Recovery of ACT 7 Administrator Account and Password

Hi Steve,

ACT has been installed on a computer with a new installation of Windows XP Pro SP2.  ACT SQL service is running OK.  If SQL server is stopped the Act Advanced Password Recovery program displays a different error message.

Regards

Chiarne

Did you try running the Password Recovery on the database BEFORE purchasing it? Did that give an error? It should at least have listed all the users.

To see if it's the database or the SQL engine, try creating a new database (with 2 users and passwords)... then see if the password recovery can access it.

Chiarne,

I like this tool that you're using and have used it myself but obviously the database (or their tool) is not reporting correctly.

If you have the SA Password you can open up the database and reset it.  If you don't your best move would be to contact ACT! technical support.  They have a password recovery tool that can get you in.  You can reach them at:  1-800-992-4564.

Steve

BTW Chiarne, I notice you're only trynig on the Demo database.

Do you get the same result from the live database?

Hi GL Computing,

The same error message appeared on the live database.  We tried on the demo database to make sure there wasn't a problem with the live database.

Regards

Chiarne

Do you have ACT! installed on another machine? Can you try it on the demo database there?

Hi GL Computing,

We installed ACT on another pc with a clean installation of Windows XP Pro.  Same error with the demo database.

Regards

Chiarne

So, it fails the same way on multiple machines and databases... maybe it's a problem with the version of the utility you're using? If it's the Elmsoft password utility, you might need to contact them to see what that means.

Hi GL Computing,

We thought the same thing and sent an email stating the problem and the related error messages.  The only response from Elmsoft has been the deafening silence.

Regards

Chiarne

Ok, I've entered in all the details on the link you gave.  Now we wait and see.

Thanks

Chiarne

If you don't get a response, cancel your credit card payment to them and get Sage Database services to crack the password for you: http://www.act.com/support/databaseservices/index.cfm

Darn, the credit card payment has already been processed. Hope they do the right thing and at least respond.

Chiarne

With most c/cards, you can still query it with your c/card company as a dispute... your c/card company will contact them about delivery of service and they will need to show that they provided the goods and resolve it with you in order to be paid.

If they don't respond, contact your c/card and enquire about their policy

We're in Aus, just hope the credit card company is willing to co-operate.

I'm also in Aus... in Sunny Sydney :-)

A couple of pointers...
1. When a software product has a trial, try it before purchasing
2. Try using a Certified Consultant. You might pay a little more, but you'll nearly always get faster work and a better ROI with the additional advice they can offer.

What coity are you in? Maybe I can recommend someone.

We normally do download a trial before buying, but there was no trial version.  So the only choice was to buy.  We don't really have that much experience with ACT, this was a customer request.

Just spoke to Sage support in Australia.  They suggested a few things to try over the phone, but none were successful.  Next step is for Sage support to remotely log in to the customer's pc.  If the customer is OK with the price, then it's full steam ahead.  Should know in a couple of days.  I let you know how this turns out.

G'day fellow aussie - sunny Sydney here too :)  

Elcomsoft do have a trial... it will list the users without the passwords - http://www.elcomsoft.com/actpr.html

I can tell you the Sage tech staff have very little experience (2 of their 3 staff have been there less than a couple of months) and that a Certified Consultant woul give you a better service.

If you like, drop into the Contact page from www.GLComputing.com.au - send me your details and I'll recommend someone for you :-)

I can see the download for the ACT recovery software, but there's nothing on the page to indicate that it's a trial version.

Sage stated they would recover the password for $100.  The customer has three passworded databases, this price covers all three.  Our client is a non profit organisation.

We'd probably charge the same as you're a reseller :-)

Let me know how the Sage guys go, anyway

We'll see if Elcomsoft decide to reply.  Will let our customer know of the different options available to them.  Will be back when there's any kind of news to tell.

Thanks for all your help so far.

Chiarne

BTW: As you're a reseller, do you do much with ACT!?

No, this is our first major experience :)

Well, we support resellers... so let me know if we can help with this or any future sites

Thanks, will definitely add your contact details to our list.  We have a couple of other clients running ACT, if they run into problems you'll be the first one I call.

Cheers

If you have a number of ACT! client, you might also have a look at some of the addons... like Handheld Contact for Blackberry and Mobile Windows that we find a lot of users are going for. We provide free support for resellers who those :-)

Hi GL Computing,

I received a response from Elcomsoft via the link you suggested.  They said that this was a very unusual case as whereas all PAD files they had seen had an 'ACTDatabase' name, the one we submitted used a 'MercuryDatabase'.  They will try to resolve this problem asap and will keep me informed as to their progress and also offered a full refund as their software was unable to recover the password.

Before I ask for a refund, I think it would be fair to see if they can work around this problem.  

Chiarne

Neat... at least they respond to the support link on their site.

Hi GL Computing,

The recovery of the ACT passwords on three databases was successful.  Vladimir from Elcomsoft responded very quickly with an updated version of the Advanced ACT Recovery software.  Once I posted the problem via the link you suggested (http://www.crackpassword.com/support/support.php) a fix was available within 24 hours.
I would highly recommend this software as the support was five star!

Thanks for your help as well as without your advice to post the problem on the link you provided I would still be sitting here with no solution.  Great work.

Regards and many thanks

Chiarne