Sheppard

WinZip Protection The is the time it takes as mentioned several times earlier. Which method did you use to crack yours ? It must have been a short password if you used the 'Brute-Force' attack. We have managed to crack one of the files by using the 'plain text' attack, which uses and un-encrypted file to unlock the encrypted file. Xieve and Dictionary attack all appear useless. This isn't some amateur we are working with, he has spent a lot of effort to protect these files. And it is legal I assure you.

WinZip Protection We have managed to find some un-encrypted files, which we then used to run a plain-text attack on the encryped archive. This has given us the encryption KEY, but not managed to find the password. Does anyone know what this key tells us ?

WinZip Protection I have just visited the site, but they say there is no other method of cracking the password other than throwing passwords at it. They claim to have the fastest software available at 15 Million passwords per second. Impressive. But, we know the password is over 8 characters long. Assuming he has used upper and lower case characters and numbers this will still take 29 years at 15 Million per second !!! I have e-mailed the company to check if there are any other methods, as they quote that : I don't think so ! :mad:

MCAD Thanks for that guys, has given me a great boost !!! I think the problem with some people is that they learn the content just to pass the exam, then subsequently forget half of it. Well that's what happened with my degree !! You need to have experience otherwise the knowledge doesn't fully sink in. When I finish I would like to enter as a junior VB programmer which could then train me on any missing knowledge. I just need to get something for £20k plus to keep my expenses paid !!! Any suggestions about starting out ? :confused:

MCAD Thanks for the advice. I'm probably just going to work through the book and take the one exam only, just to get my MCP. I have already done a diploma in programming in VB.Net and gained by MCITP with the Association of IT Professionals, but thought the Microsoft certification would be better recognised as I am hoping to go into the IT industry.

MCAD I am also studying for this exam, but doing the VB.Net Windows exam. I'm using the Osbourne Certification Press which is published by McGraw Hill, simply named "MCAD/MCSD". This book, in my opinion is excellent. It gives you all the certification sections that you need for the exam as well as summarising each section with an 'exam watch.' It does expect some understanding already, which put me off at first as I'm not really that technical, but now I'm finding that it runs at a great pace. A star buy even at $50.00 US.

Apologies Sorry quahog, thought you were Australian, not sjn78. I suppose you still get a few hours after I go home though, in which case Good Morning dc.

WinZip Protection Thanks for looking into that quahog. That was quicker than my IT Manager ! - Suppose you have time on your side by the end of my day in the Northern Hemisphere !! Nerseus, the reason we need to crack these passwords is because the former employee has written batch files to sabotage the network. You are correct about the lawsuit, but this would take months and a lot of cash, both of which we don't have much of !! We know the password is 8 charcters or greater, so we tried using lowercase and numbers only. This alone takes 5 days to run and we didn't have any luck. If he doesn't want the password to be cracked, I'm sure he has used uppercase and/or symbols. And who knows how long the password will be, I managed to input a 50 character password in an Excel sheet - that would take a lifetime to solve !

WinZip Thanks for the advice. Our IT manager is on the case now. Will let you know if we get anywhere. Cheers. ;)

WinZip Protection Thanks for your input quahog. This looks very similar to the program we have bought, except it does 10 Million passwords per second rather than 7 Million. The trouble we have is the length of the password, which we know is at least 8 characters. Here comes the math !!! Assuming we check for upper and lowercase characters and numbers (ignoring symbols) that gives us 62 combinations for each character. Assuming it only has 8 characters, this gives us 62 * 62 * 62 * 62 * 62 * 62 * 62 * 62 possibilities, which equals 218,340,105,584,896 !! At 10 Million passwords per second this will take 253 days !!!! A touch longer than we have !!! Anybody know another solution ?

We have a slight problem here regarding WinZip password protected files, that a nice former employee has left for us !!! Does anyone know how to crack the password without throwing passwords at it ? We have bought a program that tests 7 Million passwords a second, but we know the password is over 8 characters long and will therefore take over a year to crack :eek:. Any ideas ? :confused:

COM I thought that may be the case but I needed it to be confirmed. Thanks for the advice. ;)

Does anyone know whether it is possible to create a COM link from excel to an Oracle DB using VBA ?? I have read about COM add-ins, but they don't make much sense. Do I need Office 2000 developer edition (ODE) ?? Any views on the subject. :eek: :confused: :eek:

Eh? To be honest with you I didn't look at your code, nor do I have a clue what 'closed captioning' is ! BUT, I'm glad that you have found our advice helpful and wish that your project goes well. Take it easy - whatever you get up to ! ;)

Looping Yes, good point. It is always a good idea to use a local variable when using it just for looping. i.e. The integer only acts as a counter and is not used elsewhere in the program. I would suggest using 3 different variables for the loops. Dim a as integer = 0, b as integer = 0, c as integer = 0 This makes it much easier to follow and avoids any unwanted increments !!!

Auto hide No. Auto hide is not checked. It is only my program that seems to hide the taskbar, so it must be something in there. Is there any form property that I must alter to allow for the taskbar ??

Always On Top !! Sorry, Just found the option for 'always on top' in the properties section. Yes, it is checked. Must be something else. :confused:

Taskbar There is no option for 'always on top'. It is always there, it just disappears when I run this program ?!!?

Initial Value Have you checked the initial value of 'Studio' ?? Try using Dim Studio as Integer = 1

Break at 12 Can't you just add a watch on i and ask to break when i > 12 ???? I expect the problem is that you do not reset i when you do the second loop, hence it is looking to loop from 13 to 24. :(

Centre It only moves the text slightly when you change from 'flat' etc. to 'System.' Isn't this because 'system' appears in 3D and therefore some of the object is used for shading, not the actual front of the button.

I have a main form that is maximised when the program opens. This acts as the main page, from where extra modal forms are launched and title menus are provided. The trouble I am having is that my 'Control Bar" (Where all the other applications that are open e.g. Outlook sit) disappears when the program is running. Therefore users can not switch between my program and say Excel without using Alt + Tab. Does anybody know what causes this and how to stop it disappearing ??? :confused: :confused: Any advice would be most appreciated.

I have tried to ignore this, but it is starting to frustrate me know ! In my toolbox, alongside the description of each control, the icon is missing on each one. Instead there is a strange looking icon on every control - something resembling a notebook. This wasn't the case when I installed the software 6 months ago. Is this an obvious error on my part or should I re-install the software ?

Membership That's true, but extreme forum has so far given me all the help I need. There are so many pro's here that are very helpful, besides, I don't know if the ACITP offer any services like this at all. I think it's just a professional body to highlight people's skills. Hopefully someone out there has joined and will let me know of the benefits. Cheers for the input. ;)

Has anyone here joined or looked at joining the ACITP (Association of Certified IT Professioanls) ? I have just about finished a course with the Learning Library which I thought was a pretty good distant learning course. Now that I have finished I am to take an exam with the ACITP which on completion would give me membership. Trouble is, it costs about £50 per year to join. Apparently it gives you letters after your name. Do you think this is a good org to join? Would employers recognise this qualification as I am not currently a VB Developer but would like to be? Or should I look at studying for MCAD ? Any info - good or bad would be most welcome. :confused: :confused: :confused: