PC Program Software Application

Accidentally Dropping a Laptop Will Damage it

2011-10-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

Accidentally Dropping a Laptop. Everything from slight to severe injury is maybe getting to be caused to your laptop if dropped. This short article describes the possible extent of the injury and therefore the thanks to check your laptop.

If it had been dropped on the corner or edge then you certainly are possible to ascertain cracks during this space, however, cracks and chips are additional possible to be seen nearly anywhere on the case. These are the foremost obvious signs of injury. Cracks typically solely have an effect on the looks of your laptop and should not alter or have an effect on the performance thus will typically be ignored, but they indicate that the laptop has been dropped from quiet a height and more hidden injury is also gift.

If the laptop was turned on or was in an exceedingly sleeping state then an incredibly tiny drop can nearly always injury the exhausting drive. If you switch on the laptop you'll realize that Windows will not begin, masses with errors, masses then crashes or is incredibly slow. These are all signs of exhausting disk drive injury and failure. you'll or might not manage to save lots of your valuable knowledge looking on the extent of the injury on the exhausting disk drive; however you may positively want a greenhorn exhausting drive for correct operation of the laptop, you may have to be compelled to reinstall the operating system when the exhausting disk drive is put in. If the laptop was turned off then the exhausting disk is probable ok, however, if it had been set in sleeping mode then the exhausting disk drive might are operational however can nearly actually be broken.

Carefully examine the screen; you're searhing for any kind of injury. you'll even see a crack or cracks, dots or lines, blotches or ink coming back from a crack, of these observations indicate that the show has been broken. A broken or cracked laptop show will never de repaired, your laptop has got to have a replacement show fitted by a laptop repair company because it is simply too simple to break it throughout replacement.

When a laptop is dropped on its power connector, typically the inner connections within the connector are broken. generally this can be simple to ascertain where the connector breaks or is bent. looking on the degree of injury and force you'll realize that the connector gets extremely popular throughout charging or operation or will not operate in any respect. this could indicate failure of the inner power connector.

If you cannot see any apparent injury and your laptop will not power up with an image then one or additional RAM chips might became dislodged from their sockets. the bulk of contemporary laptops have a RAM flap beneath secured by screws; take away this and make certain the chips are properly inserted and haven't become detached.

If your laptop won't power up properly when you have got checked all the faults described higher than then a fault most likely lies with the laptop motherboard. this can be where the electronics are housed within the laptop. The motherboard within a laptop will simply be broken when subject to dropping. Copper tracks might break or electronic parts is also broken or cracked when the motherboard is stressed. solely a specialist laptop repair company will repair a broken laptop motherboard; different a replacement motherboard could be needed.

Always treat your laptop with nice care because it is very simply broken leading to knowledge loss and repair. it's not a decent plan to figure with a laptop on your lap because it might drop once you rise quickly!

Backup Very Important Data

2011-10-23T05:05:00.000-07:00

Backup Very Important Data. If you loose pc knowledge then it always cannot be restored unless an acceptable backup has previously been created, whereas programs ought to be reinstated by reinstalling them from original media. thought are given to backup ways that the house pc user might adopt to backup varied knowledge varieties.

Networking one pc to at least one or many others might provides a low cost, fast technique of backing up vital knowledge for instance footage, music and letters. perpetually bear in mind that a careless operator on the backup pc might accidentally erase your knowledge. sadly, this procedure of backup might not be appropriate as a result of if one pc receives a pestilence then each might loose their knowledge. exactly a similar applies if they happen to be stolen.

A USB RAM disk is that the backup technique of alternative by several pc users, but it offers few benefits however several disadvantages as a reliable backup technique. If you're using an USB RAM disk to backup your vital knowledge there is a high risk that it'll at a while be lost. These are simply broken by careless handling or they simply fail attributable to unknown causes. therefore simply use an USB RAM disk to move knowledge between points An and B.

Many pc users use an external USB exhausting drive to act as a backup for his or her knowledge. They normally leave the drive permanently connected to the laptop or desktop pc; backing up the vital knowledge sometimes. typically when an user tries to revive knowledge from an external exhausting drive the information cannot be recovered. This takes place when the exhausting disk drive has been knocked or banged where knowledge is probably going to be destroyed while not the user realising.

The most useful medium that the house pc user ought to think about for reliable knowledge backups is to use DVDs and CDs. These also are readily out there, hold an outsized quantity of information, are sturdy and are all-time low. The precise technique and frequency of information backup be influenced by many concerns. Assuming you're planning to use DVDs or CDs because the technique of backup then you must use utterly new disk for any backup event. this can be actually counseled as utilizing a disk once for backup is incredibly reliable, using it quite once reduces it reliability. therefore simply use the disk to backup your knowledge once, label it with time, date, and knowledge sort. currently store it thereforemewhere safe aloof from computer} so if the pc is stolen the backup isn't conjointly lost.

Whatever technique of backup you adopt you'll solely grasp if its worked properly if you arrange to restore your knowledge back to the computer or laptop. Its value spending a while trying to recover your saved knowledge to a distinct computer or laptop to create sure that your footage, music, letters, emails etc are being saved properly, if not you'll return and alter your backup ways.

Upgrade Inside Laptop or Notebook

2011-10-23T05:03:00.000-07:00

Upgrade Inside Laptop or Notebook. Generally, whenever a pc user buys a brand new laptop not abundant though is typically given to their future necessities. The laptop purchased might wind up not being quick enough or probably not having enough storage capability.

Consideration is given to a number of the restricted upgrades which could be applied to the standard laptop.

The upgradeability of any style of laptop is actually dependant upon the manufacturer's style, some are nearly not upgradeable in any respect whereas others might probably be upgraded nearly the maximum amount as a desktop pc.

Usually the arduous disk will be upgraded; its normally located within a door on the beneath of your laptop or slides into the sting of case. Usually, you'll be able to take away the previous drive and simply insert an improved unit, however, watch out to use the right variety of arduous disk since the interface varies. a number of laptops and lots of netbooks build use of a solid state arduous disk, this typically cannot be simply upgraded since this is often either a part of the motherboard or is extremely troublesome to induce to within the laptop.

Adding further RAM to a laptop can typically be the best upgrade that might be done to a laptop. Most laptops possess a tiny low door on their underside through that further RAM may be added, however, some manufactures need that the keyboard or complete case is removed to succeed in the RAM socket or sockets. Care should be taken to shop for and insert exactly the right sort and speed of RAM chip as there are several style changes over the years.

You may need to extend the core speed of the laptop by upgrading the CPU chip, however, this is often not sometimes a straightforward job. The chip is commonly located deep within the laptop therefore the solely thanks to get to it's to deconstruct the laptop to access the motherboard. often, the prevailing CPU are thusldered onto the laptop motherboard so creating an upgrade nearly not possible.

The video chip will rarely be upgraded unless the laptop manufacturer has created a separate video board connected with the motherboard via a socket. Video cards are continually terribly expensive and should be specifically matched with the range of laptop, thus this upgrade might not worthwhile.

You may need to upgrade the WI-FI card to a faster unit. this is often sometimes quiet easy and price effective, however, some makers build it terribly arduous to find the prevailing card typically putting it underneath the keyboard.

Laptops positively are not as upgradeable because the average PC; but, some makers tend to form even the best upgrade extraordinarily troublesome for the typical user. If potential, contemplate terribly fastidiously exactly what specification you need and are seemingly to want inside the expected lifetime of the laptop, and purchase an applicable model at the outset. this could prevent worrying regarding an upgrade within the future!

Overheating Laptop Will Damage Graphics Chip

2011-10-23T04:56:00.000-07:00

Overheating Laptop. Most laptop video chips are soldered directly onto the motherboard. while not a video chip a laptop wouldn't turn out a show on its screen and is susceptible to failure notably if the laptop is abused.

There are a pair of massive chips located beneath a heat sink. These are the graphics chip and CPU respectively. each of those chips are very refined and generate lots of heat throughout use. The graphics chip though generates by so much the foremost heat. The CPU is nearly continually found in a very socket that allows it to be rapidly removed and replaced ought to it fail or need an upgrade. The graphics chip, however, thereforert of} never contained in a very socket so cannot merely be upgraded or replaced.

As a general rule, the warmer a chip operates at, the shorter its life expectancy, when a failure will be expected. If the laptop and particularly its graphics chip are kept as cool as doable then this could facilitate increase the life expectancy of the laptop.

With a trifle of thought you must be ready to keep your laptop operating cool rather than very popular and damaging the graphics chip. ensure that you simply never block the air intake and air outlet being specifically careful never to use the laptop on a fluffy surface sort of a bed or carpet. Have the vents and fan cleaned if there seems to be a decrease in airflow otherwise you hear the fan operating most of the time. differing types of software programs lead to completely different amounts of warmth being generated by the graphics chip. Letting the laptop idle on the online mustn't cause the graphics chip to get abundant heat, however, enjoying a game where advanced graphics are operating can in most cases cause it to get substantial heat. you'll possibly be amazed to search out out that enjoying a DVD film will cause the graphics chip to run incredibly hot, thus probably lowering the life of the laptop particularly if this can be done often.

You could notice that the graphics software driver is broken, out of date or simply missing. this may sometimes lead to the graphics chip overheating combined with the laptop locking up or crashing. the right graphics drivers are typically comparatively simple to find and may sometimes be downloaded free from the manufacturer's web website.

Upgrading the graphics chip on a laptop is usually nearly not possible since it's terribly troublesome to get rid of the recent chip from the motherboard. There are though, a number of high specification laptops which can have the graphics chip hooked up to a separate sub assembly circuit board that connects to the most motherboard. This makes it simple, thought quiet pricey, to upgrade or replace the graphics chip as necessary.

If you're lucky, an overheating graphics chip can cause the laptop to chop out and switch off however additional typically than not immediate permanent injury results that may stop the laptop from powering up within the future. take care of your laptop's graphic chip since it's either terribly expensive or very exhausting to switch.

Brand New Laptop Last

2011-10-23T04:50:00.000-07:00

Brand New Laptop Last. Seldom do laptops or notebooks last for quite five years, however, many folks would expect them to travel on significantly longer than this. the everyday TV or vacuum cleaner will be expected to operate for five to ten years while not failing thus why do laptops get it wrong thus rapidly?

The two main explanations why a laptop may fail; the user may have an accident using it or the electronics might stop to operate properly. Clearly, a user might have an accident at any time and can not mirror on the robustness of the laptop thus won't be thought of here.

Around, twenty fifth of latest laptops and notebooks close up within three years of purchase. Squaretrade in a pair of 009 noted that 100 percent to fifteen of latest laptops stopped operating among 2 years and V-J Day to twenty fifth stopped operating among three years. they're a company providing laptop extended warranty thus have gathered these fascinating statistics. These figures don't contain accident figures where a user has broken the laptop. The overwhelming majority of laptop patrons would be extremely shocked to search out their laptop can in all probability fail among three years of purchase as a results of no fault of their own.

There are several reasons exactly why a laptop might get it wrong when rigorously used because the manufacture instructs:

1. If the manufacturer makes a style error or installs the inaccurate element on the laptop motherboard then the laptop or notebook would work properly for a brief time. Subsequently, reckoning on the incorrect element put in, the laptop would possibly fail partially or totally. this happens as a result of the voltage may well be incorrect, the element is also inverted, it may well be heating up etc.

2. Electronic elements demonstrate a reliability fairly like that of a light-weight bulb. a light-weight bulb may presumably have a median generation of say ten,000 hours before when it fails; ninety nine will last regarding now however I Chronicles can fail significantly before this. A laptop can encompass multitudes of electronic elements that are all possible to figure not but say a hundred,000 hours, yet, if one amongst these elements breaks down early and may be a crucial element then your laptop can stop to work. it's terribly troublesome for a manufacturer to utterly stop this random breakdown of a element except selecting components that have extremely low breakdown rates.

3. There may be a mechanical flaw with a switch, DVD drive or laborious drive. As an example, if little piece of metal or grit was left among the laborious drive throughout manufacture, then this might sooner or later scratch the disk or ruin the laborious drive mechanics. this may occur anytime and suddenly creating the laptop useless.

It is terribly troublesome for a manufacturer to make a laptop or notebook which can work for several years as a result of the failure amount of elements are largely out of their management. cheap electronic elements are in all probability a lot of liable to fail hence the retail worth of the laptop should have some impact on its reliability.

Identifying and Knowing the way to use Input and Output Connectors on the Laptop

2011-10-23T04:42:00.000-07:00

Identifying and Knowing the way to use variety of the various Input and Output Connectors on the Laptop are often terribly helpful.

Eventually most users might need to plug variety of devices into their laptop pc, thus it's helpful to be ready to determine the ports and verify what form of item will be plugged in. This short article considers several of the conventional electrical connectors found on gift day laptop computers and notebooks.

Most laptop home owners might quite probably acknowledge a USB port that's on the market on just about all gift day laptops, but USB one, USB two and USB three are sometimes on the market. The USB one and USB two ports look similar having four pins at intervals an oblong slot. The USB three is that the most up thus far addition having nine pins within a rectangle slot. Basically, the slowest is that the USB one and also the quickest is that the USB three, however, USB one and USB two are pin compatible such that devices will be interchanged. USB three is that the most up thus far style, however isn't pin compatible with the USB one and USB two connections. The USB ports are positively the foremost versatile connectors on a laptop pc, permitting affiliation to the foremost variety of input devices from a RAM drive to a WI-FI dongle etc. Frequently, affiliation will be created successfully with the minimum of effort, simply putting in the applying driver and linking the device.

Most nonetheless not all laptop computers have a VGA or HDMI output connector. A VGA connector is identified as an rectangular connector with spherical edges having 3 rows of 5 pin holes. The HDMI connector is identified as an rectangular connector with each ends triangular formed and having one row of nine connectors and one row of ten connectors. it's slimmer and longer compared to the VGA connector. The VGA output makes it attainable for the laptop to be connected to a monitor and a few models of tv. The HDMI connector permits most of the fashionable TVs to be linked to the foremost up thus far laptop computers to provide a hires TV image.

Various styles of audio connectors and arrangements were employed in laptop computers through the years. the only affiliation is by a phono plug giving mono sound or a twin phono plug providing stereo sound. Lately one stereo jack has been used still as a microphone input and line input. Sound input and output will simply be recognized because the jack and phono sockets are continually seen as little spherical holes or connectors.

To connect on to a network or connect with the online the bulk of laptop computers use a network or RJ45 connector. This has eight pins surrounded by a sq. plastic or metal cowl. The cable is held in and released by a springy plastic clip. a couple of of the older laptop computers have a smaller four pin connector meant for a dial-up modem to phonephone affiliation that was previously used for web affiliation.

When inserting an cable nice care ought to be taken to confirm that the plug isn't inverted as harm to a laptop connector is pricey to fix and will even leave the laptop utterly useless.

Avast! Home Edition 4.8.1335

2011-10-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Avast! Home Edition 4.8.1335

Description:

avast! four Home Edition could be a free complete ICSA certified antivirus software for home noncommercial use.

avast! obtained VB100% awards in 2002/3 Virus Bulletin comparative reviews below Windows XP professional and below Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

avast! Home Edition includes the subsequent components:
- On Demand Scanner - with Skinnable easy Interface - simply choose what does one need to scan within which means and press the Play button.
- On Access Scanner - resident scanning of all files being opened, scan and written and behavior blocker monitoring dangerous actions of viruses.
- E-mail scanner simply integrates with most mail shoppers and it checks each incoming and outgoing mails, it provides heuristic analysis of mail content to shield against new Worms.
- Boot Time Scanner - scans disks within the same means and within the same time as Windows CHKDSK will (on NT/2000/XP only).
- Explorer Scanner - right click on the thing permits you to scan it.
- Screen Saver Scanner - integrates along with your Screen Saver to scan computer throughout your low breaks.
- Virus Chest - safety isolated folder to store infected, suspicious and even some system files - to revive them.

Protect your system and valuable information against laptop viruses with Avast! Home Edition.

Our true incremental updates are based mostly on iAVS technology and that they are accessible for virus definition file update and for program upgrade.
You can download and install updates by easy clicking on the iAVS icon, it may be checked and done automatically once you are On-line.

The update files of size below a hundred KB are accessible a minimum of twice per week and inside few hours within the case of emergency of recent virus. they're automatically downloaded, put in and loaded to avast! while not restart or logoff.

NOTE: The software needs FREE registration before the trial amount finish. you'll be able to register here.

Avast! Home Edition four.8.1335 Requirements:

- For a laptop with Windows 95/98/Me: computer 486, 32 MB RAM, fifty MB of free onerous disk area
- For a laptop with Windows NT four.0: PC 486, 32 MB RAM, fifty MB of free onerous disk area, Service Pack three or higher put in
- For a laptop with Windows 2000/XP: computer Pentium, sixty four MB RAM (128 MB recommended), fifty MB of free onerous disk area
- For a laptop with Windows Vista: computer Pentium four, 512 MB RAM, fifty MB of free onerous disk area
- The program itself needs twenty MB, the remainder is reserved for the virus recovery database file and its index. [VRDB, conjointly referred to as the "integrity database" from the previous version]
- A practical MS web Explorer four or higher is needed for the program to figure.

Avast! Home Edition four.8.1335 Limitations:

- sixty days trial analysis

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.2.22.0 Beta / 4.0.467

2011-10-23T03:47:00.000-07:00

ESET NOD32 Antivirus 4.2.22.0 Beta / 4.0.467

Description:

NOD32 provides well balanced, state-of-the-art protection against threats endangering your computer and enterprise systems running numerous platforms from Microsoft Windows through variety of UNIX/Linux, Novell, MS DOS operating systems to Microsoft Exchange Server, Lotus Domino and different mail servers.

Trojans, viruses, worms and different malware using NOD32 are kept out of putting distance of your valuable information. Advanced detection strategies implemented within the software even offer protection against the long run threats from most of the new worms and viruses.

The fourth generation of the NOD32 Antivirus System options a totally integrated software suite characterised by an unprecedented detection memoir, the fastest scanning rates and very low utilization of system resources.

NOD32's detection potency combined with 2-50 times faster onerous disk scanning rate earned the merchandise several international prestigious awards.

NOD32 is that the world leader of the Virus Bulletin 100% Awards having won additional awards (21) than any competing product. Since its 1st submission for testing in could 1998, NOD32 was the sole tested product that has never missed one within the Wild virus.

