Worksheet Passwords

Posted by Scarlet Farr on January 30, 2002 10:49 AM

I have a client who has an Workbook that contains 5 worksheets. She has turned on the protection within these worksheets and consequently has applied a password to each. She recalls the password to 4 of the 5 worksheets. Is there a way in 2000 to break that password code so that she can continue work on the sheet?

Posted by Larry on January 30, 2002 11:00 AM

*** Plenty of resources on the web that provide "breaker" add-ins. Just do a search and make it an Add-in

Posted by Bariloche on January 30, 2002 8:29 PM

Scarlett,

Here's some code that will help you out.

Sub PasswordBreaker()'by Bob McCormick on NG: microsoft.public.excel.misc on 22 May 2001.
'Breaks worksheet password protection.
     Dim i As Integer, j As Integer, k As Integer
     Dim l As Integer, m As Integer, n As Integer
     Dim i1 As Integer, i2 As Integer, i3 As Integer
     Dim i4 As Integer, i5 As Integer, i6 As Integer

     On Error Resume Next
    For i = 65 To 66
        For j = 65 To 66
            For k = 65 To 66
                For l = 65 To 66
                    For m = 65 To 66
                        For i1 = 65 To 66
                            For i2 = 65 To 66
                                For i3 = 65 To 66
                                    For i4 = 65 To 66
                                        For i5 = 65 To 66
                                            For i6 = 65 To 66
                                                For n = 32 To 126
                                                    ActiveSheet.Unprotect Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & _
                                                    Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) _
                                                    & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
                                                    Application.StatusBar = Chr(i) & Chr(j) & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
                                                    If ActiveSheet.ProtectContents = False Then
                                                        MsgBox "One useable password is " & Chr(i) & Chr(j) _
                                                        & Chr(k) & Chr(l) & Chr(m) & Chr(i1) & Chr(i2) _
                                                        & Chr(i3) & Chr(i4) & Chr(i5) & Chr(i6) & Chr(n)
                                                        Application.StatusBar = False
                                                        Exit Sub
                                                    End If
                                                Next n
                                            Next i6
                                        Next i5
                                    Next i4
                                Next i3
                            Next i2
                        Next i1
                    Next m
                Next l
            Next k
        Next j
    Next i
    Application.StatusBar = False
End Sub

Note: This code will not tell you what the password was (except by accident). What it does is exploit the poor encryption algorithm that is used for sheet password protection. Try it and you'll see what I mean.

enjoy

Posted by JACK NECK on January 31, 2002 6:34 AM

JUST SENT YOUR FILE TO ME AND I CRACK IT FREELY.MY EMAIL AD INSIDE