Mar 16 2022 09:56 AM
I wrote a database in 2009/2010 in 2007. I migrated it to 2010, changed it to an accdb and password protected the VBA. In 2017, I left the company, handed over all of my passwords, and left my code in another's hands.
In Sept 2021, they asked me to please come back, I did, and the password to the DB I am trying to recover was lost.
I have tried using HxD, which doesn't work with accdb.
How can I recover the password?
Mar 16 2022 01:50 PM
@txgeekgirl You may be out of luck. If you can prove that you created the accdb, or that it belongs to your employer, you might be able to get help recovering the VBA from a company like Everything Access, although that's not their primary focus. They specialize in recovering mde and accde files. They will require proof of ownership as a precondition, if they can tackle your particular problem.
Mar 16 2022 05:26 PM
Mar 23 2022 02:13 PM - edited Mar 23 2022 02:16 PM
MDB passwords are trivial to hack. However, that isn't the case for ACCDB passwords which, since A2010, use 128-bit encryption.
I have tried the cosenor password recovery tool for research purposes. The utlilty uses a brute force approach to test every possible combination of passwords in turn until it finds something that works. So if your password is reasonably long/strong this can take days/months or even years to complete ...unless you can provide clues to narrow down the search.
As an experiment I tested it on one of my own databases whose 10 character password I already knew. I left the utility running on a spare workstation for almost 48 hours. It had only tested a small % of the possible values before I terminated the search.
For a guide as to the time needed to hack a password using brute force, see https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cbtech-support_ever-wonder-how-long-it-would-theoretically-activity-6...
Mar 23 2022 02:23 PM
Mar 23 2022 03:17 PM