ESET NOD32 Antivirus four.2.22.0 Beta / 4.0.467 Features:

· ThreatSense technology - one optimized anti-threat engine for analyzing code to spot malicious behavior, like viruses, spyware, adware, phishing and additional
· Unprecedented heuristic analysis capable of discovering new malware threats as they emerge
· Powerful virtual computer emulation technology permits unpacking and decryption of all sorts of archives and run-time packing
· able to clean active malware running in memory
· Protects at multiple infiltration points, as well as HTTP, POP3, SMTP and every one native and removable media
· Removes infections from files that are locked for writing (e.g., loaded DLL file)
· Prevents infected files from being opened and executed, and warns on creation of infected files
· Automatic execution on system startup
· Supports multiple Terminal Server environments
· Supports scanning of mapped network disks

ESET NOD32 Antivirus four.2.22.0 Beta / 4.0.467 Requirements:

· 400 MHz
· 128MB RAM of system memory
· 35MB obtainable house
· Super VGA (800 x 600)

ESET NOD32 Antivirus four.2.22.0 Beta / 4.0.467 Limitations:

· The trial version is for non-commercial, trial functions, only. The trial amount is restricted to a thirty day amount. once expiration of the trial amount, NOD32 should be uninstalled or purchased.

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 9.0.0.403

2011-10-23T03:32:00.000-07:00

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus 9.0.0.403.

Description:

AntiVir Personal Edition could be a software that helps you shield and monitor your laptop.

AntiVir software could be a reliable free antivirus resolution, that constantly and rapidly scans your pc for malicious programs (such as viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers etc.), monitoring each action executed by the user or by the operating system and having the ability to react promptly when a computer program is detected.

Protects your pc against dangerous viruses, worms, Trojans and dear dialers.

Avira AntiVir Personal provides you the subsequent functions:
· management Center for monitoring, administering and controlling the complete program
· Central configuration with user-friendly customary and advanced choices and context-sensitive facilitate
· Scanner (On-Demand Scan) with profile-controlled and configurable seek for all known styles of virus and malware
· Integration into the Windows Vista User Account management permits you to hold out tasks requiring administrator rights
· Guard (On-Access Scan) for continuous monitoring of all file access makes an attempt
· Integrated quarantine management to isolate and method suspicious files
· Rootkit protection for detecting hidden malware put in in your pc system (rootkits) (Only for 32-bit systems)
· Direct access to detailed data on the detected viruses and malware via the net
· straightforward and fast updates to the program, virus definitions, and search engine through Single File Update and incremental VDF updates via a webserver on the net
· Integrated Scheduler to arrange one-off or recurring tasks, like updates or check runs
· terribly high rates of virus and malware detection using innovative search technologies (search engines) and heuristic search processes
· Detection of all common archive varieties, as well as detection of nested archives and good extensions
· High-performance multithreading perform (simultaneous high-speed scanning of multiple files)

NOTE:
Avira AntiVir Personal is free for private use solely

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus nine.0.0.403 Features:

· Protection against viruses, worms and Trojans
· Protection against expensive dialers
· Detects and deletes rootkits
· Raised scan speed
· Redesigned visual look

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus nine.0.0.403 Requirements:

· a minimum of one hundred MB of free onerous disk memory area (more if using Quarantine for temporary storage)
· a minimum of 192 MB RAM below Windows 2000/XP
· a minimum of 512 MB RAM below Windows Vista
· For installation: Administrator rights
· For all installations: Windows web Explorer half dozen.0 or higher

Avira AntiVir Personal - Free Antivirus nine.0.0.403 Limitations:

· Not for industrial or Business use

Free Edition 2012 AVG Anti-Virus

2011-10-23T02:56:00.000-07:00

Free Edition 2012 AVG Anti-Virus. The Download currently link can download an installer file to your desktop. stay on-line and double-click the installer to proceed with the particular download.
To learn additional regarding AVG merchandise and to raise queries and receive answers from AVG company representatives, please visit dedicated AVG Forum.

The bottom line: AVG Free 2012's renewed specialize in performance keeps scans zippy, however struggles with slowing down your boot time and too several false positives.

Review:
The unending mantra chanted by security suite vendors sounds plenty like "faster scans, easier to use, higher performance," and AVG has released a replacement version that it says accomplishes all 3. Certainly, the scans are faster, it will install additional quickly, and a few tweaks to the interface have created it easier to look at. 2 new core security changes can cause you to safer, too.

Installation
We found that the program will go from completed download to able to use in regarding five minutes.

Last year, AVG curtail the quantity of installation screens from thirteen to five. This year, the method continues to be short, however savvy users can need to be cautious of a number of things. First, if you've got a browser open when putting in, AVG won't warn you before it forces it to shut. Second, you're opted-in to AVG's Security Toolbar and also the Secure Search default search engine amendment. Users who opt out of putting in the toolbar however need it later can got to rerun the installer to urge it.

On the polite aspect, AVG doesn't opt you in to an automatic AVG web Security trial. By ranging from a null position, you're needed to actively prefer to install AVG Free or the 30-day trial of AVG web Security. therefore this year's install procedure could be a little bit of a crapshoot, higher in some ways that than last year, however unchanged in others.

Interface
The changes to AVG's interface within the 2011 version were minor however really improved usability quite somewhat. This year, the tweaks are even less pronounced. there is not a lot of completely different besides redoing the icons within the main interface therefore they are easier on your eyes.

There's a one-click Fix button for automatically repairing security breaches that seems at the highest beside a yellow X when your system safety has been compromised. It disappears when your system gets a clean bill of health.

Joining the one-click Update button on the facet nav could be a one-click Scan currently button. there is a clean look to the nav, as well, with larger fonts and timestamps for the foremost recent scan and most up-to-date update.

AVG has placed icons for its security parts in an exceedingly central pane. Double-click on one to access additional data and basic configuration settings for every specific tool. Advanced settings are offered underneath Tools on the menu bar at the highest of the window.

The new interface changes are little, no doubt, however they are doing build AVG easier to use.

Features and support
AVG 2012 includes one or two of solid changes to form you safer. the primary could be a patent-pending technique for identifying one among the foremost obnoxious threats to ever reach your computer: the faux antivirus. If you are unfamiliar, these programs purport to be an antivirus, or a Web-based antivirus scan. Once they install on your pc, the sole thanks to get rid of the infection is to "buy" their license. they are additionally associated with the ransomware infections, that do not even trouble with the trouble to fake to be an antivirus. AVG 2012 can block each of them.

The LinkScanner tool has been improved to look at out for additional dynamic code, that is important within the security game as a result of threats are mutating at such a speedy rate. Meanwhile, premium users get the new AVG Accelerator possibility, that optimizes your net affiliation to hurry up downloads and rendering. It currently works on 2 sites: YouTube, and you'll be able to see its impact when pausing and unpausing videos; and Download.com binary downloads. The accelerator protocol was developed internally at AVG.

AVG currently includes a monitoring tool that automatically warns you when Firefox, Chrome, or net Explorer consumes an excessive amount of memory. known as AVG Advisor and in all of the AVG suites, it opens alittle pop-up and asks you if you would like to restart your browser. there is not any thanks to "force" it to activate, though if you open up one or two dozen tabs, wait some minutes, and then open another dozen or therefore, it got to kick in.

Changes created last year are still relevant. The software offers what it calls "smart scanning," that leverages AVG's behavioral detection network to scan known safe files once, and solely rescan them if it detects changes. like its competitors, AVG's network is formed of its user base anonymously contributing information up to the cloud. you'll be able to like better to opt out of contributing your information once you install, or from the choices menu. AVG says opting out will not negatively have an effect on your security.

The sensible scanning tech additionally offers you a built-in system resource manager that prioritizes scans. If a scan is scheduled to start whereas the pc is in use, it'll automatically limit the scan in order that it runs slower however does not interfere with the computer's alternative tasks. When it detects the pc idling, it'll then allocate additional power to the scan. The feature comes with a slider therefore you'll be able to customise how sensitive it's.

The desktop gadget for Windows Vista and Windows seven users that lets them initiate scans and updates with one click, while not having to open the total interface. It additionally contains links to AVG's Twitter and Facebook pages, that the corporate uses to bolster its support for the free version.

The laptop Analyzer scans your system for Registry and disk errors. It includes a disk defragmenter and a broken-shortcut cleaner, as well. though the feature is restricted in full to paid users, if you have got the free version, the laptop Analyzer comes with a one-time supply to scrub all errors it finds. It provides a link to download the separate laptop Analyzer tool, once the scan is completed. this can be a remarkable twist on the thought of letting users detect however not repair errors, and it provides additional functionality whereas not affecting the fundamental security of your pc. However, it's possible that some users can pull away from the additional download.

Other options are restricted to users of AVG's paid upgrades. The paid upgrade version of AVG Anti-Virus 2012 distinguishes itself by providing chat link defend, a download scan for files sent via instant message that appears in the slightest degree ports, not simply port eighty, and phonephone support twenty four hours on a daily basis, seven days every week. The laptop Analyzer possibility mentioned earlier is additionally included, and comes while not restrictions. New in 2012 to premium users is that the new AVG Accelerator possibility, that optimizes your net affiliation to hurry up downloads and rendering. It currently works on 2 sites: YouTube, and you'll be able to see its impact when pausing and unpausing videos; and Download.com binary downloads. The accelerator protocol was developed internally at AVG.

AVG net Security 2012 includes all that AVG Anti-Virus 2012 offers, and adds in an exceedingly firewall and antispam protections.

Performance
AVG claims some major performance enhancements within the 2012 versions. Specifically, the corporate says that it's reduced by forty % the scale on your laborious drive of the virus signature database. That database could be a major part of how the program acknowledges threats. AVG additionally stated that the amount of running processes that run suite has been reduced from sixteen to eleven, that it uses twenty % less memory overall than previous versions, which it got to impact your computer's boot time less.

Labs benchmarks found that, on the full, it's a faster program than last year's. However, we will not directly compare this year's results to last year's as a result of we have a tendency to upgraded our testing pc from Windows seven x64 to Windows seven x64 with Service Pack one. we will report that AVG's boot time impact was slower than average, starting from a pair of seconds slower than the typical suite from AVG absolve to eighteen seconds slower than average for AVG Anti-Virus. AVG net Security was some seconds slower than AVG Free. this can be commonplace for AVG, because it traditionally encompasses a massive impact on startup, however that does not mean we do not wish to envision it get faster.

Shutdown impact continued to be minimal. Security scan times were the third-fastest suite we have seen to date year, though not nearly as good as last year's tied-for-fastest numbers. The impact of the suites on the pc whereas in use were terribly the same as last year's--in general, slightly higher than average, however not stellar.

In our alternative tests, it had been alittle faster than the median. it is not an enormous shift from last year, however it's enough to note that it's moving within the right direction. you are looking at a way slower startup, fast scans, a minimal impact on shutdown, and a midrange hit to general system performance with AVG Free.

Third-party efficacy results haven't been revealed however for AVG Anti-Virus Free 2012, however the 2011 suite marks are solid, if not spectacular. within the AV-Test.org check on Windows seven from the primary quarter of 2011, AVG web Security ten (version 2011) scored thirteen.5 out of eighteen overall, a solid midrange score. The suite had a five.0 rating out of half dozen in Protection, a 4.0 in Repair and a four.5 in Usability.

The second quarter 2011 check, on a Windows XP laptop, positively showed improvement in some areas and regression in others. It scored thirteen.0 out of eighteen overall, additionally a midrange score. The suite improved in Protection and Repair with a five.5 rating out of half dozen for the previous and a four.5 for the latter, however Usability dropped to three.5 possibly owing to false positives.

The most recent AV-Comparatives.org Whole Product check, that appearance at on-demand scanning, retroactive tests, and "real-world" guards together with cloud-based protections, puts AVG web Security 2011 toward the rear of the category, out of seventeen suites tested. watching Whole Product check results cumulatively from January 2011 to June 2011 found that AVG came in thirteenth, blocking ninety five.1 p.c of threats. abundant of that low score came from unhealthy showings in March and April; by could it had been make a copy within the ninety six p.c vary.

It's honest to conclude that in keeping with these third-party tests, AVG has been moderately effective, with some indications that it has been recuperating in recent months. However, since AVG web Security and AVG Anti-Virus Free share identical engine, you are obtaining a powerful level of protection at no value.

Conclusion
A word of caution: We've noted before that the typical person is paying a lot of and a lot of attention to performance, and there are much more viable operating system choices than ever before. If security is a lot of or less similar, folks are going to be scrutinizing system impact greatly, and adding thirty seconds or a lot of to your boot time has the potential to drive folks not simply from your security suite, however from your OS, too.

All that said, AVG Anti-Virus Free continues to supply a superb if not excellent level of security, and is well-worth a heavy shot at being your go-to suite.

Tips For Update Antivirus

2009-10-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

Here is the article for AVG 7.5 Free Edition. AVG Free Edition 8.0, click the following article:

* Finally, AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0 release
* New Release AVG 8.0
* Time to upgrade from AVG Free 8.0

Some friends who can use AVG Anti-Virus, if will have problems updating AVG. Or is downloading updates, but when clicking the update, the message that the update can be found, so that date of internal virus database out of. Here is an explanation to update AVG Anti-Virus.

For online users

When users are online, then the update process is very simple. Like most anti-virus is, AVG update itself. By default, AVG update daily from 08.00 to 09.59 clock. Checks whether there are new updates. If there is an update is automatically downloaded. Because update process every day, then the process will be very fast, usually only a few KB and require only a short time, sometimes less than 1 minute. To change or set the automatic update settings are, like:

1. Open AVG, select the Scheduler component
2. Click the button Scheduled Tasks
3. Select Update level and in full mode, and click on Edit Schedule
4. It can be organized through the automatic update

For offline users (Manual Update)

When not connected to the internet, then first we need to update files that have been provided to download. Can be downloaded from the address on the Priority http://free.grisoft.com/ww.download-update-7 updates. There are several updates available, which we can choose.

But first we must recognize the existing version of AVG on our computers. To find out, open the AVG (double click on the AVG icon in the systray (bottom right) as a rule, and note the information in the status bar program.

Once known version of the program and the database, then open the web address on the required update files. It looks like this (Update Priority):

* Part 1,2,3 and 4 to update your AVG program to the displayed version. For example, No. 1 for the update of AVG program (all modules) to version 7.5.516. Special No. 3 merupakajn update for Linux. If your AVG version 7.5.516 under the download should also update the number 1, number 2 a.m. to 4 p.m. are not required.
* Update 5.6 and 7 of the virus database update to version 269.19.20. This can be adjusted with the virus database version of AVG program, our computer. If the database version of the virus as less than 269.19.0 and 269.0.0 Added detection, then download the update number 6 If the version is 269.19.0 or higher, you simply load the number 5 () the smallest size. Conversely, if the virus database version 269.0.0 Added detection under paragraph 7, then load.
* To IAVI Update (No. 8) has the largest size. When the final version of this update, the update to the AVG to the latest version, you need to download this file. How to look at the top, update number 5.6 and 7 only until the date of 4 February 2008, while the number has 8 Date 5 February 2008.

*. After the update files (ending with bin) has been successfully downloaded, you can do that update step, as follows:

1. Open AVG Anti-Virus component, select
2. Click the Update button, then from the window that appears, click the folder. and figure out where the location of the file we downloaded earlier. Displays a message that has been found that the new update, and seemed to confirm whether to update, then select Yes.
3. Then, the update process will take place, wait until the end

Description

If, if the Update button, AVG tries to directly upgrade to the Internet, not shown, the choice of whether we will update directly over the Internet or a folder, you may need to be amended settingnya. How do you select Component Update Manager (in the main display AVG), and click the Properties button. Do not disable the option for the update source to ask, and then click Apply. And repeat the update process.

Optional Update

Optional updates required for updating other components of the virus database. For example, the improvement program, or other additional changes. When the AVG virus database is updated, but still draw the icon to upgrade from AVG (icon is still black / gray), they have to option to download this update.

Advanced Uninstaller PRO 2006 7.6.3

2009-01-27T01:33:00.000-08:00

Advanced Uninstaller is more than an application manager. With the capacity to soup up your Registry and spruce up your Start menu, this powerful organizer unclutters your PC. No matter how tidy a person you consider yourself to be or how vigilant you are at keeping your personal effects in good shape, it is likely that your PC is in a much less organized state.

You may believe your desktop to be a haven of tranquility, with its handful of icons all lined up neatly with the carefully-selected wallpaper background, but there is likely to be all manner of mayhem going on behind the scenes. You may be ever so careful about the programs you choose to download from the Web, but unless you have your firewall cranked right up, a few things may have side-stepped your vigilant eye and could be causing your machine to perform at a less than optimum pace. Every time you open a Web site, suspicious characters such as pop-ups, cookies and temporary files invite themselves onto your machine and take up a shadowy residence in the hope that you don't have the software or curiosity to chase them out.

Besides these more shady sorts are endless amounts of unused or expired program files, plug-ins, URL records and History records loitering about after your last time on the Web. In this tutorial, we're going to introduce you to Advanced Uninstaller – a system management application that helps you complete a range of standard computer cleansing tasks, wrapped up in one free download.

If you want to tackle the number of cookies installed on your system, give your computer a good defragment and generally spring-clean your startup application list. Advanced Uninstaller will prove to be a delight. It's a flexible, easy-to-use program geared to tackling these important tasks and a whole lot more besides, to make sure your system is running as efficiently as possible. It will pretty much guarantee that you'll receive no nasty surprises when innocently demanding your machine to perform another task. All of the program’s operations are aided by a very friendly wizard, who guides you through your chosen cleaning procedure, and the functions are all completed with a simple drag and drop.

So rather than wondering why your PC is running so sluggishly, just load up Advanced Uninstaller PRO, an easy to use suite for uninstalling applications and keeping your computer clean, fast and in its best shape. All features of Advanced Uninstaller PRO are designed to be both safe and easy to use.

You can easily uninstall programs by selecting the application from a list, or by dragging and dropping a file or shortcut on the Advanced Uninstaller PRO desktop icon.

The Startup Manager gives you control over the programs that are automatically started by Windows, and offers you detailed information about each one of them, including advice about what the program does and whether you should disable it or not. Advanced Uninstaller PRO includes a huge knowledge base containing startup program descriptions.

This new release contains a powerful registry cleaner, defragmenter and optimizer which will help you keep your registry fast, clean and easily accessible by all programs. A registry backup utility is also included.

The Quick Cleaner will allow you to perform a one step clean-up of your computer and to protect your privacy. It can safely delete the Internet visited pages history, the web addresses you typed, the Internet cookies and also the recently open files list for more than 100 applications, including Microsoft Office, Windows Media Player, ICQ, MSN, WinZip, RealPlayer, Kazaa, WinAmp, etc.

Advanced Uninstaller PRO also enables you to remove all not working Start Menu shortcuts, to hide and show them at your will and to alphabetically sort the entire Start Menu.

Some other important functions of Advanced Uninstaller PRO are: finding and deleting garbage and temporary files left behind by Windows, Internet Explorer and other applications, detailed Internet Explorer configuration by enabling or disabling its toolbars, plug-ins and BHOs, a nice and powerful font manager, a Control Panel manager and many, many more.

Advanced Uninstaller PRO is a suite which contains several tools and utilities. A very important tool offered by Advanced Uninstaller PRO is the Installation Monitor.

This tool can watch a program's installation, create an installation log containing information about everything that the setup of the program has done, and then later completely uninstall the program.

The installation monitor can monitor an application's installation and create an installation log. The installation log for the application will contain detailed information about all the additions and modifications that the application's installation (also called the application's setup) did to your system, including:

application files and folders added by the installation on your hard-disk
entries added to your registry
shortcuts added to your Start Menu and Desktop
files and folders that the application has renamed
INI files
etc.
The installation monitor can carefully watch an application's installation, and record all the changes it made to your system in an installation log. The installation log is stored in a file on your hard-disk.

Using that installation log you can later uninstall the application using Advanced Uninstaller PRO. This has several big advantages over the installation routines that are built into the programs you install, which appear in the Add or Remove Programs applet in your Control Panel:

You will be able to uninstall a program even if the program's uninstall routine doesn't work. How many times did you install a program, and later you found out that you couldn't uninstall it? If you monitor programs installation using our installation monitor, this problem will be gone for good!
When uninstalling a program with our installation monitor, that program will be completely gone from your system. No garbage entries will be left behind in your registry or on your disk after an uninstall. There will be no more dead shortcuts. This will happen because the installation log for an application contains information about all and every modification that a program has done to your system when you installed it. Because of this, our installation monitor is able to completely uninstall a program from your computer, leaving no debris behind.
As a result, if you properly use the installation monitor to install and uninstall software, your system will run faster, better and with fewer errors than before.
While using the installation monitor you can always press the F1 key or the Help button in order to see the built-in online help which accurately describes every function, window and control in the installation monitor.

Here is a complete, step by step manual about how to use the installation monitor:

How to monitor an application's installation ... learn how to install a program while the installation monitor watches the installation and records an install log.

What to do during installation monitoring ... important rules to follow in order to get an accurate, precise install log that you can later use to completely uninstall an application.

How to uninstall an application that you have monitored ... use the install log you have created in order to completely kick an application off your computer.

How to restore an application that you have uninstalled ... our installation monitor has some safety features. One of the most important is the ability to backup an application before uninstalling.. so if you want the application back, or if things don't go well after uninstalling, you can just restore the application from the backup, even if you don't have the original setup file that you used to install it.

Installation monitor settings ... all the things you can configure which affect the installation monitor.

Safety features in the installation monitor ... describes some of the safety features built into the installation monitor.

The Advanced Uninstaller PRO Installation Monitor can fully uninstall a program if you have monitored the program's installation and have saved the application's installation log created during monitoring. In order to uninstall an application for which you have an install log please right click on the System Tray icon and choose the Uninstall an application you have monitored menu item.

The uninstall wizard will appear. The steps of the wizard are:

Select an application to uninstall - in this step the Installation Monitor shows you the list of applications for which you have installation logs, and you can choose the application to uninstall.

Select uninstall options - in this step you choose the uninstall options: perform a full or custom uninstall, backup the application before uninstalling, etc.

The custom uninstall step - this step asks you to select which application items to uninstall and which application items to keep. This step appears only if the custom uninstall option was selected.

The progress step - appears when the program is reading the installation log and is processing the information necessary for showing the custom uninstall step or for uninstalling the program.

The common files step - appears if the uninstaller detects that some of the files it is about to remove are common files which may be used by other applications. If this step appears, we recommend you to unselect all the common files found, in order to be sure that all applications on your computer work properly after uninstalling the application you decided to uninstall.

Running programs - if the program that you are about to uninstall is running on your computer, this step will appear and will enable you to stop the program before uninstalling it.

The uninstall itself - this step removes the files, folders, registry entries, shortcuts, etc.

The final step - informs you about how the uninstall went, and shows how many items (files, folders, shortcuts, registry entries, etc) have been uninstalled.

If you have uninstalled an application using the installation monitor, and if you have checked the backup option in the uninstall options, then you have a backup of the application. You can use this backup to fully restore the application.

Let's say you want to restore an application from a backup created this way. Please right click on the installation monitor system tray icon to access the system tray menu:

In this menu, please select Restore an application from backup.

The restore wizard will appear. This wizard has the following steps:

Select backup - shows you the list of available backups. You can select a backup and press the Next button to restore it.

Restore options - in this step of the wizard you choose restore options such as: full or custom restore, whether to delete the backup after the restore, etc.

The custom restore step - shows you a list of items (files, folders, shortcuts, registry entries, INI file entries, etc) that are about to be restored and allows you to specify exactly which items you want to restore. This step only appears if you check the custom restore option in the Restore options step.

The progress step - this step appears when the restore wizard is reading the backup file and preparing to restore the application. It shows you progress information.

The restore step - performs the restore. That is, it extracts the files, folders, registry entries, shortcuts, etc, from the backup archive and installs them back on your computer, taking care that they are put back correctly, in the right order, and that everything is ok.

The final step - reports to you about how the restore went and shows you how many items of each type it has restored.

The main safety feature of the installation monitor is that when you uninstall a monitored application, it can create an application backup. This option is available in the select uninstall options step of the uninstall wizard.

If you later discover that you need that application, or that your system has some problems without that application installed, you can restore the application from the backup.

We recommend you to always select the backup file option. After a while, if your system and applications work ok, you can delete the application backup file.

If however you encounter some problems, you can just restore the application from the backup.

Home page URL : http://www.element5.com

Advanced System Optimizer 2.10

2009-01-27T01:22:00.000-08:00

Computer is also a machine and like all other machines it needs maintenance. Computers are not like ordinary machines but are intelligent machines. They require systematic servicing and maintenance. Computers performance can be affected badly and can even "break down" if not well taken care of and maintained. People maintain their automobiles because of the large investment they have made in them but most fail to maintain their computer systems despite the similar large investment.

Many people are not entirely familiar with the procedures of maintenance that must be performed in order to service computer systems properly, and most system technicians will agree that the necessary tools are not included in the operating system. Advanced System Optimizer is a complete collection of all the necessary tools to keep your system running smoothly, speedily, and error free.

Use Advanced System Optimizer regularly and we promise you will be amazed at the performance of your computer.

System Cleaner Group is responsible to clean your system from junk files and invalid entries.

Programs installed on your system write entries in the Windows Registry. When you remove your software these entries are not always removed completely as a result the Registry becomes more and more large. As windows often accesses registry, greater the size of the registry longer it will take to find and access the requested data.

Lot of unwanted data like temporary files, zero byte files, etc gets collected on the Hard Disk. These files occupy precious space on the hard disk and needs to be removed.

You might also want to customize the programs which are to be executed or not during Windows startup. This can be managed through Start Manager.

Windows applications create several files on your hard drive for temporarily storing the data. These files are supposed to be removed when application terminates. Often, they don’t because of a program error, sloppy architecture, your system gets reset or does not shut down properly, or another application locks up or crash. It is important to know that any file which is left behind in this manner will remain on your system unless you manually search and remove it. Over time, these junk and obsolete files can accumulate to megabytes of wasted hard drive space, as well as turn into potential error-producing cross-linked drive references. System Cleaner and Optimizer targets these specific types of files which are missed by common disk utilities like Uninstaller, Defrag and Scandisk etc.

Along with wasting space on your system, obsolete and junk files can produce very hazardous results if not properly cleaned from your drive on a periodic basis.

The symptoms that these garbage files can produce include:

Lost data.

Cross-linked drive references.

Sudden application lock ups.

Fatal Errors in your applications.

Virus like behavior.

Mysterious Reboots.

System Cleaner and Optimizer by removing these files eliminates such errors.

It has Wizard link interface consisting of steps:

Welcome

Select Drive

Select Junk Files

Other Options

Scanning Process

Report and Cleanup

Finish

Over time, windows database "the Registry" in which Windows and other applications store information can begin to hold data that is no longer valid. Such information links points to a location where there was a file, but now the file is no longer there. Often such invalid links occur because programs uninstalled do not completely remove their registry entries, programs were not correctly uninstalled by the user, a user views a file attached to email without saving them to disk first, and applications have been moved without uninstalling and reinstalling them. This invalid data eventually begins to clutter the system registry, slowing Windows down and causing other possible problems.

“Just like bad cholesterol gets accumulated in our body and can lead to serious medical troubles like Heart attack, similarly, Registry clutter can lead to serious troubles, like system crashes and reboots. So as doctors advice to exercise regularly to keep Bad cholesterol level down, Registry Cleaner is also recommended to keep the clutter out of the registry. It is beneficial in the longer run.”

The Registry Cleaner and Fixer will cleanup and streamline your Registry by finding and removing these invalid data references. Invalid links are common in system registry, and it is always a good idea to clean them out regularly.

It has Wizard link interface consisting of steps:

Welcome

Scanning Options

Scanning Progress

Scan Results

Report and Cleanup

Finish

There are certain programs that you want to execute when your system starts. In general users make a program execute at window startup by copying the executable file to the startup folder.

Startup Cleaner and Autorun Manager helps you to easily manage program execution at windows startup. Startup Cleaner and Autorun Manager is used to administer the programs executing on startup and the files to be loaded at start up.

With Startup Cleaner and Autorun Manager one can easily add programs which one wish to run once or every time the system starts.

Programs added to the startup folder can be easily viewed or removed by any one but Startup Cleaner and Autorun Manager provides you tool by which you not only can add programs in the startup folder but also in the Windows Registry and Win.ini file.

Adding programs to the Registry and Win.ini file protects the program.

It has a explorer like interface which displays all the registry folders on the left in a list view.

System Optimization category provides you with various system optimization utilities. Various default settings in Windows reduces the performance of your computer.

With the help of utilities provided under System Optimizer you can make necessary changes and can easily optimize your Windows performance.

Registry Optimizer and Defragger tunes up the system registry and defrags it for faster responses of queries.

Windows Optimizer lets you optimize and customize your windows settings.

Memory Optimizer optimizes the system memory in a regular interval so that each program receives its share of the memory appropriately.

What Registry Optimizer and Defragger does?

Registry Optimizer and Defragger eliminates the registry fragmentation. It gives you a fresh new registry with no holes, no redolent data.

Advantages of Registry Optimizer and Defragger:

Builds a brand new registry from the old one.

Improves System Response Time.

Saves Memory as smaller registry consumes less memory.

Privacy Protector. Removes the deleted data from the registry permanently.

Improves Application response time.

Improves boot time.

Prevents the registry corruption.

It has Wizard like interface consisting of steps:

Welcome

Defrag Process

Reporting

Finish and Reboot

The Windows Registry

The registry plays a key role in the configuration and control of Windows systems. It is the repository for both system wide and per-user settings. The data in the registry is stored in more than one file, each file called a hive.

Windows and most programs store their configuration data in the registry. Over time, as programs are used, installed and uninstalled, the registry becomes fragmented. Think of Registry Database as a chart with rows and columns in a big queue. When an entry is removed, the entry is converted into a blank entry with no data. It still occupies the same amount of space that it was occupying before. This is necessary so that the information below this entry is still in the same place. When new items are added to the registry, they are added at the bottom in a queue. So over time, the registry ends up with a lot of blank cells. This situation is similar to disk fragmentation, which occurs when the system creates and deletes files on the disk.

There are lot of programs installed on your system by you or when you install your windows which you use for your convenience. The appearance and working you set by the windows.

To make working on your system more interesting and according to your needs Windows Program Settings has been introduced.

Windows Optimizer helps you in Tweaking Windows Programs according to your requirement.

Windows Optimizer provides you various options to customize programs on your system.

All the options are divided into categories and sub categories. You just need to click on the respective settings.

There are many programs and services run at a time on your system and each of which require some amount of memory of the computer. As memory is allotted to each and every program and service on your system, a situation arises that the computer fall short of memory resources.

Why do you need Memory Optimization?

Slow program execution time.

Windows Hang up.

Windows Crashing.

Data loss.

Unwanted Shutdowns.

If you are facing any of these problem while working on your system then you need Memory Optimizer.

Memory Optimizer Optimizes the Memory Management of Windows. This results in best performance boots.

Memory Optimizer does not require any special configuration neither it will effect your system stability.

It has Wizard like interface consisting of steps:

Welcome

Memory Information

Optimize Settings

Program Settings

At startup the program will minimize to system tray. When you will right click on the system tray icon of Memory Optimizer a Popup window will appear with program options.

Options:

Show Main Window - It will display the main form of memory optimizer, displaying the wizard for memory optimization.

Optimize Now - It will optimize your system memory when you click on Optimize Now option.

There are a lot of files and folders on your system. Browsing these files and folders can be a tedious task.

System Tools provide you with easy to manage utilities for browsing and managing files and folders on your system.

It provides system information under System Informer Module.

Description of all the files and folders can be seen under Disk Informer.

Analyze your system and take advise about performance improvement of your system through System Analyzer and Advisor.

System Informer is a utility which lets you view at a glance all the details of your system. In a easy to use and user friendly interface, it provides you with complete information about your system.

System Informer helps you to know about your system more so that you work more efficiently.

System Informer has been divided into ten modules. Each module provides you with information about different aspects of your system.

File and Folder Information helps you to view at a glance all the folders, files inside them and the space occupied by them on your system.

This utility is an important tool with which you can organize your data and can easily view the Data on your disk.

You can also take print outs of the details shown by the Disk Informer.

It provides information about the drives on your system in extremely user-friendly and attractive way.

Features like changing Themes and Charts makes it attractive and color full.

It has a explorer like interface displaying all the available drives on your system on the left and all the folders along with there size and files on the right.

System Optimization category provides you with various system optimization utilities. Various default settings in Windows reduces the performance of your computer.

With the help of utilities provided under System Optimizer you can make necessary changes and can easily optimize your Windows performance.

Registry Optimizer and Defragger tunes up the system registry and defrags it for faster responses of queries.

Windows Optimizer lets you optimize and customize your windows settings.

Memory Optimizer optimizes the system memory in a regular interval so that each program receives its share of the memory appropriately.

Advanced PDF Password Recovery Pro (APDFPRP)

2009-01-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

Advanced PDF Password Recovery Pro (APDFPRP) is a program to decrypt protected Adobe Acrobat PDF files, which have user (open) and/or owner (security, master) passwords set, and to recover these passwords. Owner-level protection allows to prevent PDF file from editing (changing), printing, selecting text and graphics (and copying them into the Clipboard), or adding/changing annotations and form fields (in any combination); user-level one locks the file so the password is required to open/view the file. If only owner password is set, decryption is being done instantly; decrypted file can be opened in any PDF viewer (e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader) without any restrictions -- i.e. with edit/copy/print/annotate functions enabled. Alternatively, owner password can be recovered using brute-force or dictionary attacks; for user password, these attacks are required in any case. Also, the program supports "key search" attack that allows to decrypt (in a reasonable time) PDF files with 40-bit security redardless the password length, guaranteed.

Requirements :
·Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
·about one megabyte of free space on hard disk

Please note that the program cannot (yet) work with some files created in Adobe Acrobat 6.0 (PDF 1.5 specification).

Adobe Acrobat features two levels of password protection.

Protecting document with access restriction ("owner", so-called "security" or "master") password does not affect a user's ability to open and view the PDF file, but prevents user from editing (changing) the file, printing it, selecting text and graphics (and copying them into the Clipboard), adding/changing annotations and form fields etc (in any combination). If the file is protected this way, you open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (again, the password is not required for that) and select File | Document Security menu item (in Acrobat Reader 5.x or older) or File | Document Properties, Security, Show Details in Adobe Reader 6.x and 7.x, the following information is shown.

Fortunately, there is no need to recover that password at all: instead, we can remove it (decrypt the file), so the resulting document will not have any restrictions. That's exactly what APDFPRP does. However, such decryption possible only if "user" password (see below) is not set or known.

Also, there are "open" (so-called "user") passwords. If one is set, the file is encrypted with strong RC4 algorithm, and cannot be opened at all, if the password or encryption key is not known. APDFPRP can recover (try to recover) this password, too, but time-consuming dictionary and brute-force attacks are required. In addition, APDFPRP allows to run this attacks to recover "owner" password, because to decrypt the file, either "user" or "owner" password is needed. Even if both passwords are very long and complex, it is still possible to decrypt the file using Key search attack, which tries all possible 40-bit RC4 keys. It takes up to 30 days to complete (on a single PIII machine), but the success is guaranteed.

Note that when the file is being saved in Acrobat and the "user" password is set, the "owner" password is being set automatically to the same value (but can be changed manually, of course). That's because PDF file cannot have only "user" password: in any case, it has either "owner" password, or both "owner" and "user" passwords (which could be the same or different). Please take that in mind when selecting Advanced options.

Finally, PDF files can be protected using PDF Merchant and EBX digital rights management schemes or 3rd party plugins such as FileOpen, SoftLock etc. APDFPRP does not support such ones, i.e. cannot decrypt them at all.

Please note that Acrobat 5.0 and 6.0 can create PDF files with improved security level: 56..128-bit RC4 encryption (look at Complete new feature highlights document on Adobe server). For such files, "owner" protection can be recovered instantly as for Adobe Acrobat 4.0 (and older versions), but brute-force and dictionary attacks are much slower; and "key search" attack is not available at all.

When brute-force or dictionary atack starts, APDFPR provides additional information what kind of security handler is being used; log window will contain a record like:

05.04.2002 13:05:51 - File "C:My Documents\test.pdf" opened.
05.04.2002 13:06:14 - Handler: Acrobat Standard (Standard) 40-bit security v.1.

or

05.04.2002 13:05:51 - Handler: Acrobat Standard (Standard) 128-bit security v.2.

Just enter the name of the PDF document you'd like to get the password for. Use the "Browse" ("Load PDF file into the project...") button (or F3 key) to select it, or press the "recent files" button (with a small down arrow) to pick from the list (if you've used APDFPRP on your target document before). Alternatively, you can use drag'n'drop – just drag the file (with a mouse) from Windows Explorer, and drop it to the APDFPRP window.

If only "owner" password is set, or the "user" password is known, you can decrypt it immediately – press "Decrypt the document" button (just at the right of "Browse" one). If the "user" password is set, you'll be prompted for it. Please note that you can enter even the "owner" password there – APDFPRP can still decrypt the file with it, recognizing the type of the password automatically.

If the "user" password is set but now known, you have to select other options and start the attack – consult next chapters for more informations.

