Bypassing a password proctected document

[Marlon]

A former secretary left a word document which none of us
cannot open because she has password protected it.

We cannot contact her now or she might have forgotten the
password already.

Is there any other way to open this important doc?
(Oh the doc is created using Word 2000.)

cheers,

 

[garfield-n-odie]

You'll have to use a third-party password-cracking program. It could take hours or days for the program to crack the password, depending on how complicated the password is. Word MVP Graham Mayor has a link on his website to one of these programs that he has used successfully. See http://www.gmayor.com/favorite.htm.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If the document is just protected for forms, you can remove the protection
by inserting it into a fresh document. If it's protected by a password to
open, then, as g-n-o says, you're in for a long siege. I would start by
making an effort to reach the former secretary and hope that she remembers
the password.