graphic interface and
context help are provided to lead you through each session so you
quickly become familiar with all options and functions. In addition, a
Quick Start page steps you through standard solutions with
understandable and useful descriptions.
[...]
Accent Excel Password Recovery is distributed as shareware. The
unregistered version has only one limitation: the maximum length of a
recovered password is 4 characters. This limitation is
removed by registering your copy. Registration price is $25 for home
using and $33.25 for business."
http://www.passwordrecoverytools.com/en/excel.shtml
--------------------------------------------------------------- 
   
I hope this information is useful!
regards,
jacakburton-ga