If the file is encrypted using any security method other than standard, APDFPR will display an error message (that this kind of encryption is not supported), and write a corresponding record to the log file, for example:

05.04.2002 13:08:59 - Handler: FileOpen Publisher (FOPN_fLock) 40-bit security v.1.

Instructs the program what characters have been used in the password. You can choose from all capital letters, all small letters, all digits, all special symbols and the space, or all printable (includes all of the above). The special characters are:

!@#$%^&*()_+-=<>,./?[]{}~:;`'|"\

Alternatively, you can define your own character set (charset). Just mark the "User-defined" checkbox and click on "Custom charset…" (at the right of the option). In the input window, enter all chars of your password range; for example: if you remember that your password was entered in the bottom keyboard row ("zxcv...") - your password range should be "zxcvbnm,./" (or in caps: "ZXCVBNM<>?"). You can also define both of these: "zxcvbnm,./ZXCVBNM<>?". In addition, you can load and save custom charsets, or combine them using the "Add charset from file..." button.

This option may help, for example, if you know the first character(s) of the password. For example, if you're sure that the small letters have been used (from 'a' to 'z'), the length is 5, and the password definitely starts with 'k', than type 'kaaaa' here. Please also note, that if you press the "Stop" button when APDFPRP is working, the program writes the current password to this window ("Start from password"). It can be used later to restart the program from the same point.

Please note that the program verifies the passwords according to the following character order:

· CAPITAL letters: 'A'..'Z'

· the space

· small letters: 'a'..'z')

· digits: '0'..'9'

· special characters: !@#$%^&*()_+-=<>,./?[]{}~:;`'|"\

You can also use End at field to set the password APDFPRP should stop at. It might be useful if you attack the same document on a few computers, and so can split the whole password range onto a few parts.

If you already know some characters in the password, you can specify the mask to decrease the total number of passwords to be verified. At the moment, you can set the mask only for fixed-length passwords, but doing this can still help.

For example, you know that the password contains 8 characters, starts with 'x', and ends with '99'; the other symbols are small or capital letters. So, the mask to be set is "x?????99", and the charset has to be set to All caps and All small. With such options, the total number of the passwords that APDFPRP will try will be the same as if you're working with 5-character passwords which don't contain digits; it is much less than if the length were set to 8 and the All Printable option were selected. In the above example, the '?' chars indicate the unknown symbols.

If you know that the password contains an occurrence of the mask character '?', you can choose a different mask character to avoid having one character, '?', represent both an unknown pattern position and a known character. In this case, you could change the mask symbol from '?' to, for example, '#' or '*', and use a mask pattern of "x######?" (for mask symbol '#') or "x******?" (for mask symbol '*').

This is one of the most important options affecting checking time. Usually, you can test all short passwords in just a few minutes; but for longer passwords, you have to have patience and/or some knowledge about the password (including the character set which has been used, or even better – the mask).

The minimum length cannot be set to a value greater than maximum length, of course.

If the minimum and maximum lengths are not the same, the program tries the shorter passwords first. For example, if you set minimum=3 and maximum=7, the program will start from 3-character passwords, then try 4-character ones and so on – up to 7. While APDFPRP is running, it shows the current password length, as well as the current password, average speed, elapsed and remaining time, and total and processed number of passwords (Program status). All of this information except average speed and elapsed time, which are global, is related only to the current length.

Simply select the desired dictionary file. In addition, you can select an option Smart mutations or Try all possible upper/lower case combinations – it may really help if you're not sure about the register the password has been typed in. For example, let's assume that the next word in dictionary is "PASSword" (the case, actually, doesn't matter here). With the second option enabled, the program will just try all possible combinations, like:

password
passworD
passwoRd
passwoRD
passwOrd
…
PASSWORd
PASSWORD

However, checking all such combinations takes a lot of time: in the example above, APDFPRP will check 2^8 words (i.e. 256) instead of one. With smart mutations, you can eliminate a number of "virtually impossible" combinations, and here are all the words which will be checked:

PASSword
(as is)

passWORD
(reversed)

password
(all lower case)

PASSWORD
(all upper case)

Password
(first uppercase, rest lowercase)

pASSWORD
(first lower case, rest uppercase)

PaSSWoRD
(elite: vowels in lc, others in uc)

pAsswOrd
(noelite)

PaSsWoRd
(alt/1)

pAsSwOrD
(alt/2)

So, it makes only 10 combinations for each word.

The Start line # option allows you to start an attack from a given line (in the dictionary); if you interrupt the attack, the "current" line number will be written there (and saved to the project file, of course).

A small but very effective dictionary is included into APDFPRP distribution: english.dic (about 27,000 words). An extended English dictionary (over 2,600,000 words), as well as the dictionaries for more than 20 other languages.

If the PDF file has both user and owner passwords and they are long and complex, you have nothing to do but try this attack. It tries all possible RC4 encryption keys until it finds the right one, and allows to decrypt the file using that key – the resulting PDF file will have no security at all. That method gives 100% success.

In PDF 1.2/1.3 files (Acrobat 4.x or older), the key length in 40 bits, and so the total number of keys is 2^40, or 1,099,511,627,776. All key space is divided into 65,536 blocks, with 16,777,216 in a block; it takes up to a minute (sometimes more, if you have a slow CPU) to process one block. So the whole recovery process takes about 30 days on PIII-450 computer, and the average is just 15 days.

You have to select the block to start from (Start from block input box) and ending block (End at block box); both values could be from 0 to 65536. During the attack, the program shows the number of the current block, time elapsed, average speed (in keys per second), number of keys already processed and the total number of keys. When the key is found, the program shows it and ask you to decrypt the file; if you already know the key, just put it into the Document key input box and press Decrypt button at the right.

If you you have more than one CPU in your system and SMP-enabled operating system (Windows NT, Windows 2000 or Windows XP), be sure to enable the Use multi-processor code option – recovery speed will be almost two times better (right now the system is optimized for two CPUs only, so if you have more, they will not be used).

Unfortunately, Adobe Acrobat 5.0 can create PDF files with improved security level: 56..128-bit RC4 encryption (PDF 1.4 specification; look at Complete new feature highlights document on Adobe server), and so that attack is not applicable to them (you will get an error message).

If you'd like APDFPRP to save its state periodically, please check the appropriate option, and select the time (in minutes) between saves. If you do that, APDFPRP will create and periodically update a restore file named "~apdfpr.axr" (that's the default – you can change it) in the same folder where your document is located (also by default; you can select any other folder to save that file to). This file is similar to one created when using the "Save setup" button. Even if your computer stops responding (or if power fails), you'll be able to restore breaking the password from the last saved state. Instead of using the default settings (the name of the file and the folder it will be saved to), you can also select your own settings. Enabling this option is strongly recommended.

Priority: background or high. If you want to start APDFPRP as a "background" process, which will work only when the CPU is in an idle state, you may select "Background". If you want to increase performance, select "High", but be aware that this will decrease the performance of *all other* applications running on your computer.

Minimize to tray: if this option is enabled, the program window will disappear from the Windows desktop when you press the "minimize" button in the top-right corner of the window (or you select an appropriate item in the system menu). The small icon will be created in the "tray" area of the task bar (near the system clock). Just double-click on that icon to restore the window.

Log to apdfprp.log: when enabled, the program saves all information displayed in the status window into the log-file (apdfprp.log).

Progress bar update interval: allows to set an interval (in milliseconds) between progress bar and status window updates; the default is 500 (a reasonable value). By selecting the higher value (3000, for example), you can get slightly better recovery speed.

Register: press this button to register your copy of APDFPRP (if you've got the registration code already, of course).

Update: press this button (when you're connected to the Internet) to see if there a new version of APDFPRP on our site. Note: the program uses Microsoft Internet Explorer proxy settings.

Language: the program has multi-language interface. Just select the appropriate language from the drop-down box. English is the default.

Search for: Any password, User password or Owner password. Select this option to instruct the program which particular password to search for; look at About PDF encryption chapter first. And here are a few recommendations for different cases:

· Your file is not encrypted at all. It doesn't matter what do you select: when you try to run the attack, the program will note you that it is nothing to do.

· Your file has only "owner" password set. You'll get a notification message that the file can be decrypted now, but you can still search for the original password. Select to search for Owner password only; you can also search for Any password, but the speed will be lower.

· Your file has both "user" and "owner" passwords set, and they're the same (typically, you don't know that in advance, but as noted above, the "owner" password is set to the same value as "user" one just by default). The best solution here is to search for User password only, as far as it is the fastest.

· Both "user" and "owner" passwords are set, but they're different. You can search for any of them, or for both at the same time. Please take in mind that searching for User password is the fastest, for Owner password – almost two time slower, and for Any password – the slowest. So that's up to you what to select. There is a chance that one of these passwords is much shorter/simpler than the other one, but again, you don't know that in advance. We'd recommend to set Any password first (for example, with the dictionary attack, and up to 4-5 chars with brute-force attack), and then look for User password, but in extended range (e.g. up to 7 chars).

Mask symbol: used for Mask attack.

Use code optimized for: (Non-MMX processors / Intel PII/PIII/Celeron / AMD Athlon / Intel P4 SSE2): force APDFPRP to use the code specially optimized for the given CPUs. The program detects your CPU and tries to select the proper code automatically, but you may want to play with that option if you've got any other CPU such as Cyrix, Transmeta Crusoe etc.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/apdfpr.html

Advanced PDF Password Recovery (APDFPR)

2009-01-14T20:22:00.000-08:00

Advanced PDF Password Recovery (or simply APDFPR) has been designed to decrypt protected Adobe Acrobat PDF files, which have "owner" password set, preventing the file from editing (changing), printing, selecting text and graphics (and copying them into the Clipboard), or adding/changing annotations and form fields (in any combination). Decryption is being done instantly. Decrypted file can be opened in any PDF viewer (e.g. Adobe Acrobat Reader) without any restrictions – i.e. with edit/copy/print functions enabled. Please note that APDFPR doesn't work with documents which have user-level passwords (preventing the files from being opened), if both user and owner passwords are unknown; or if the file is protected with any 3rd party security plug-in. All versions of Acrobat (including Acrobat 5.0) are supported. The program is also able to convert Kinko's Document Format (KDF) files to PDF files.

Requirements :
•Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 or Windows XP
•about one megabyte of free space on hard disk

Please note that APDFPR does NOT work on Mac computers with Virtual PC; unfortunately, it seems to be a problem of Virtual PC itself. However, APDFPR seems to be working just fine on SoftWindows from FWB Software; you can also try RealPC from the same company. Native Mac version is not available yet, as well as versions for other platforms.

Adobe Acrobat features two levels of password protection.

Protecting document with access restriction (“owner”, so-called “security” or “master”) password does not affect a user's ability to open and view the PDF file, but prevents user from editing (changing) the file, printing it, selecting text and graphics (and copying them into the Clipboard), adding/changing annotations and form fields etc (in any combination). If the file is protected this way, you open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader (again, the password is not required for that) and select File | Document Security menu item, the following information is shown.

Fortunately, there is no need to recover that password at all: instead, we can remove it (decrypt the file), so the resulting document will not have any restrictions. That’s exactly what APDFPR does. However, such decryption possible only if “user” password (see below) is not set or known.

Also, there are “open” (so-called “user”) passwords. If one is set, the file is encrypted with strong RC4 algorithm, and cannot be opened at all, if the password is not known. With APDFPR, you need to know this password to be able to decrypt the file protected this way. If you need to recover “open” PDF password, please use the professional edition of APDFPR, available on our site.

Finally, PDF files can be protected using PDF Merchant and EBX digital rights management schemes or 3rd party plug-ins such as FileOpen, SoftLock etc. APDFPR is not able to decrypt such files.

For more details about Adobe Acrobat PDF format and encryption used there, look at Acrobat 5.0 SDK Documentation.

Simply select the PDF file you want to decrypt: press the Open document... button and browse for your file (PDF or KDF). If the given file is corrupted, or used by another application, or not encrypted, or has a user-level password set – appropriate error message will be displayed (in the last case, you can still decrypt the file with APDFPR, but have to know either user or owner password). Otherwise, the program will will ask you do you want to remove the protection, and if yes, prompt you for the file name of decrypted file (you can select any one). Resulting file will not have any restrictions at all. The confirmation box also contain an option Open file in PDF viewer after decrypting – if selected, APDFPR will run default PDF viewer (the one associated with .pdf extension, typically Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Acrobat Reader) and load decrypted file into it (when/if the file will be decrypted successfully).

APDFPR allows to save the decrypted file under the same name as the source file, but asks do you want to save a backup copy or not. We strongly recommend you to have this option always enabled, verify the files after decryption, and delete backup files only when you’re sure that decryption has been done properly.

Please note that unregistered (trial) version of APDFPR decrypts only first 10% pages (but at least one page) of protected documents. All other pages are replaced with blank ones (just some watermarks and hyperlinks are being left).

If Adobe Acrobat Reader doesn’t show the menu and/or toolbar (and so you don’t see the Print item), you can simply press F7 to show menu and F8 to show toolbar.

If you get the message Unknown Encryption Handler, it means that the given file has been encrypted using some 3rd party security plug-in or some DRM (digital rights management) scheme. Unfortunately, APDFPR cannot process such files at all.

You can also process/decrypt PDF files (one at a time) by right-clicking on them in Windows Explorer, and selecting Decrypt with APDFPR from pop-up menu.

APDFPR is also able to convert Kinko's Document Format (KDF) files into PDF files (without any protection). KDF files can be created using Kinko's File Prep Tool (KFP), available free from Kinko's. Converted (by APDFPR) file has both KDF and PDF headers, so allowing to open it in Kinko's FilePrep Tool, if needed (Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader just ignore the KDF header).

If you want to process (decrypt) a few PDF or KDF files at once, you can run the program with a command-line parameters.

If you need to extract contents from PDF files, read How to Extract Text and Graphics from PDF Files Using Acrobat Reader 5.0.5 article in Adobe Support Knowledgebase.

You can execute the program with command line parameters, like:

apdfpr.exe src_path [dest_path] [-b] [-q] [-p=xxx]

src_path Path for source file(s); wildcards are allowed.
dest_path The location of the folder to put decrypted files to (must already exist). If not specified, source path is used.
-b Create backup copies of files being decrypted. Ignored if dest_path is not equal to src_path.
-p=xxx If the program encounters the file which is locked from opening (with “user” password set), it tries to decrypt it using the given password (“xxx”).
-q Quiet mode; ignores the files with “user” password, if one specified in -p option doesn’t match, or -p option is not supplied at all.
-l=log_path Creates a log file (“log_path”; should be a file name).
-w Close program when all files are processed, main window is not being shown at all; last error is being returned (or just 0 if no errors occured).
If the extension of the source file is .PDF, it is being processed as Adobe Acrobat PDF file; if the extension is .KDF, it is being processed as Kinko's Document Format file. If the extension is neither .PDF nor .KDF, the program recognises file format by looking at the document header, and if it starts with %!KDF-, it is considered to be the KDF file (otherwise – PDF). Please note that KDF files, when processed by APDFPR (converted to PDF), still have the optional KDF header along with the PDF one, and .KDF extension, so you can further open them by both Kinko's File Prep Tool or Adobe Acrobat [Reader] – Adobe Acrobat will simply ignore KDF header. You can, however, safely rename processed files and give them .PDF extension.

The parameters enclosed in square brackets are optional; the only mandatory parameter is the source path.

If src_file starts with @ character, it is treated as a name of the file that contains a list of PDF documents to be processed (one per line).

If source or destination path contain spaces, it has to be included in double quotes.

The password may contain any special characters, but they have to be represented in hex form with % prefix. For example, the space is represented as 20 in hex, so if the password is “my pass”, the appropriate command line option would be:

-p=my%20pass

The % character itself should be replaced with %25.

-w option could be used if you would like to execute APDFPR from your own software, but want the main program window not to appear on the screen (please note that if -p or -q option is not specified, but file with user password will be encountered, the program will still prompt for the password). When all files specified in the command line will be processed, APDFPR terminates with an appropriate error code.

-l option instructs the program to create a log file (describing all the program is doing, error messages etc). If the file already exists, APDFPR appends to it (writes at the information at the end). If the path to the file contains spaces, it should be shielded with double quotes (see examples below). Please note that if you select src_path as *.*, log file could not be created in the same folder where the source file are, because the name of the log file will also match the given mask, and so APDFPR will try to process it as a PDF file. Just use the mask like *.PDF, and/or create the log file in a different folder.

Examples:
apdfpr.exe doc??.pdf
apdfpr.exe “c:\my documents\manuals\*.pdf” “c:\my documents\decrypted\” –q
apdfpr.exe @list.txt -b -p=LockSmith -w –l=”C:\Program Files\apdfpr_log.txt”

When there is a problem with PDF files you’re trying to decrypt, APDFPR shows some kind of error message which looks like:

Can't open file C:\My documents\report.pdf. Error 105

Here is the explanation of the error codes:

Error code Error description
0 PDFERR_OK No errors
1 PDFERR_NO_STARTXREF No reference to objects table
2 PDFERR_BAD_STARTXREF Invalid reference to objects table
3 PDFERR_NOREF No objects table
4 PDFERR_BAD_XREF Invalid objects table
5 PDFERR_NO_TRAILER No document trailer
6 PDFERR_BAD_TRAILER Invalid document trailer
7 PDFERR_NO_OBJ Cannot find object
8 PDFERR_BAD_OBJ Invalid object format
9 PDFERR_NO_ENDOBJ Cannot find the end of the object
10 PDFERR_UNEXPECTED_LEX Unexpected lexem encountered
11 PDFERR_NAME_EXPECTED No name
12 PDFERR_NO_TRAILER_DICT No trailer dictionary
13 PDFERR_NO_STREAM_DICT No stream dictionary
14 PDFERR_NO_STREAM_LEN No stream length
15 PDFERR_BAD_STREAM_LEN Invalid format of stream length
16 PDFERR_NO_ENDSTREAM Cannot find the end of the stream
20 PDFERR_NO_LEX Lexem not found
21 PDFERR_UNK_LEX Unknown lexem encountered
30 PDFERR_BAD_NUMBER Invalid number format
31 PDFERR_BAD_STRING Invalid string format
32 PDFERR_BAD_HEXSTR Invalid hexadecimal string format
33 PDFERR_BAD_NAME Invalid name format
34 PDFERR_BAD_KEYWORD Invalid keyword format
35 PDFERR_UNK_KEYWORD Unknown keyword
101 PDFERR_ALREADY_OPENED Document already loaded
102 PDFERR_CANT_OPEN Cannot open document
103 PDFERR_CANT_CREATE_MAP Cannot map file
104 PDFERR_CANT_MAP_VIEW Cannot view file map
105 PDFERR_NO_HEADER No PDF file header
1001 PDFERR_NO_ENCRYPT Document is not encrypted
1002 PDFERR_NO_PDEF Document is not loaded
1003 PDFERR_BAD_REF Wrong reference to Encryption Object
1004 PDFERR_BAD_OBJ Invalid Encryption Object
1005 PDFERR_WRONG_FILTER Unsupported Encryption Filter
1006 PDFERR_WRONG_VER Unsupported Encryption Version
1007 PDFERR_WRONG_REV Unsupported Encryption Revision
1008 PDFERR_WRONG_OWNER Invalid OwnerKey format
1009 PDFERR_WRONG_USER Invalid UserKey format
1010 PDFERR_WRONG_PERM Invalid Permissions format
1011 PDFERR_NO_ID Cannot find DocumentID
1012 PDFERR_BAD_ID Invalid DocumentID format

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/apdfpr.html

Advanced Outlook Password Recovery (AOLPR)

2009-01-14T20:15:00.000-08:00

Advanced Outlook Password Recovery (AOLPR) is a program to recover lost or forgotten passwords (including multilingual ones) to protected Personal Storage Files (*.PST) used by Microsoft Outlook (all versions: 97, 98, 2000, XP, 2003) to store emails, contacts etc. The program can also recover passwords to mail accounts created in Outlook 98/2000/XP/2003. All passwords are recovered instantly.

