Passwords in MS Project 2003 conversion to MS Project 2007

[DanRoy]

I have an MS Project 2003 project file. It is password protected. I
recently got MS Project 2007 installed on my machine.

Since I am now using MS project 2007, I wanted to save the
password-protected 2003 file in MS Project 2007 format. When I did, using
the previously valid password now does not work.

I am playing in a play file so there is no issue in adopting a new strategy
but is there an issue with how passwords are retained my MS Project 2007
during the MS 2003 conversion process? I would consider this to be a serious
issue to the installed base out there as passwords are probably not
recoverable.

Any ideas, or should I ensure that i keep the file in MS project 2003 format?
Dan

 

[Jim Aksel]

There were password problems in 2007. Make sure you are running the latest
service packs (and updates) for each:

Project2003 is on SP3
Project2007 is on SP1

Use the update features of the software until you are all up to date. Then
try again
--
If this post was helpful, please consider rating it.

Jim

Check out my new blog for more information:
http://www.msprojectblog.com

 

[Dytham]

I have had my fair share of password anomolies in 2007.

What type of password were you using - file open / write protection ?

When you say "the previously valid password now does not work", do you mean
that a password is not asked for, or that it is asked for but won't allow
access when provided ?

 

[DanRoy]

Dytham,

My MS Project 2003 file had a read/write password activated on file open
which worked properly prior to the conversion. After the file was saved and
closed as an MS Project 2007 file, upon re-opening as an MS Project 2007
file, the read/write password dialog came up as normal but the access word
typed in no longer worked. The dialog accepts a password when requested, as
normal, but the password no longer works. It comes back with an error
message indicating that the password is incorrect. Short of putting the file
through a decryption cycle I do not know how I could ever recover this file.

Project Version info is MS Project 12.0.4518.1014 and MSO version
12.0.6213.1000. Other than MS Project 2007, all other Office products are MS
Office 2003 vintage. I did not see an SP1 update per the previous email, but
this is a corporate PC so I do not know what ability I have to incorporate
the upgrade.
Excel and Word are upgraded to SP3 and Access is SP2 vintage. Don't really
understand how you can have all of these different versions co-exist but this
is what I have on my machine.

Do you happen to know if part of the upgrade fixes for Project was to fix
this password issue?

Thanks

Dan

 

[JulieS]

Do you happen to know if part of the upgrade fixes for Project was
to fix
this password issue?

Thanks

Dan

<snip>

Dan,

Please see the following.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/937154/en-us

One of the fixes instituted with SP-1 was for password protected
files.

I hope this helps. Let us know how you get along.

Julie
Project MVP

Visit http://project.mvps.org/ for the FAQs and additional information
about Microsoft Project

 

[Dytham]

DanRoy;

Thanks for the full explanation of your problem.

The full list of Issues that are fixed in Project 2007 by Office Project
2007 Service Pack 1 can be found here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/942386/en-us

This is quite a long list of nasties lying in wait for un-upgraded users.

With hindsight, I would never have moved from 2003 to 2007 without the SP1
fixes.

In your situation, I would remove any passwords in 2003 version of file
using the 2003 software before opening with / re-saving with 2007.

If you have to use passwords, don't do it in 2007 without SP1. Also, keep a
backup file using a different name at least once per day.

 

[Scott Hutslar]

We are going through the same issue here. We are on MS Office Project 2007
(12.0.6211.1000) SP1 MSO (12.0.6213.1000) and still experience this same
issue. It has been inconsistant. Some plans work fine, some don't. Haven't
figured out the root cause.

To get around this we have:
1> In Project 2007, open as read only
2> Save file to a new file name
3> Set the password on the new file the same as the old password
4> Move the original plan file to another directory
5> Rename the new project file to the orginal file name

We executed this in a bottom up approach because we had sub plans embedded
into parent plans.

Hope this helps.