Question

decrypt access database

Asked by: SHAHEEN_AKHTAR

I have an access database password protected and contains a single table. After I enter the password and open the table I found that the data looks like encrypted. Sample like this
"ÅWGÉܼG"
Even I dont know it is encrypted or corrupted.
The person who has made this database and a windows application in VB6 to access this has left the firm without notice and no source code available. Now I have to make the same interface in c# windows application.

How can I access this data using c#.
Regards

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-01-26 at 05:23:35ID24083289
Tags

Cognos PowerPlay

Topics

SQL Reporting

,

Microsoft Access Database

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
10

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. Encrypt dan Decrypt Data
    What to Encrypt and Decrypt data using VB6. Somebody can help me? Thanks Very much!
  2. Encrypt/Decrypt a string
    Hi, Is there (maybe not very secure) an easy way to encrypt/decrypt a string in Perl without installing any modules that would not normally be included with perl 5? I only have FTP access and can't install modules. Thanks.
  3. VB6: speeding up encryption/decryption
    I have a VB6 application which uses several encrpyted text files to store data. Most of these files are very small: short record lengths and few records. However, the encryption routine that I am using is quite slow when reading/writing files with longer record lengths - one...
  4. Blowfish Encryption / Decryption and String Corruption
    Hey experts, I have a program that is encrypting and decrypting Strings using blowfish encryption (uses JCE class) and sometimes my string will get messed up. I setup a test where I encrypt and decrypt right away and half the time nothing happens, the other half this happen...

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: LSMConsultingPosted on 2009-01-26 at 08:14:13ID: 23467934

If it's corrupted, then try to Compact the database (make a copy first). If you can't open it in Access, you can use the JetComp utility (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/273956).

If it's encrypted:

When you open a database that is encrypted BY ACCESS, Access will decrypt the data "on the fly" ... that is, if you successfully open an encrypted database and then doubleclick a table to view it, Access will show it to you in a decrypted state. This would lead one to believe that the data in YOUR database is encrypted by some other method, and as such we would be unable to assist you (EE guidelines prohibit this). You would need to have this method in order to use the data.

Suffice it to say that if your VB programmer knew what they were doing and used a strong encryption measure, you'll have a heckuva time decrypting this.



 

by: cactus_dataPosted on 2009-01-26 at 09:43:13ID: 23468906

If you can open and browse the tables without errors, the database is neither encrypted nor corrupted.
So you are probably facing some custom field level encryption.

/gustav

 

by: LSMConsultingPosted on 2009-01-26 at 10:01:59ID: 23469096

<If you can open and browse the tables without errors, the database is neither encrypted nor corrupted.>

If you open an encrypted database with the correct password, then the contents of the table would appear to be non-encrypted.

 

by: cactus_dataPosted on 2009-01-26 at 11:53:41ID: 23470132

Yes, that's what I mean.

/gustav

 

by: RWrigleyPosted on 2009-01-26 at 16:09:39ID: 23472667

You might want to check if the data is stored in a different code-page.  Is ALL the data "gibberish", or is some of it legible?

 

by: SHAHEEN_AKHTARPosted on 2009-01-26 at 19:45:17ID: 23473532

All the data is in an encripted form.

Thanks for your reply

 

by: LSMConsultingPosted on 2009-01-27 at 03:31:23ID: 23475321

Then it would seem that this data has been secured by a customize encryption method. As such, it would violate EE guidelines for us to assist you in decrypting it.

Can you not contact the former employee and get their source code? It would seem that, if this was developed on company time and belongs to the company, that you'd have quite a bit of legal backing to force this employee to provide you with the source code.

 

by: SHAHEEN_AKHTARPosted on 2009-11-01 at 22:35:03ID: 25717423

Do we have any other solution

 

by: cactus_dataPosted on 2009-11-01 at 23:19:04ID: 25717521

Without any further information, I guess no.

/gustav

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...