Requirements :
•Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
•less than 1 megabyte of free space on hard disk

To get password to PST file (all versions of Outlook are supported: 97, 98, 2000, 2002/XP and 2003), simply select the file you want to recover the password(s) for: press the Open file button and select an appropriate PST-file. If the given file is corrupted, or used by another application, or not password-protected – appropriate error message will be displayed. Otherwise, the password will be recovered immediately, shown in the message box and written to the log window. You can copy recovered password to Clipboard and run Outlook just from AOLPR, put the cursor into the password box, and press Ctrl-V or Ctrl-Ins there to paste the password from the Clipboard (to avoid mistyping).

Please note that in some cases, the password recovered by AOLPR is not the same as the one which has been originally set. That's due to encryption algorithm used in Outlook – the original password is not stored in the file. But that password (shown by AOLPR) will be accepted by Outlook without problems – just try. And of course, after logging into Outlook, you'll be able to change that password to any one, or just remove it.

For Outlook 98, 2000, 2002/XP and 2003 (sorry, Outlook 97 is not supported officially, while AOLPR may work for it), you can also recover information about email accounts (server address, login, password and server type) stored in Outlook: press the second button on the toolbar: Get Passwords for Outlook Mail Accounts. If Outlook is installed in the system (and there is at least one email account there), AOLPR will open new window with appropriate fields (see above). From there, for any account you can copy password to Clipboard by pressing an appropriate button at the bottom.

Also, the program shows the server type (POP3, IMAP4 or HTTP) and Password Storage Type. Some information (describing what exactly the program is doing) is printed into the log window.

Please note that all account/password information is stored in Windows Registry (in Protected Storage, to be exact), and being accessed by AOLPR using standard Windows API. That means that if you’ve re-installed (not upgraded) Windows, all your settings will be lost. Right now, AOLPR cannot extract it from binary Registry files – probably, it will be implemented in the next version.

If you experience any troubles when trying to get any passwords (for mail, news or identities), e.g. the program just crashes or does not show the password, you can use debug mode. To enable it, press Options button on the toolbar, check the Enable logging box, and select the path to log file (or just leave the default value). Then, try to recover the passwords again, and send us that log file. It does not contain your passwords, just some technical information (what does the program do: accessing particular Registry keys, reading and decryption data etc). It would really help us to locate and fix a problem.

Typically, Microsoft Outlook Express stores all passwords in the Protected Storage subsystem. All passwords are stored in system Registry in encrypted form. However, some old versions can store account passwords in a plain (unencrypted) form, or encrypted with weak algorithm (logical XOR operation). In some cases, AOEPR can show wrong passwords, for example if your system Registry is damaged, or you do not have enough rights (permissions) to access some keys in Registry, or Protected Storage subsystem is not installed on your computer. Displaying of Password Storage Types will help you to identify why some passwords are displayed incorrectly. Here is a brief description of Password Storage Types:

PS Password is successfully retrieved and stored in Protected Storage.
OL Password is successfully retrieved and stored in system Registry using "old-style" weak encryption algorithm.
NP Password was not found in Protected Storage, in some cases it indicates that user name is used as password, or Protected Storage subsystem is damaged.
UN Unknown Password Storage Type. You may use version of Outlook Express that is not supported by AOEPR, or your system Registry is damaged.
ER Error in password retrieving.
NR Password was not retrieved. You do not have enough rights to unlock the Protected Storage, or Protected Storage is not installed on your machine.
NO Password for this account is absent.
O97 Outlook 97; password is stored with MAPI.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aolpr.html

Advanced Outlook Express Password Recovery (AOEPR)

2009-01-14T20:08:00.000-08:00

Advanced Outlook Express Password Recovery (or simply AOEPR) is a program to recover server name, login and password for all mail and news accounts in Microsoft Outlook Express, as well as passwords to "Identities" (available in Outlook Express 5.x and 6.x). Passwords are recovered instantly, multilingual ones are supported. Works with all versions of Outlook Express.

Requirements :
•Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
•about 1 megabyte of free space on hard disk

There are three buttons on the program toolbar: to recover mail accounts, news accounts and identities, respectively.

For every mail and news account, AOEPR shows the server address, login and password; usually, last two fields are shown as for news, which means that no login/password is required to connect to the given server (however, it might be available only if you connect to the Internet from particular ISP). Also, the program shows the server type (NNTP for news accounts; and POP3, IMAP4 or HTTP for mail accounts) and Password Storage Type.

For Identities, AOEPR shows the list of name/password combinations.

Some information (describing what exactly the program is doing) is printed into the log window. You can select (with mouse) some events there, press right mouse button and copy selected lines into the Clipboard using appropriate item in pop-up menu.

Please note that all account/password information is stored in Windows Registry (in Protected Storage, to be exact), and being accessed by AOEPR using standard Windows API. That means that if you’ve re-installed (not upgraded) Windows, all your settings will be lost. Right now, AOEPR cannot extract it from binary Registry files – probably, it will be implemented in the next version.

All information shown by AOEPR (address, login password) can be save into the text file – use Save Report button.

If you experience any troubles when trying to get any passwords (for mail, news or identities), e.g. the program just crashes or does not show the password, you can use debug mode. To enable it, select Settings | Program Options menu item, check the Enable logging box, and select the path to log file (or just leave the default value). Then, try to recover the passwords again, and send us that log file. It does not contain your passwords, just some technical information (what does the program do: accessing particular Registry keys, reading and decryption data etc). It would really help us to locate and fix a problem.

Typically, Microsoft Outlook Express stores all passwords in the Protected Storage subsystem. All passwords are stored in system Registry in encrypted form. However, some old versions can store account passwords in a plain (unencrypted) form, or encrypted with weak algorithm (logical XOR operation). In some cases, AOEPR can show wrong passwords, for example if your system Registry is damaged, or you do not have enough rights (permissions) to access some keys in Registry, or Protected Storage subsystem is not installed on your computer. Displaying of Password Storage Types will help you to identify why some passwords are displayed incorrectly. Here is a brief description of Password Storage Types:

PS Password is successfully retrieved and stored in Protected Storage.
OL Password is successfully retrieved and stored in system Registry using "old-style" weak encryption algorithm.
NP Password was not found in Protected Storage, in some cases it indicates that user name is used as password, or Protected Storage subsystem is damaged.
UN Unknown Password Storage Type. You may use version of Outlook Express that is not supported by AOEPR, or your system Registry is damaged.
ER Error in password retrieving.
NR Password was not retrieved. You do not have enough rights to unlock the Protected Storage, or Protected Storage is not installed on your machine.
NO Password for this account is absent.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aoepr.html

Advanced Office Password Recovery (AOPR)

2009-01-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Advanced Office Password Recovery (AOPR) is ElcomSoft's comprehensive recovery suite supporting all versions of Microsoft® Office (including international versions) and all other Microsoft® software using the new encryption method based on Cryptographic Service Provider (CSP) file protection for Office XP and later.

Advanced Office Password Recovery requires the following system configuration to run properly:
· Pentium or higher CPU
· Windows® 95, Windows® 98, Windows® ME, Windows® NT 4.0, Windows® 2000, Windows® XP or Windows® Server 2003
· About four megabytes of free space on hard disk
· Some features may require Administrative Rights on Windows® NT, 2000, XP or 2003 Server

When AOPR is the active window pressing the function key F1 will give you AOPR's comprehensive help file. Alternatively go to the menu bar, select "Help | Help Contents".

Help for particular controls:

Right-click on any control to display a "What's This?" menu that leads to a description of the control. This works with menu items as well. This way, if you are uncertain about a control's function or impact help is at hand.

To select a file you want to recover the password(s) for simply press the "Open File" button (or select the "File | Open File" menu item) and browse for the appropriate file (or press on a small arrow at the right to load a file you have been working with recently).

File Format will be recognized automatically with corresponding message in the Log Window. If the specified File Format is not supported by AOPR, or it's corrupted, or used by another application – the appropriate error message will be displayed.

You can clear the Recent Files list selecting the "File | Clear Files History" menu item.

After the File selection, the dialog box with results will be displayed automatically. The following situations may occur as the result of the File Processing:

· All or some Passwords were recovered. The dialog box with passwords is displayed. Password fields may contain those auxilary messages:
· - the password is not set;
· - the password cannot be recovered instantly, you must select the Attack Options and Start the Attack to recover this password. You can Create a Project to save the Attack parameters to the file.
· - the password cannot be recovered, but can be changed or deleted. In this case a Dialog with results contains two additional buttons: "Change Password" and "Delete Password". You can change or delete the password simply clicking those buttons. Selected File must not be write-protected to complete this operation successfully.
· - the Password cannot be recovered by some reason. The possible reasons are:
· Selected File Format does not have such password
· Password that decrypts a document is not found yet
· - an error occured while Password Recovery process. The error message box is displayed to explain the error.
· - the Password is not supported by current version of AOPR.
· - the Password was found but its length exceeds the Trial Version Limitations. You must purchase AOPR License to see that Password.

Any found Password can be copied to the Clipboard. Simply press the "Copy to Clipboard" button located at the right of the corresponding Password. You can insert the copied Password to any field by pressing the "Ctrl-V" buttons combiantion (usually the Paste menu item is disabled, but the keyboard shortcut always works). Passwords which contains international symbols can be displayed incorrectly on Windows® 95, 98 and Me. These Windows® versions don't support Unicode and therefore we recommend to use Windows® NT, 2000 or XP to recover passwords with international symbols.

Path to the selected File is displayed under "File Path:" caption. You can open the File simply clicking the "Open..." button.

· File Format is not supported. This may occur when you're selecting file which Format is not supported by AOPR. Please see the "Supported File Types and Passwords" section to learn what File Formats are supported by AOPR.
· An Error occured. The Error message box is displayed.

Please examine the Passwords Manual to get more information about Document Passwords.

If you need to recover the "open" password for Word®/Excel® 97/2000/XP, PowerPoint® XP or Money 2002/2003/2004 document and this password cannot be recovered instantly, you may create a project. Project file contains all information about the source File, selected Options and Character Set. You can simply copy the Project File to another computer and you don't need to copy the source File -- the Project contains all information needed to recover a Password.

When you open the file for password recovery and this Password cannot be recovered instantly, the program creates a new Project automatically. Project files have an ".OPR" extension. By default the Project name is equal to the source File name. For example if you're opening the "test.doc" file, the Project name is "test.opr".

When the file is loaded, you can save your project -- all the changes you've made will be reflected in the project file. The name for the project is selected automatically based on the name of the file. If you want to give an alternative name – use "File | Save Project As..." menu item. If you don't want to change the name, just use the "File | Save Project" menu item.

If a Project was created and you're trying to quit AOPR, the Saving Project Prompt will be displayed. You can disable this Prompt unckecking the "Prompt if project was changed" checkbox at the Options tab.

If you have a document with password-protected VBA project, but for some reason the password cannot be recovered, or the password shown by AOPR cannot be entered (for example it contains non-English characters that cannot be entered using your keyboard), or AOPR only allows to change or remove that password (but you would not like to do that), you can use the "VBA backdoor" feature. It works for all applications which can create VBA projects in their documents, not only Microsoft® Office (for example, Corel WordPerfect Office and AutoCAD).

With that feature, the password is not being recovered at all. However, you're able to open a VBA project (to view/edit the code). Of course you should have the application (this document has been created with, or later version) installed.

Just press the "VBA Backdoor" button on AOPR toolbar (or select VBA Backdoor | Open file through backdoor menu item). The program will prompt you for the document file.

Here you set the additional Command Line parameters if needed. AOPR will run the application (with a special way) this document has been created with, and load your document into it. Now go into VBA properties (typically, it is under "Tools | Macro | Visual Basic Editor" or "Tools | VBAProject Properties". You'll be prompted for the Password. Enter ANY one (e.g., xyz), and it will be accepted!

If your document has been created in Microsoft® Office 97, you can use Office 2000 or Office XP, too. However, the reverse is not true: if you would like to unprotect Office 2000/XP document, but have only Office 97 installed, AOPR will still run it (with a warning message), but Backdoor will not work.

In addition (for example, in the case if the extension of the protected files is not registered in the system, so AOPR don't know what program to execute), you can just run the desired application (the one with VBA support: Word®, Excel®, FrontPage, AutoCad etc) using the same technology: select "VBA Backdoor | Launch application" menu item. Backdoor will be activated, and for all documents you will open in that application, any password will be accepted.

Please note that this backdoor is supported only for a limited number of versions of VBA engine (VBE.DLL or VBE6.DLL) – the ones that were available when current version of AOPR has been released (the latest one comes with Microsoft® Office 2003). When the application is executed, AOPR prints (into the Log Window) the size and version number of that DLL. If your one is not supported yet, AOPR uses "generic" patch, which may fail under certain circumstances.

You can use the Benchmark feature to estimate the speed of your computer and calculate the time needed to recover the Strong Password. Just press the appropriate "Calculate" button on the "Benchmark" tab. To determine the time needed to recover the password, simply divide the total number of passwords to the speed displayed in the Benchmark dialog. Total number of passwords is just the number of the characters in selected character set in a power of the password length.

If a Password cannot be recovered instantly you must use one of the Attack Types. The following Attack Types are available in AOPR:

· Brute-Force Attack. This Attack will try all possible characters combinations in the specified Range. The Range is defined by Password Length and Brute-Force Range Options.
· Brute-Force with Mask. This Attack is useful when you remeber a part of Password. For example if you remember that length of your password was 5 characters and password begins from "A", you can define the mask "A????" and save the time by trying 4 symbols instead of 5. A Password Mask must be defined to use this Attack.
· Dictionary Attack. This Attack verifies the words stored in the specified Dictionary File. The dictionary is just the text (ASCII file) with one work at a line; the lines are separated with line breaks. You can set additional Dictionary Options for this Attack. A Dictionary Attack is much more faster than Brute-Force so we recommend to run it first. AOPR has supplied with one small Dictionary File containing English words. Additional Dictionaries can be obtained on a CD with any Elcomsoft program.

To select the needed Attack Type click the corresponding radio button under "Type of Attack for Documents with Strong Encryption".

Preliminary Attack is the set of predefined Attacks which are tried when Password cannot be recovered instantly.

Preliminary Attack consists of four independed Attacks which can be enabled/disabled in program Options.

· Found Passwords Attack. This Attack is always available. It checks all Passwords that were found in the document prior to finding the current Password. For example Microsoft® Word® Files may have a VBA Project Password. This Password is checked first beacuse many users uses the same Passwords in different places.
· Password Cache Attack. This Attack checks the Password Cache (all passwords found in other documents by AOPR). This Attack can be enabled/disabled by "Password Cache Preliminary Attack" checkbox at the "Options" tab.
· Preliminary Dictionary Attack. Performs the Dictionary Attack by Default Dictionary with "Smart Mutations" Option. This Attack can be enabled/disabled by "Preliminary Dictionary Attack" checkbox at the "Options" tab.
· Preliminary Brute-Force Attack. Performs the Brute-Force Attack by several predefined Character Sets. This Attack can be enabled/disabled by "Preliminary Brute-Force Attack" at the "Options" tab.

Preliminary Attack may take several minutes to run. You can stop it at any time clicking the "Stop" button.

This is one of the most important options affecting checking time. You can check all 4-character (and shorter) passwords in a few minutes. But for longer passwords you have to have patience and/or some knowledge about the password (including the character set which has been used, or even better – the mask).

AOPR allows you to set a Password Length range by defining the Minimal and Maximal Length. These values can be set using the "Password Length" controls at the "Brute-Force" tab. The minimal length cannot be set to a value greater than maximal one. In this case the appropriate error message will be displayed.

If the Minimal and Maximal Lengths are not the same, the program tries the shorter passwords first. For example, if you set Minimal=3 and Maximal=7, the program will start from 3-character Passwords, then try 4-character ones and so on -- up to 7. While AOPR is running, it shows the current Password Length, as well as the current Password, Average Speed, Elapsed and Remaining Time, and Total and Processed number of passwords (some of these Parameters are displaying in the "Extended Statistics" Dialog. All of this information except average speed and elapsed time, which are global, is related only to the current length.

In MS Office documents passwords may contain the following Characters: latin letters (both small and capital), digits, special symbols (like @, #, $ etc) and national languages symbols. You can select these Ranges separately, or define your own Password Range. To define your own range, check the box "Custom charset" and press the "Custom charset…" button.

The Predefined Passwords Ranges contain the following Characters:

· "a - z": abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
· "A - Z": ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
· "0 - 9": 0123456789
· "!@..." (special characters): !@#$%^&*()_+-=<>,./?[]{}~:;`'|"\
· "All Printable": contains all Ranges defined above

If you already know some characters in the Password, you can specify the Mask to decrease the total number of passwords to be verified. At the moment, you can set the Mask only for fixed-length Passwords, but doing this can still help.

For example, you know that the Password contains 8 characters, starts with 'x', and ends with '99'; the other symbols are small or capital letters. So, the Mask to be set is "x?????99", and the charset has to be set to All caps and All small. With such options, the total number of the passwords that AOPR will try will be the same as if you're working with 5-character passwords which don't contain digits; it is much less than if the length were set to 8 and the All Printable option were selected. In the above example, the '?' chars indicate the unknown symbols.

