[cnbcwatcher]

I have some old MS Word documents on an external hard drive dating as far back as 2003/2004. Only trouble is that they're password protected and I can't remember any of the passwords I really want to read them. Is there a program or something I can use to unlock them? I'm using a Mac and I want to unlock them either in LibreOffice or MS Word 2008 for Mac.

[Stig]

There are a lot of dodgy utilities out these that are probably full of malware.

This site has been good in the past, but treat any downloads with sensible caution.
http://www.petri.co.il/word-password-recovery.htm

[cnbcwatcher]

Malware doesn't affect me as much on a Mac but I should avoid websites IT Law lecturers don't approve of I might try that one utility and see if it works, but maybe I should try it on a Windows machine?

[Daedroth]

The program in Stig's link will only work on Windows, it's a Windows executable.

http://www.petri.co.il has often had very good guides and programmes on how to perform certain tasks.

[ChickenWings]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

Malware doesn't affect me as much on a Mac but I should avoid websites IT Law lecturers don't approve of I might try that one utility and see if it works, but maybe I should try it on a Windows machine?

Seen as how it's a Windows program, I don't expect you have too much choice....?

Not sure where your lecturer comes in to it. I'm pretty sure none of mine advise going on XTube 3 times a day, but again, I don't really see how that has any relevance to, well, anything at all in the world.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by ChickenWings

Seen as how it's a Windows program, I don't expect you have too much choice....?

Not sure where your lecturer comes in to it. I'm pretty sure none of mine advise going on XTube 3 times a day, but again, I don't really see how that has any relevance to, well, anything at all in the world.

MS Word exists on the Mac as well, but I might be better off using Windows machine to unlock the protected files. Plus they're all on an old Windows-formatted hard drive. I usually say that when referring to *ahem* websites I shouldn't be looking at as I know he wouldn't approve of said sites

[Daedroth]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

MS Word exists on the Mac as well, but I might be better off using Windows machine to unlock the protected files. Plus they're all on an old Windows-formatted hard drive. I usually say that when referring to *ahem* websites I shouldn't be looking at as I know he wouldn't approve of said sites

Yes, but you can't use the program to crack the password on a Mac.

[chrisjr]

Originally Posted by Daedroth

Yes, but you can't use the program to crack the password on a Mac.

Not strictly true.

You can't run it natively under Mac OS but you could run it in a Virtual Machine running Windows. Or if it's a modern Intel based Mac you could even dual boot into Windows running natively on the Mac.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by chrisjr

Not strictly true.

You can't run it natively under Mac OS but you could run it in a Virtual Machine running Windows. Or if it's a modern Intel based Mac you could even dual boot into Windows running natively on the Mac.

That's a lot of hassle to go through to unlock a few old Word documents! Maybe I'll just use my old Windows XP desktop, since that's the computer the files were originally created on. I can then copy them onto the external hard drive and onto one of my Macbooks (the Macs read the files on the hard drive but they can't write to it as it's a Windows-formatted one).

[s2k]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

(the Macs read the files on the hard drive but they can't write to it as it's a Windows-formatted one).

Slightly off topic but ntfs-3g gets around that.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by s2k

Slightly off topic but ntfs-3g gets around that.

Thanks but I'll keep it Windows-formatted. I have a Mac-formatted one.

[ChickenWings]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

MS Word exists on the Mac as well, but I might be better off using Windows machine to unlock the protected files. Plus they're all on an old Windows-formatted hard drive. I usually say that when referring to *ahem* websites I shouldn't be looking at as I know he wouldn't approve of said sites

I know it does, I use it. I'm on about the program in the link that you'd need to use to crack the passwords - that's a Windows program and there doesn't appear to be an OS X version available on there from what I can see.

I'm pretty sure he won't really care, as long as you're not using his/a uni computer. And even then... I don't think he'd care.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by ChickenWings

I know it does, I use it. I'm on about the program in the link that you'd need to use to crack the passwords - that's a Windows program and there doesn't appear to be an OS X version available on there from what I can see.

I'm pretty sure he won't really care, as long as you're not using his/a uni computer. And even then... I don't think he'd care.

I haven't found any utilities so using a Windows machine would be my best bet. I tend not to use *those* websites but I wouldn't use his computer or one of the college ones. He probably would be shocked if he found out Best thing to do is not to use anything I shouldn't

[s2k]

Originally Posted by cnbcwatcher

Thanks but I'll keep it Windows-formatted. I have a Mac-formatted one.

You seem to misunderstand, NTFS-3G is an extension for OS X that adds the ability to write to NTFS (Windows) volumes.

I used it all the time when I had my Mac since I did a lot of work with Windows drives. Having a quick look now they seem to be trying to flog it as some other commercial package but the original thing is (was?) freeware.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by s2k

You seem to misunderstand, NTFS-3G is an extension for OS X that adds the ability to write to NTFS (Windows) volumes.

I used it all the time when I had my Mac since I did a lot of work with Windows drives. Having a quick look now they seem to be trying to flog it as some other commercial package but the original thing is (was?) freeware.

Ah, I thought it was a way to format Windows external hard drives I might look into it.

[Daedroth]

Originally Posted by chrisjr

Not strictly true.

You can't run it natively under Mac OS but you could run it in a Virtual Machine running Windows. Or if it's a modern Intel based Mac you could even dual boot into Windows running natively on the Mac.

If you want to be pedantic yes, you can do that. But that would be stupid for the OP's needs.

[cnbcwatcher]

Originally Posted by Daedroth

If you want to be pedantic yes, you can do that. But that would be stupid for the OP's needs.

Agreed. I just caught someone using Windows XP on their Macbook Pro! I did say something to him about it. He's using Google Chrome and MS Office on it. Erm, those are available for Mac as well!