If you know that the Password contains an occurrence of the Mask character '?', you can choose a different Mask Character to avoid having one character, '?', represent both an unknown pattern position and a known character. In this case, you could change the Mask Symbol from '?' to, for example, '#' or '*', and use a mask pattern of "x######?" (for mask symbol '#') or "x******?" (for mask symbol '*').

The Mask and Mask Symbol can be defined in the "Mask / Mask Character" control at the "Brute-Force" tab.

At first you have to select the desired Dictionary File. Click the "Select Dictionary File..." button at the "Dictionary" tab and select the needed file.

In that Attack the program will try all words from it as passwords for the selected Document. It really helps when the Password has some meaning, i.e. the whole word. You can select an option "Smart mutations" or "Try all possible upper/lower case combinations" – it may really help if you're not sure about the register the Password has been typed in. For example, let's assume that the next word in dictionary is «PASSword» (the case, actually, doesn't matter here). With the second option enabled, the program will just try all possible combinations, like:

password
passworD
passwoRd
passwoRD
passwOrd
…
PASSWORd
PASSWORD

However, checking all such combinations takes a lot of time: in the example above, the program will check 2^8 words (i.e. 256) instead of one. With Smart Mutations, you can eliminate a number of "virtually impossible" combinations, and here are all the words which will be checked:

PASSword (as is)
passWORD (reversed)
password (all lower case)
PASSWORD (all upper case)
Password (first uppercase, rest lowercase)
pASSWORD (first lower case, rest uppercase)
PaSSWoRD (elite: vowels in lc, others in uc)
pAsswOrd (noelite)
PaSsWoRd (alt/1)
pAsSwOrD (alt/2)

So, it makes only 10 combinations for each word.

The "Start line #" option allows you to start an Attack from a given line (in dictionary); if you'll interrupt the attack, the "current" line number will be written there (and saved to the Project File, of course).

Default Dictionary is used when the Preliminary Attack is running. To select the Default Dictionary click the "Select Default Dictionary..." at the "Dictionary" tab. Please note, this Dictionary Attack is running with "Smart Mutations" Option and a long Dictionary File may slow down the Preliminary Attack.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aopr.html

Advanced Office Password Breaker (AOPB)

2009-01-12T15:29:00.000-08:00

Advanced Office Password Breaker, or AOPB for short, is a program to decrypt Microsoft® Word® and Excel® 97/2000 files that have file open protection set, as well as Word® and Excel® XP/2003 files with default (Office 97/2000 compatible) encryption – guaranteed, regardless the password length and complexity. This is being done by trying all possible encryption keys (instead of brute-force and dictionary attacks) and takes only about ten days on single Pentium 4 PC (or just three-four days on faster dual-CPU systems).

Requirements:
· Windows® 98, Windows® ME, Windows® NT 4.0, Windows® 2000, Windows® XP or Windows® Server 2003
· about 800 kilobytes of free space on hard disk

Note: to use Professional or Enterprise Edition of AOPB on a system with two or more CPUs, you should have Windows® NT, Windows® 2000, Windows® XP or Windows® Server 2003.

Microsoft Word® and Microsoft Excel® support three levels of document/workbook protection. The user who creates a document or workbook has read/write permission to a document and controls the protection level. The three levels of document protection are:

· File open protection. Word®/Excel® requires the user to enter a password to open a document.
· File modify protection. Word®/Excel® requires the user to enter a password to open the document with read/write permission. If the user clicks Read Only at the prompt, Word®/Excel® opens the document as read-only.
· Read-only recommended protection. Word® prompts the user to open the document as read-only. If the user clicks No at the prompt, Word®/Excel® opens the document with read/write permission, unless the document has other password protection.

In addition to protecting an entire Word® document, you can also protect specific elements (tracked changes, comments and forms) from unauthorized changes. For Excel®, you can protect a worksheet and the contents of locked cells, a structure of a workbook, windows in a workbook and cells or formulas on a worksheet, or items on a chart sheet. Finally, you can prevent users from viewing code by locking VBA project.

All protections but File open one are not secure at all – the password can be either recovered or removed (changed) instantly, and not supported by AOPB at all.

If File open protection is being used, Word® and Excel® encrypt password-protected documents by using the symmetric encryption routine known as RC4. In old versions of Microsoft Office (prior to Office 97 – i.e. Office 95, Office 6.0 etc), however, the implementation was weak and allowed to extract (decrypt) password as well; such files are also not supported by AOPB.

For Word® and Excel® 97/2000 files (and also Word®/Excel® XP/2003, if Office 97/2000 Compatible Encryption is used), File open protection is good enough; at least, password cannot be recovered instantly, and till now, the only methods to break them were brute-force and dictionary attacks. However, these methods fail if password is long enough and well selected (i.e. cannot be found in common dictionary) – it would take years to recover it. This is the only type of protection AOPB supports, by using a new method such as searching for encryption key instead of the password.

AOPB does not work with Word® and Excel® file if:

· The file does not use File open protection at all, but only File modify protection, or document/workbook protection, or VBA password.
· The file has been created in Office 95 (or older)
· The file has been created in Office XP, but uses any encryption other than Office 97/2000 Compatible one.
· The file has been created on a machine with user's locale setting in Regional Settings in Control Panel is set to French (Standard). This is just because strong encryption such as RC4 is banned in France, and Office 97/2000/XP can use only old/weak encryption there.

Instead of AOPB, you should use Advanced Office Password Recovery (that supports all the types listed above, but doesn't provide 100% recovery rate for File open protection on brute-force and dictionary attacks) instead. AOPB works only with Word®/Excel® 97/2000 (and Word®/Excel® XP/2003 if default, Office 97/2000 Compatible Encryption is used) files, encrypted with password for opening.

As noted above, Word®/Excel® 97/2000 (and Word®/Excel® XP in Office 97/2000 Compatible mode, which is the default), encrypt files using RC4 encryption routine, if File open protection is used. The simplest way to break the password is running brute-force and dictionary attacks; however, these methods work well only on short and simple passwords only. But if, for example, the password is 10 characters long and contain both small letters, capital letters and digits – obviously, you will not find it in any dictionary; and for brute-force attack, the appropriate software will have to try the following number of possible passwords:

(26 + 26 + 10) ^ 10 = 839,299,365,868,340,224

Even assuming that modern PCs with 4 processors can test as much as about a million passwords per second, it will still take more than 26614 years to test them all. Well, only 13307 years in average, but still too much.

This program, AOPB, does not recover the password at all. Because of U.S. crypto export regulations, the key length in RC4 algorithm used for encrypting the document is only 40 bits, and that means that the total number of possible encryption keys is:

2 ^ 40 = 1,099,511,627,776

So instead of testing all possible passwords, AOPB test all possible encryption keys. And once the key is found, it decrypts the document, so the password is no longer required to open it. Decryption is still not instant, but recovery time is very reasonable (usually, a few days). Moreover, this method provides 100% success rate regardless the password length. For example, if the speed is one million passwords per second (as for Athlon XP 1800+), the program will work about 305 hours or about 13 days – and this is maximum.

If you have Start the attack immediately after selecting document option enabled (see Options), this is all you have to do – the attack will be started with default parameters (sufficient for most cases), and now just wait till the key will be found (depending on the speed of your CPU, it may take from a few days and up to two weeks).

Please note that you can interrupt the attack at any time simply by pressing the Stop button. During the attack, the program saves (on a regular basis) intermediate information into the status file (with bsf extension). You can also save this file yourself at any point (using Save button on toolbar), or open previously saved file using Open button (instead of opening Word® or Excel® file here).

If Start the attack immediately after selecting document option is not checked, the parameters will be also set to default values, but you can change them prior to starting the attack. First, you can select an appropriate range. The whole key range (1,099,511,627,776 as defined above) is divided into 65,536 blocks, with 16,777,216 keys in every block. So Start from and End at fields may contain values from 0 to 65535; if you're just starting the attack, select minimum and maximum, accordingly. At the right of these fields, there are small buttons that allow selecting the whole range, or first/second half, or one third – this may help if you split the task across two or three computers. Next, you can select an alternatename for autosave file (with bsf extension).

Now press Start button on the toolbar, and the program will work till it find the encryption key or press the Stop button (you can do that at any time; the Start from field will be automatically set to the number of the current block). During the attack, the program shows some statistics – current block, average speed (in keys per second), elapsed time and estimated time.

Here we have the total number of keys tested, elapsed time, average speed in keys per second, and (the most important) the encryption key itself. You can press Save button so text file with all that information will be created:

Advanced Office Password Breaker statistics:
Encrypted document: C:\My Documents\report.doc
Total keys: 85 095 424
Total time: 33s
Average speed: 2 515 532
Encryption key: [ SH8ZKA8Q2W38F ]

Or just press the Decrypt button to save the decrypted (Word® or Excel®) file (you will be prompted for file name). That file will not have File Open protection at all, i.e. Word®/Excel® will open it without any problems.

Note: if AOPB already found the encryption key for particular file but you try to start the attack once again (with any settings) on the same computer, you will be informed about that, and the program will ask you would you like to decrypt the file immediately (if yes, the same window as mentioned above will be shown), or start the attack ones again anyway (though there should not be any reason doing that, except for testing purposes). This is just because AOPB remembers all the keys it has found by storing them in the Windows Registry on your computer. So if you have successfully completed an attack using the trial version of AOPB but have not decrypted the file due to trial version limitations, you will be able to do that just after purchasing the full version and receiving the registration code.

Please also note that if you have two or more documents protected with the same password, their encryption keys are different anyway, because they depend on document-specific information. That means that once the key is found, it can be used for decrypting this particular document only.

Use code optimized for (Non-MMX processors / Intel PII/PIII/Celeron / AMD Athlon / Intel P4 SSE2): force AOPB to use the code specially optimized for the given CPUs. The program detects your CPU and tries to select the proper code automatically, but you may want to play with that option if you've got any other CPU: press Detect button at the right of this option to get accurate benchmark.

Use XX CPU(s): if you have more than one CPU installed in your sustem (Pentium Xeon or Athlon MP), AOPB (registered Professional or Enterprise edition only, see Registration for details) can use them all – simply select the appropriate number of CPUs from the combo box. Please note, however, that if you have Pentium 4 processor(s) with HyperThreading (HT) technology enabled, if is recommended to select the number of "physical", not "virtual" CPUs. For example, if you there are two Pentium 4 Xeon processors on the motherboard, and HT is enabled in BIOS (so your operating system can see four processors), AOPB will work slower if you select 4 CPUs in this option; instead, select only 2 CPUs. Please also see the note for the next option.

Use affinity mask: check this option if your system have CPUs with HT support, such as Pentium 4 3,04 GHz and above, or Pentium 4 Xeon. Otherwise, the AOPB speed will be lower than expected. This option does not affect the program performance if your processor(s) does not support HyperThreading.

Priority (Idle / Normal / High): if you want to start AOPB as a "background" process, which will work only when the CPU is in an idle state, you may select Idle. If you want to increase performance, select Normal, but be aware that this will decrease the performance of all other applications running on your computer. If you select High, the program will try to use as many resources as possible (not recommended).

Auto-save every XX min: the program periodically saves all information displayed in the status window into the bsf-file (the path to that file is selected on main program screen) according to the interval selected.

Update state every XX ms: allows to set an interval (in milliseconds) between status window updates, showing the current block number, recovery speed, elapsed time and estimated time. The default is 2000 (a reasonable value). By selecting the higher value (5000, for example), you can get slightly better recovery speed.

Minimize to tray: if this option is enabled, the program window will disappear from the Windows desktop when you press the "minimize" button in the top-right corner of the window (or you select an appropriate item in the system menu). The small icon will be created in the "tray" area of the task bar (near the system clock). Just double-click on that icon to restore the window.

Start the attack immediately after selecting document: if enabled, AOPB will start searching for document encryption key right after opening the document (if supported). Otherwise, you will have press Start button yourself (probably after selecting the key range, changing options etc).

Register: press this button to register your copy of AOPB (if you've got the registration code already, of course). If you've already registered AOPB, this button appears as Upgrade, allowing you to register the program using another code – for example, to move from Standard to Professional Edition. See Registration for details.

Check for updates: the program connects to AOPB web site to get information about the latest version of the program available for downloading.

You can execute the program with command line parameters, like:

aopb.exe [options]

Where the options are:

/minimize OR /m
Minimize the program after starting the attack

/dontstart OR /ds
Don't start the attack, just load/set the parameters from filename

The only mandatory parameter is filename. This is the name of bsf-file that stores the name of attacked Word® or Excel® file, starting block, and block to end at. To create such file, just open Word®/Excel® file in AOPB, select the block range, and press Save button on the toolbar (without starting the attack); look at Searching for encryption key for details. Or, if you already had the attack running for some time, you can use the auto-save file.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aopb.html

Advanced Mailbox Password Recovery (AMBPR)

2009-01-10T23:00:00.000-08:00

Advanced Mailbox Password Recovery (or simply AMBPR) is a program to login and password information (stored locally) for most popular email clients: Microsoft Internet Mail And News, Eudora, TheBat!, Netscape Navigator/Communicator Mail, Pegasus mail, Calypso mail, FoxMail, Phoenix Mail, IncrediMail, @nyMail, QuickMail Pro, MailThem and MailThem Pro, Opera mail, Kaufman Mail Warrior, Becky! Internet Mail. Also includes POP3 and IMAP server emulator that allows to get POP3/IMAP password from any email client. Passwords are recovered instanly, multilingual ones are supported.

Requirements :
•Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
•about one megabyte of free space on hard disk

The program menu is located at the left of the main screen, just like in Microsoft Outlook: contains Recovery (automatic or manual, as well as mail server emulator: also automatic and manual), Options, Help and Exit button (to switch to appropriate pages).

Most interface elements (such as buttons, raws in the “list view” windows etc) have pop-up “tooltips” which gives more details about them – e.g. what action will be performed when pressing the button. “List view” elements also have context-sensitive menus appearing on right button click.

The program also supports keyboard hotkeys. Use CTRL- to select the high-level menu item, and ALT- to switch to low-level item under it:

CTRL-1: Recovery

ALT-1: Search for email clients
ALT-2: Automatic passwords recovery
ALT-3: Manual passwords recovery

ALT-4: Mail server emulator (auto mode)

ALT-5: Mail server emulator (manual mode)

CTRL-2: Options
ALT-1: Register the program
ALT-2: General options
CTRL-3: Help
ALT-1: Versions and compatibility
ALT-2: About
ALT-3: Help
CTRL-4: Exit
ALT-1: Minimize to tray
ALT-2: Exit to Windows

Scans your computer (hard disk and Registry) for supported email clients. The full list of clients that are supported by the current version is available on Help page. For every email client found, the program shows its full name, version and (sometimes) sender’s email, name and organization. You can hightlight the item you’re interested in and press the right mouse button for context menu to get more information about the given client, save/print/copy it, or just refresh the list of the clients.

Tries to recover all kind of passwords for all email clients found on your system. The program shows email client name, password type (POP3, SMTP, IMAP, account etc), mail server address (if available), login and password. Context menu (on right click) is available in that window, too.

To be used only when/if requested by our customer support department. Generally, you have to select (from drop-down box) the email client you need to get passwords for; enter the encrypted text (or browse for appropriate file); and press Decrypt.

If you have an email client that is not supported “directly” by the AMBPR, you can try the different approach: Mail server emulator.

In the best scenario, all you have to do is just press Connect button (the program emulates both POP3 and IMAP4 servers simultaneously). Now start your email client (if it was already running, you may need to restart it), and send/receive your mail there (actually, no mail will be received, because the client will connect to AMBPR instead of real mail server). Go back to AMBPR, and login and password (for POP3 or IMAP account) should be there.

There are some limitations, though. First, AMBPR should know what mail servers you connect to. It tries to retrieve the list automatically, but for some clients it may still fail to do that. So if your server is not in the list, press Add server to add it (you will be able to remove it when not needed anymore). Second, you can add servers by either name or IP address, but in the second case, emulation will work properly only if IP can be resolved to the name.

Please also note that this method works for regular authentication only; in other cases (e.g. if MD5 APOP authentication is being used) the password is not passed to the server at all, and so it cannot be captured.

By default, AMBPR uses port 110 for POP3 and port 143 for IMAP4; if your email clients has another port settings, you have to change them in AMBPR, respectively (in Options).

We'd recommend you to try Mail server emulator (auto mode) first – and only if it fails, use the "standard" one (as described in this topic). Here are the steps to perform:

• Select POP3 or IMAP emulation
• Click Connect button in AMBPR
• Run your email client
• Open account properties in the client
• Remember current incoming mail (POP3 or IMAP) server address
• Replace it with localhost or 127.0.0.1
• Save account properties
• Connect to the Internet (not required for some clients)
• Receive mail (in the client) for your account
• Go back to AMBPR and look at POP3 user/password there

Now go back to AMBPR and look at POP3 or IMAP user/password there. This method works for regular authentication only; in other cases (e.g. if MD5 APOP authentication is being used) the password is not passed to the server at all, and so it cannot be captured.

Unlike the automatic server emulator described above, this (manual) one works for only POP3 or IMAP4 at a time (according to the option selected), so if you’re not sure, try both of them separately.

Register the program: when/if you have purchased the program, enter your registration code into the input box, and press the Register button.

General options:

Language: select (from drop-down box) an appropriate language to be used for for program user interface (menus, messages etc); press Refresh button to update (after changing your selection).

Print entire windows instead of text: when enabled, AEBPR will print the contents of the current window (where the Print button exists) instead of text.

Warn under Windows NT/2000: not implemented (yet), reserved for future use.

Check for installed e-mail clients at startup: force AMBPR to search (on startup) your computer for [properly] installed email clients the program can recover the passwords for.

POP3 server port and IMAP server port: set port numbers for your email server; defaults are 110 and 143, respectively.

Versions and compatibility: contains information of supported email clients, and particular versions AMBPR has been tested on.

About: copyright information, and links to program home page in the Internet.

Help: online help (the one you’re reading now)

Minimize to tray: minimizes program to the tray on Windows toolbar (near the system clock). To restore the program to normal state, just double-click on its icon (which looks like an envelope) in the tray.

Exit to Windows: closes current session.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/ambpr.html

Advanced Lotus Password Recovery (ALPR)

2009-01-10T22:56:00.000-08:00

Advanced Lotus Password Recovery (or simply ALPR) has been designed for recovering the lost passwords for the documents/files created in the following IBM/Lotus applications (all versions):

· Lotus Organizer
· Lotus WordPro
· Lotus SmartMaster
· Lotus 1-2-3
· Lotus Approach
· Lotus Freelance Graphics

The Approach module can also decrypt the passwords set to external dBase/FoxPro (*.DBF) and Paradox (*.DB) files the Lotus Approach is working with (directly, i.e. without ODBC drivers).

Also, the program can decrypt passwords to ftp and proxy servers set in all Lotus SmartSuite components (if/when stored in the local system).

All passwords are recovered (decrypted) instantly; multilingual passwords are supported.

Requirements :

· Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
· less than 1 megabyte of free space on hard disk

Simply select the file you want to recover the password(s) for. Press the Open document button and select an appropriate file; file format will be recognized automatically with corresponding message in the Status window; if the specified file format is not supported by ALPR, or it's corrupted, or used by another application, or not password-protected – appropriate error message will be displayed. Otherwise, the password will be recovered immediately and shown in the message box (and written to the log window, too); for Approach databases, the program shows a new window with the file password, and passwords to all groups – from there, you can copy them to Windows Clipboard.

To recover passwords to ftp and proxy servers (managed from any SmartSuite component and stored in the local system), press the Lotus internet passwords button on the tool bar.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/alpr.html

Advanced Intuit Password Recovery (AINPR)

2009-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

Advanced Intuit Password Recovery, or simply AINPR, is a program to recover passwords to files created in Intuit Quicken (*.qdt, *.qdb, *.qdf), Quicken Lawyer (Portfolios, *.pfl and *.bfl) and QuickBooks (*.qba, *.qbw). Multilingual passwords are supported. Quicken versions 4 through 2005 and QuickBooks versions 3 through 2005 are supported. Note: for Quicken 2002 and QuickBooks 2003/2004/2005, only short passwords can be recovered, but passwords containing 4 or more characters can be instantly removed. For Quicken 2003/2004/2005, only brute-force and dictionary attacks are available.

Requirements :
· Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
· about four megabytes of free space on hard disk

Simply select the file you want to recover the password for: press the Open document... button and browse for it. If the given file is corrupted, or used by another application, or passwords are empty – appropriate error message will be displayed. Otherwise, the program automatically recognizes the file type and works accordingly.

For QuickBooks files (*.qba or *.qbw) created in versions of QuickBooks up to 2002 (incl.), password recovery is instant, but for some very large files the program may work a few seconds until the password(s) will be shown. If you have a slow CPU (like Pentium 200) and less than 32 megabytes of memory, the process may take up to a few munites.

Please note that starting from version 6/98, QuickBooks can have multiple "accounts", i.e. pairs of user name and password. AINPR recovers all of them, but may show the "phantom" accounts as well – the ones which don't actually exist (i.e. have been already deleted). Just ignore them. All you actually need is a password of "Admin" user, which is being recovered in any case.

In QuickBooks 2003/2004/2005, protection is much stronger – the passwords are not stored in the data file anymore. First, AINPR tries (using the brute-force approach) to find the short passwords (not longer than 3 characters; containg latin letters, digits and punctuation marks only) – it usually takes a few seconds. Then, for all users that have the rights to open the file, the program shows password information: either the password itself (if it is short), or if the given user has an empty password, or if password contains four or more characters. As already noted, long passwords cannot be recovered, but can be removed: to clear the password of any given user, highlight the user name and press Remove long password button at the bottom of the window. After confirmation, the password for that user will be removed, and the program will create a backup copy (*.bak) of QuickBooks file (you can remove more than one password during the session – multiple backup files will be created (*.bak, *.bak1, *.bak2 etc).

Password for any QuickBooks account can be copied into the Clipboard using Copy password to Clipboard button (and so you can paste that password into QuickBooks by pressing Ctrl-V or Ctrl-Ins).

Please note that the program has been tested on all US versions of QuickBooks, and some Australian, Canadian, German, New Zealand and UK versions. Support for all non-US versions is not guaranteed.

When Quicken file (*.qdi, *.qdb or *.qdf) is opened by AINPR, in most cases, the password returned by the programis not the same as the original one set in Quicken. That's just due to the nature of encryption algorithm used in Quicken, and we cannot do anything with that. However, the password returned by AINPR will work just fine on the given Quicken file. For your convenience, AINPR allows to copy the password (when found) into the Clipboard, and so use Ctrl-V or Ctrl-Ins to paste it into the proper place in Quicken. In addition, it is printed in the HEX form – that might be useful if it contains non-latin letters.

If the given Quicken file has the transaction password set, AINPR will show it as well (it is being encrypted the same way as the file password).

Note: for Quicken 2002 and 2003/2004/2004, the password encryption (and so program functionality) is different – please read next chapters for details.

Please also note that the program has been tested on all US versions of Quicken, German versions 2002 and through 2005, and some Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Spanish versions. Support for other (non-US) versions is not guaranteed.

In Quicken 2002 (US and Canadian), protection has been seriously improved, and in most cases, password cannot be recovered at all in a reasonable time. For such files, however, AINPR allows to remove the password from the file, so Quicken will open resulting file without any problems.

Transaction password in Quicken 2002, however, is encrypted the same way as in older versions, so AINPR will recover it regardless the existance of file password.

For German, Australian and NewZealand versions of Quicken 2002/2003/2004/2005, protection is similar to one used in Quicken 2001 (US), so password can be still recovered instantly.

In Quicken 2003, 2004 and 2005 (US), protection is even stronger. Most of file's content is encrypted, and in order to decrypt it, valid password is supplied. The password itself is not stored in the Quicken file, even encrypted – instead, only password's hash is available. So in order to get access to the file, the original password must be recovered.

When AINPR opens password-protected file created in Quicken 2003/2004/2005, if offers to run brute-force and dictionary attacks on it – these are the only methods that could help to recover such strong passwords.

Dictionary attack is the most effective one. With itBrute-force attack, you may try every word in a dictionary or multiple-dictionaries until your password is found. This method is popular because it is well known that many people use common words as passwords. Dictionaries with hundreds of thousands of words, as well as specialist, technical and foreign language dictionaries are available, as are lists of thousands of words that are often used as passwords such as "qwerty", "abcdef" etc. Simply select the desired dictionary file (use the […] button to browse for it); also, you can select a Smart mutations option– it may really help if you're not sure about the register the password has been typed in. For example, if the next word in the dictionary is "PASSword", AINPR will try the following commonly-used modifications:

PASSword (as is)
passWORD (reversed)
password (all lower case)
PASSWORD (all upper case)
Password (first uppercase, rest lowercase)
pASSWORD (first lower case, rest uppercase)
PaSSWoRD (elite: vowels in lc, others in uc)
pAsswOrd (noelite)
PaSsWoRd (alt/1)
pAsSwOrD (alt/2)

In a brute force attack, the program tries to guess your password by trying every single combination of characters until your password is found. For example, the program might follow a sequence like this:

"aaaaaaaa"
"aaaaaaab"
"aaaaaaac" ...

until the password is found. Obviously, this method will take time, for an eight character lowercase alpha password there are 200 Billion combinations to be checked. But with modern computers this sort of attack doesn't take as long as you might think. The brute force attack is the slowest method of password attack, but can often be successful on short and simple passwords.

For brute-force attack, you have to select the character set (i.e. what symbols have been used in the password); you can choose from capital letters, small letters, digits, space and special symbols such punctuation marks. Besides, you should set the desired password length (minimum and maximum). If Autoincrement if failed option is selected, but the password will not be found in specified range, the program will automatically adjust the maximum length and continue the attack.

The status of brute-force attack is being saved automatically, so when/if you will restart the program or just the attack, recovery will be resumed from the point you stopped it on.

As already noted, Quicken 2003/2004/2005 uses really strong encryption. Always start Quicken 2003/2004/2005 password recovery with dictionary attack, trying different dictionaries and wordlists; and if it fails, try the brute-force attack (if both attacks are selected in the program, the program will run the dictionary attack first, and will continue with a brute-force one if the password will not be found on the first stage.

Recovery speed is not very fast – on Pentium 4 at 2.4 GHz, AINPR tries only about 1000 passwords per second. This is quite enough for dictionary attack even if very large wordlist is being used, but brute-force recovery time dramatically increases with the password length. The practical limit of brute-force attack is only 4-5 characters; but 6-character or longer passwords cannot be recovered with this attack in a reasonable time.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/ainpr.html

Advanced Instant Messengers Password Recovery (AIMPR)

2009-01-07T16:42:00.000-08:00

Advanced Instant Messengers Password Recovery (AIMPR) is a program to recover login and password information (stored locally) for most popular instant messengers: ICQ, ICQLite, AOL IM, Yahoo! Messenger, MSN Messenger, Google Talk, Excite Messenger, Odigo, Trillian, AT&T IM Anywhere, T-Online Messenger, Match Messenger, Praize IM, ScreenFIRE, ACD Express Comunicator, Imici Messenger, Prodigy IM, PowWow Messenger, Jabber IM, Kellster IM, PalTalk, Indiatimes messenger, Miranda, Tiscali, Ya.com Messenger, Rediff Bol, Sifty Buzz, Devil, Tencent QQ, &RQ, Ipswitch Instant Messenger, Eighth Wonder Catax, Simple Instant Messenger, Vista IM, GAIM, Global-IM, Psi Jabber client, Messenger2, Picasa Hello, iWon, Blowsearch, MessageMate, Meca Messenger, Qnext, Bubbler (Five Across), Easy Message. Passwords are recovered instanly, multilingual passwords are supported.

Please note that AIMPR can recover YOUR lost or forgotten password only, extracting/decrypting it from your own system (if such information is there, of course). So it cannot be used to crack somebody else' passwords.

Requirements :
· Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
· any one of supported instant messengers

Just press the Select Messenger... button on the toolbar, and select (from the list) the messenger you want to get login and password information for. Then, the program may prompt you to select the file name to get information from, or it will get everything directly from your system. Here are the details (and what particular versions of supported instant messengers AIMPR has been tested with; actually, it should work with other ones as well, but that have to be verified):

ICQ

For versions up to 2002, the ICQ database (the one you have to select) looks like XXXXXX.DAT, where XXXXXX is the ICQ UIN (only digits); for example, if UIN is 1234567, then the file should be 1234567.DAT. Please note that for ICQ 98a, that's mandatory for proper AIMPR operation, i.e. if the file will have another name, the password will not be recovered. Also, you should have (also for this particular version, i.e. ICQ 98a) the file named XXXXXX.IDX, located in the same folder where the DAT file is. Versions tested: all from 98a to ICQPro 2003b build 3916, including ICQLite.

For ICQ version 2003 (and ICQLite 4.x), password is no longer stored in the database file, but written (in encrypted form) in Windows Registry. So there is a separate menu item in AIMPR for this version.

Please note that in modern ICQ versions, there is a new option (during installation): "This computer is used by:", and available selections are "Only myself" and "Varous users". More information is available in ICQ documentation: Public & Private Modes; as stated there, if ICQ is installed in Public Mode, then passwords are not saved at all, and so AIMPR will not be able to recover them (giving an appropriate error message).

AOL Instant Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested:

1.75.574
3.0.1466
4.1.2010
4.3.2229
4.3.2229
4.6.0073
4.7.2480

Important: starting from version 4.8 of AOL Instant Messenger, the password is not stored locally anymore, so it cannot be recovered by AIMPR – the program will show Unsupported version message. If that case, use AOL online form located at http://www.aol.com/aim/password.adp to get your password back.

Yahoo! Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested:

Build 716 (MyYahoo module 314)
Build 736 (MyYahoo module 333)
Build 3,0,0,764 (MyYahoo module 2,0,0,344)
Build 3,5,0,844 (MyYahoo module 2,0,0,352)
Build 4,0,0,943 (MyYahoo module 2,0,0,355) (Beta)
Build 4,1,0,992 (MyYahoo module 2,0,0,360
Build 4,1,0,997 (MyYahoo module 2,0,0,360)
Build 4,1,0,998 (MyYahoo module 2,0,0,360)
Build 5,0,0,1018 (MyYahoo module 3,0,0,411) (Beta)
Build 5,0,0,1052 (MyYahoo module 3,0,0,427)
Build 5,0,0,1054 (MyYahoo module 3,0,0,429)
Build 5,0,0,1059 (MyYahoo module 3,0,0,431)
Build 5,0,0,1229 (MyYahoo module 3,0,0,447)
Build 5.5.0.1250 (MyYahoo Module 5.5.0.454)
Build 5,5,0,1254 (MyYahoo module 5,5,0,456)
Build 5,6
Build 6,0
Build 7,0

Note: Yahooligans! Messenger is also supported (tested on version 3,0,0,777), because it is built on the same kernel as Yahoo! Messenger.

MSN Messenger Service

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested:

1.0.0893
2.0.0085
2.1.1047
3.0.0286
3.5.0077
3.6.0025
3.6.0026
3.6.0039
4.5.0121
4.6.0076
4.6.0077
4.6.0082
5.0.0537
6.0.0268
6.1.0155
6.2
7.0 (beta)
7.5

The program also supports Windows Messenger 4.x for Windows XP (tested on versions 4.0.0155 and 4.7.0041).

Google Talk

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 1.0.0.66.

Odigo

All information is stored in *.odu files. Versions tested: 3.0 beta (Build 537), 3.6 and 4.0.

Trillian

All information is stored in aim.ini, msn.ini and yahoo.ini files. Versions tested: 0.6351, 0.721, 1.0 Pro, 2.0, 2.012, 2.013, 3.0, 3.1.

Excite Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 2.0.0.23, 2.1.1.65, 3.0.

Excite Private Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 1.0.2.2.

AT&T IM Anywhere

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: beta v1.6.7, 3.1 and 3.2.

T-Online Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 4.0 (01.07.2001), 4.5 build 1832, 5.0, 5.5.

Match Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 1.05 and 2.0.

Praize IM

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 2.0, 2.1, 2.5, 3.0 (build 673), 3.1, 4.0, 4.1, 4.5.

ScreenFIRE

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 3.2 build 06202000.

ACD Express Communicator

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 2.02 (Build 20010430).

Imici Messenger

All information is stored in accounts_bf.cfg file. Version tested: 3.0.2-5 and 3.4.5.

Prodigy IM

All information is stored in *.odu files. Version tested: 3.1 beta (build 576 and build 5771).

PowWow Messenger

All information is stored in *.ini files in Windows folder. Version tested: 4.22 (Build 2092901).

Jabber IM

All information is stored in config.xml file in Jabber folder. Versions tested: 1.10.0.6, 2.0.2.0, 3.0.0.171.

Kellster IM

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: B0.9.36 and 1.00.08.

PalTalk

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 4.0 build 389, 5.0, 5.0 PV71 Build 496, 5.0 final build 524, 5.0 final build 553, 7.0, 8.0.

Indiatimes messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0. Note: password encryption (in the messenger itself) has a bug in the implementation, so some non-English passwords are stored (and so recovered) incorrectly!

Miranda

All information is stored in *.dat files (as for ICQ, as far as it is just an ICQ replacement) in program folder. Versions tested: 0.1.2.1, 0.2.1, 0.3, 0.3.2, 0.3.3, 0.4.0.1. Note: password encryption (in the messenger itself) has a bug in the implementation, so some non-English passwords are stored (and so recovered) incorrectly!

Tiscali

All information is stored in *.ini files in some subfolders of the program folder. Versions tested: v.2.0.8 build 18, 2.1.1.1 and 2.2.

Ya.com Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 2.0.

Rediff Bol

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 2.0.2, 7.0.

Sify Buzz

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 1.00 and 1.2.

Devil

All information is stored in *.dat files in Users subfolder of the program folder. Versions tested: 1.06.013.

Tencent QQ

All information is stored in oicq2000.cfg files in Dat subfolder of the program folder. Version tested: 200b build 0710b.

Please note that starting from version 2000c build 0630c, password is no loner saved locally, and so cannot be recovered at all.

The program also supports QQ (Africa Edition) – it is a clone of Tencent QQ, but based on the old engine, where the password has been still stored and so can be recovered. Version tested: 1.37.

&RQ

All information is stored in andrq.ini files in UIN subfolders (where UIN is the ICQ Unique Identification Number) of the program folder. You will have to locate these files yourself (and provide the full path to AIMPR), because &RQ does not have an installation program and so it is not known where its program folder is. Verions tested: 0.9.3.9, 0.9.4.6, 0.9.4.11 and 0.9.4.16.

Ipswitch Instant Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 1.00, 1.01, 1.0.3.20 Built 2003.08.29, 1.0.4.30 Built 2003.12.15 (both server and client), 2.0, 2.01, 2.03.

Eighth Wonder Catax

All information is stored in catax.4.1.cfg file in program folder. Version tested: 4.12.

Simple Instant Messenger

All information is stored in icq.conf file, located in UIN subfolder under Application Data folder (the location of Application Data folder itself depends on the operating system. Versions tested: 0.8.1, 0.8.3, 0.9.1, 0.9.3.

Vista IM

All information is stored in files under Application Data folder. Version tested: 2.0.0.4049.

GAIM

All information is stored in .gaimrc file in the folder defined by USERPROFILE, HOME or HOMEPATH envonment variables. Versions tested: 0.67, 0.74, 0.76, 1.0.0, 1.1.1, 1.2.1, 1.3.1.

Global-IM

All information is stored in "settings.xml" file under Application Data folder. Versions tested: 1.0.23, 2.0.2, 2.0.5, 2.5.0.13.

Psi Jabber client

All information is stored in config.xml files in subfolders of the program folder. Versions tested: 0.9.1, 0.9.2, 0.9.3.

Messenger2

Profile passwords are stored in profile.xml file that is located in the program folder (typically C:\Program Files\Messenger2). Passwords to ICQ, MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger accounts for every profile are stored in acconts.xml file, that is located in \profiles\[profile_name] subfolder under the program folder (for Windows 9x) or \Documents and Settings\[profile_name]\Messenger2 folder (for Windows 2000 and XP). Versions tested: 1.3, 1.4, 1.5.

Picasa Hello

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Versions tested: 1.0 (builds 549 and 651).

iWon

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 1.0.2.3.

Blowsearch

This messenger is based on Global-IM; passwords are stored in data.xml file under Application Data folder. Version tested: 2.1.0.

MessageMate

This messenger is based on Global-IM; passwords are stored in data.xml file under Application Data folder. Version tested: 2.0.6.

Meca Messenger

All information is extracted from Windows Registry. Version tested: 4.4.1.83.

Qnext

All information is stored in config.xml file. Version tested: 2.1.0.46.

Bubbler (Five Across)

All information is stored in *.prefs files. Version tested: 1.4.3 (build 246).

Easy Message

All information is stored in *.emp files. Version tested: 2.3.663.

· For some messengers (AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger and Excite Messenger and a few others) all account information (login and password) is stored in Windows Registry, and being accessed by AIMPR using standard Windows API. That means that if you've re-installed (not upgraded) Windows, all your settings will be lost. Right now, AIMPR cannot extract it from binary Registry files -- probably, it will be implemented in the next versions.

For messengers listed above, AIMPR should be used from the same user account (in the operating system) as instant messenger itself. For example, if you were running MSN Messenger logged as 'User1', you should run AIMPR also as 'User1', but not as any other user such as 'User2' or even 'Administrator'.

The program does not support (though usually detect) AOL Instant Messenger version 4.8 or later (including all 5.x versions), and Tencent QQ v2000 build 0630c or later. For those versions, passwords are not stored locally at all (only their hash values), and so they cannot be recovered in a reasonable time.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aimpr.html

Advanced IE (Internet Explorer) Password Recovery (AIEPR)

2009-01-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

Advanced IE (Internet Explorer) Password Recovery (or simply AIEPR) is a program to Recover passwords to web sites saved in Microsoft Internet Explorer (in local password list), as well as AutoComplete strings (form fields). It can also reset Content Advisor Passwords. IE versions from 3 to 6 are supported.

Requirements :
•Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
•about 1 megabyte of free space on hard disk
•Microsoft Internet Explorer (3/4/5/6)

URL: just the address of the site. Please note that it is NOT the full URL, but just the “root” of the site; the actual URL is not saved in the system at all, and so it cannot be retrieved.

Page Title: actually, it is a Realm that is being set by the server. For FTP sites, it is always empty; for web sites it is typically the title of password-protected page, or sometimes the name of HTML file.

Login: just what it says; the name

Password: the password (for the user shown in Login).

When any of the passwords is selected (highlighted), you can use the buttons at the bottom of that window:

Open location: shows pop-up menu with the type of the connection (FTP, HTTP or HTTPS). Select an appropriate one, and Internet Explorer will go to that page, applying login and password automatically. Please note that sometimes it doesn’t work (due to the server problems), so if you fail, type the URL and supply login and password (when prompted) manually.

Copy to Clipboard: copies selected password to the Clipboard; press Ctrl-V to paste it where needed.

Save to text file...: saves the list of all passwords (together with URL and logins) to specified file.

Microsoft Internet Explorer includes Content Advisor that helps to control the Internet content that can be viewed on your computer. To enable it, select Tools | Internet Options, go to Content tab, and press Enable; you will be prompted for supervisor password. Now you can press the Settings button to select ratings, approve or disapprove specific sites, and change the password itself.

If you forgot the supervisor password to Content Advisor, it cannot be recovered (because it is not saved at all, just hashed), but AIEPR allows to remove or change it. Press Advisor button on toolbar.

The Current Content Advisor Password field should be shown as . Now you can change the password to your own one, or just delete it. If you want to be able to restore the old password, enable the Save old password option (and use Restore Saved Password later, when/if needed). Once you have the new password, you can go to Content Advisor and disable it completely, or just change its settings.

Please note that the password should be changed and deleted when Internet Explorer is not running; also, in some cases you will have to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aiepr.html

Advanced EFS Data Recovery (AEFSDR)

2009-01-07T16:07:00.000-08:00

Advanced EFS Data Recovery (or simply AEFSDR) is a program to recover (decrypt) files encrypted on NTFS (EFS) partitions created in Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Files are being decrypted even in a case when the system is not bootable and so you cannot log on, and/or some encryption keys (private or master) have been tampered. Besides, decryption is possible even when Windows is protected using SYSKEY. AEFSDR effectively (and instantly) decrypts the files protected under Windows Server 2003 (Standard and Enterprise), Windows XP (including Service Pack 1) and all versions of Windows 2000 (including Service Packs 1, 2, 3 and 4).

Requirements :
· Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003
· Administrator privileges (for direct disk access)

Known problems and limitations:
· The program can decrypt protected files only if encryption keys (at least, some of them) are still exist in the system and have not been tampered.
· Only Basic (but not Dynamic) NTFS partitions are supported.
· For files encrypted on Windows 2000, if Account Database Key (SYSKEY) is stored on floppy disk, or if Password Startup option has been set, you should know/have one of the following in order to be able to decrypt the files:
· startup password or startup floppy disk
· the password of user who encrypted the files
· the password of Recovery Agent (if one is available)
· If password of the user (who encrypted the files) has been changed after encryption, you may need to enter the old password into the program.
· If files were encrypted under Windows XP (with or without SP1) or Windows Server 2003, the password of user who encrypted the files (or Recovery Agent) is needed for decryption.
· The program has been tested only on files encrypted on U.S. versions of Windows; if any other (international) version has been used, correct work is not guaranteed.

The Encrypting File System (EFS) that is included with the Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 operating systems provides the core file encryption technology to store NTFS files encrypted on disk. EFS particularly addresses security concerns raised by tools available on other operating systems that allow users to physically access files from an NTFS volume without an access check.

Security features such as logon authentication or file permissions protect network resources from unauthorized access. However, anyone with physical access to a computer such as a stolen laptop can install a new operating system on that computer and bypass the existing operating system's security. In this way, sensitive data can be exposed. Encrypting sensitive files by means of EFS adds another layer of security. When files are encrypted, their data is protected even if an attacker has full access to the computer's data storage.

Only authorized users and designated data recovery agents can decrypt encrypted files. Other system accounts that have permissions for a file — even the Take Ownership permission — cannot open the file without authorization. Even the administrator account cannot open the file if that account is not designated as a data recovery agent. If an unauthorized user tries to open an encrypted file, access is denied.

Benefits of EFS

EFS allows users to store confidential information about a computer when people who have physical access to your computer could otherwise compromise that information, intentionally or unintentionally. EFS is especially useful for securing sensitive data on portable computers or on computers shared by several users. Both kinds of systems are susceptible to attack by techniques that circumvent the restrictions of access control lists (ACLs). In a shared system, an attacker can gain access by starting up a different operating system. An attacker can also steal a computer, remove the hard drive(s), place the drive(s) in another system, and gain access to the stored files. Files encrypted by EFS, however, appear as unintelligible characters when the attacker does not have the decryption key.

Because EFS is tightly integrated with NTFS, file encryption and decryption are transparent. When users open a file, it is decrypted by EFS as data is read from disk. When they save the file, EFS encrypts the data as it is written to disk. Authorized users might not even realize that the files are encrypted because they can work with the files as they normally do.

In its default configuration, EFS enables users to start encrypting files from My Computer with no administrative effort. From the user's point of view, encrypting a file is simply a matter of setting a file attribute. The encryption attribute can also be set for a file folder. This means that any file created in or added to the folder is automatically encrypted.

How EFS Works

1. EFS uses a public-private key pair and a per-file encryption key to encrypt and decrypt data. When a user encrypts a file, EFS generates a file encryption key (FEK) to encrypt the data. The FEK is encrypted with the user's public key, and the encrypted FEK is then stored with the file.
2. Files can be marked for encryption in a variety of ways. The user can set the encryption attribute for a file by using Advanced Properties for the file in My Computer, by storing the file in a file folder set for encryption, or by using the Cipher.exe command-line utility. EFS can also be configured so that users can encrypt or decrypt a file from the shortcut menu accessed by right- clicking the file.
3. To decrypt files, the user opens the file, removes the encryption attribute, or decrypts the file by using the cipher command. EFS decrypts the FEK by using the user's private key, and then decrypts the data by using the FEK.

There are three typical scenarios of AEFSDR usage:

· You want to decrypt files from the disk(s) you boot operating system from, and you have Administrator privileges in the system. However, some certificates are corrupted (and so "standard" methods available in the operating system don't work), or some files have been encrypted by other users (and their passwords are not known).
· For some reason, you cannot load operating system, or you don't have Administrator privileges in it.
· You have got a disk (with encrypted files) from an 'alien' system.

In the first case, no additional steps (prior to AEFSDR installation and usage) are requited. If you cannot boot from the disk with encrypted files, simply install it as an additional one to any system with Windows NT/2000/XP installed, where you have Administrator privileges (in the second case, you will have to detach the disk from the 'dead' system, of course).

Now you can use AEFSDR. The program does the following:
· Decrypts (tries to decrypt) private keys – all ones that are available in the system.
· Find decrypted files on selected partition(s), and decrypt (try to decrypt) their File Encryption Keys.
· Decrypt files using FEKs using keys received at the previous steps.

Wizard mode guides you through all the steps described in How EFS works section. Typically, they are:
· Select logical disk(s) to scan for keys (by default, all disks are checked)
· Add user name(s) and password(s) to decrypt the keys
· Select logical disk(s) to scan for encrypted files (by default, all NTFS disks are checked)
· Select files to decrypt

At any time, you can switch to Expert mode by pressing the button on wizard screen; your current results (the keys or files that have been found) will not be lost. And/or you can uncheck the Show wizard at startup option when wizard is already running – that will not terminate the wizard itself, but next time the program will start in Expert mode.

Press Back and Next buttons to navies through wizard; for example, you may wish to return to one of the previous steps to scan another disk (the one that has not been scanned yet) for keys or files, or add additional passwords if some/all keys have not been decrypted.

Always start using the program with scanning for encryption keys. At EFS related files tab, press Scan for keys button (or select Scan | Scan for keys menu item; or press Scan for keys button on toolbar); the program will show the list of (local) logical disks, along with their sizes and file systems

Here, you have to select the boot disk, i.e. the one operating system is (was) loading from, and so where system Registry and encryption keys are located. In some cases, however, encryption keys are located on other disk, so if you're not sure, you can check multiple disks for scanning.

Note the Hide scanning disks option at the bottom – if it is enabled (default) and you already scanned some disk(s) during current program session, these disk(s) will not be shown in that window as far as all keys from there have been already found. If you still wish to see (and select from) all the disks available in the system, uncheck this option.

On pressing the Select button, the program will scan the given disk(s) trying to find all files needed for further decryption of your data

SYSKEY protection

The most-frequent reason for inability to decrypt the keys is SYSKEY protection. It is a feature of Windows 2000/XP that uses a startup key to encrypt the Security Accounts Manager, the repository of password information (used by AEFSDR to decrypt the encryption keys). There are three possible SYSKEY options:

Password Startup. The password is needed to unlock the startup key each time when computer is started.

Store Startup Key On Floppy Disk. SYSKEY generates a new startup key and stores it on a floppy disk. This floppy disk is inserted each time when you start the computer.

Store Startup Key Locally. This is the default setting. By storing the startup key on the local hard disk, Windows can access it during startup without further intervention.

AEFSDR should work just fine if last (default) option has been used in a system you got the disk (with encrypted files) from. But if Startup Key is (was) stored on floppy disk, or Password Startup was selected, the program simply will not be able to decrypt some keys.

A workaround exists, however – if you know the (logon) password of user who encrypted the file(s), or the password of Recovery Agent. Press Add user password button, and enter the user name and password; please note that you can add more than one name/password, and after adding each one, AEFSDR will try to decrypt all keys listed on that tab – on success, the color will change from red to green. Alternatively, you can use Add password from dictionary option, and load the password lists from the text file. That file should contain only the passwords, one per line, without user names (which do not actually matter). It is not recommended to use large wordlists (more than a few hundred entries), especially on Windows XP or Windows Server 2003, as far as it will really slow down the decryption.

Alternatively, if you have the floppy disk with startup key, or know the startup password, you can also add them to the program by pressing the Add SYSKEY button. You can add multiple passwords or keys using that feature (but one at a time). Please note, however, that after adding SYSKEY you will have to re-scan for encryption keys.

Password has been changed after encryption

After you change your domain password, you may receive an error message when you try to gain access to protected data. This problem occurs because the protected data is encrypted using a hash that is based on your password. When you change your password on the domain, the data is not re-encrypted with the new password until you first access the data. If you try to access the data for the first time while you are disconnected from the domain, the domain controller cannot be contacted. Therefore, the data cannot be accessed and re-encrypted with the new password.

The recovery policy provides for a person to be designated as the recovery agent. A default local recovery policy is automatically created when an administrator account logs on to the computer for the first time. When this process occurs, that administrator becomes the default recovery agent. In some situations, the first administrator to log on to Windows 2000 is not the local administrator account.

If local administrator is the default recovery agent for your data, AEFSDR will work properly. If not (as described in the article mentioned above), you will have to add user passwords to decrypt the keys (see above).

Windows XP, Windows XP SP1, Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003

For files encrypted on Windows XP, SYSKEY mode does not matter at all – encryption keys don't rely on SYSKEY. That means that for XP-encrypted files you always have to add password(s) of users who encrypted the files, or Recovery Agent(s).

Backup/restore decrypted keys

When/if encryption keys (and other EFS-related data) have been found and decrypted by the program, it is recommended to save them for the future use – to avoid scanning the disk again, or just for the case if some data will be tampered. Press Backup data button in AEFSDR, and select the file name to save what you have recovered. When you will use AEFSDR the next time, you'll be able to get all the keys by pressing Restore data button, instead of scanning the disk again, adding user passwords etc.

When all the keys (or at least some of them) have been found and decrypted, you're ready to decrypt your data, i.e. files. If you already know what particular files are encrypted and where they're located, skip this step and go directly to Browse for encrypted files chapter.

Otherwise, switch to Encrypted files tab in AEFSDR. There, press Scan for encrypted files button (or select Scan | Scan for encrypted files menu item; or press Scan for encrypted files button on toolbar); the program will prompt you to select the disk(s) where to look for encrypted files – about the same way as when you scanned the disk for encryption keys, but only NTFS disks will be listed there (because Encrypting File System is available on NTFS only).

Check all disks you want to scan, and press Start Scan button. Please note that if selected disks is large and there are many files on them, this process may take a several minutes or even hours. Once the program finds the encrypted files, it immediately adds it to the main window, and at the end of scanning, you should get a complete list of encrypted files: file name (with full path), size in bytes, modification date.

The last column (User) looks like the following:

John Doe, RA: Ivan Ivanov

First name ("John Doe" in this example) is the name of the user who encrypted the file; and the names after RA are Recovery Agents ("Ivan Ivanov"), if ones exist.

Same as for encryption keys, all files in this list will be marked with green or red color – depending on whether the file can be decrypted or not (the counter is also there – in brackets). If some files (the ones you need) cannot be decrypted, you have to scan for encryption keys again (e.g. the different partition; and/or add user passwords or SYSKEY). For files encrypted on Windows XP, you always have to add user passwords – otherwise, the keys (and so the files) cannot be decrypted at all.

When all encrypted files have been found, you can decrypt them. In addition to number of Decryptable and Not decryptable files, the program also shows the total size of files selected for decryption.

If you already know where the encryption files are (and what are their names), switch to File tree tab in the program. It looks like standard Windows Explorer window: the disk/folder tree is at the left (note: only NTFS partitions are listed), and the right pane shows the list of files in selected folder.

When you change/select the folder at the left, AEFSDR starts to fill the right pane with file names. Encrypted files are being marked with the blue color first, and the program starts analyzing (in the background) whether these files can be decrypted or not using the keys that have been recovered, marks them with green or red color, respectively. Select the one to be decrypted and press Add file into list button – and the given file will be added to list at Encrypted files tab. Repeat this step for all the files you need, and you're ready for decryption.

Note: when you access this tab (File Tree) at the first time after starting the program, the program may "freeze" for a few seconds – this is normal. It just enumerates all logical disks is the system, analyses the file systems and builds the folders/files tree. However, if the program still will not respond after a few minutes, please terminate it (using Task Manager, called via CTRL-ALT-DEL), restart, turn logging on (see Program options for details), switch to File Tree tab again and terminate. Log file will be created; send it to us (the log file can be large, so compress it with ZIP or RAR before sending, please) and we'll investigate the problem and do our best to provide you with a quick fix.

Once you have a complete list of encrypted files (created as described in Scan for encrypted files and Browse for encrypted files chapters) – of course, after the keys have been successfully recovered – you can start the decryption process.

First, you have to select the files to be decrypted – at Encrypted files tab. All files listed there have check boxes at the left of the names, and you have to mark ones for further decryption. You can do that one-by-one, or use Select all, Unselect all and Reverse selection buttons in the right-bottom corner of the window. As noted in the previous chapters, only files with green color can be decrypted, and so the program will not allow you to select the red ones. You can also use Remove from list button to remove selected file(s) from that page.

When files are selected, press Decrypt button at the right (or Decrypt files button on toolbar). AEFSDR will prompt you for the disk/folder to save the file to. Under that folder, the program creates sub-folders with names like AEFSDR_X_DECRYPTED, where 'X' is the drive letter for partition you're decrypting the files from; the complete path (where the source file was located) will be reconstructed under this (AEFSDR) subfolder. Decryption itself is relatively slow process, so please be patient (the program will show the progress bar and the names of the files being decrypted).

It is strongly recommended to save (decrypt) files to NTFS partition only. Simply because FAT and FAT32 partitions have many limitations (compared to NTFS), and so saving some particular files to non-NTFS partition may fail or give unexpected result.

Note: an unregistered (trial) version of AEFSDR decrypts only first 512 bytes of all files, padding the rest of content with zeros (look at Registration to learn how to get the fully functional version). But even in full version, please verify that all files have been decrypted successfully, before deleting the original (encrypted) files.

Log file

Use this option if something goes wrong – e.g. the program fails to scan selected partition, or some files have not been decrypted, etc. Simply type an appropriate file name (you can use the Browse button) to save debug information to, and one of the following options from the combo box:

· Disabled

· Overwrite the existing file

· Overwrite the existing file (Debug)

· Append to the existing file

· Append to the existing file (Debug)

Our technical support may ask you to send us the log file to locate and fix the problems. Debug log is much more detailed (and so more useful when the problem is hard to fix), but it can be really large (up to a few megabytes).

You can also force debug mode by using -debug_log command-line switch, by running the program as:

aefsdr.exe -debug_log

In that case, aefsdr.log file will be created in the root folder of disk C. That could be useful if the program does not even start on your machine: run it as described above, and send us the log file so we will be able to locate and fix the problem.

You can also set the maximum size of log file (in megabytes) – on reaching the limit, the program will stop writing to it. Set this option to zero if you don't want any limitations.

Process priority

You can switch between High, Normal, and Low. Recommended setting is Normal, but if you want to run the program as a "background" process, which will work only when the CPU is in an idle state, you can select Low. If you want to increase AEFSDR performance to the maximum, select High, but be aware that this will decrease the performance of *all other* applications running on your computer.

Use simple passwords to decrypt master keys

If this option is enabled, AEFSDR tries to decrypt the master keys using 80+ commonly-used passwords. For files encrypted on Windows 2000, it almost does not affect the performance; for XP/2003, however, the process of decrypting the keys runs much slower, especially when there are many users in the system.

Show wizard at startup

If enabled (default), the program always starts in Wizard mode. To start the program in Expert mode (and follow all the steps manually: Scan for Encryption keys etc), uncheck this option.

Home page URL : http://www.elcomsoft.com/aefsdr.html