Password Protected Money File

Money Passwords

It is not too far fetched to assume that Money passwords are similar to Jet 3.5 database passwords. These passwords are notoriously easy to crack (see the WWW for utilities to do this). Money gets some benefit from obscurity in that the database is slightly incompatible with Jet 3.5, perhaps enough to frustrate some cracker programs, but don't bet on it.

If you want to keep your Money file private, consider real encryption. There are many ways to encrypt a file. One uses Windows, but this will make the file available whenever you are logged onto the computer, which might not be secure enough. You can use another add-on file system encryption app to create a volume for your private files, and store your Money file in there along with other critical financial records (e.g., statements, downloaded account updates, etc.). One rather simple way to do this is to put your Money files (and PalOMoney's log files) into a folder owned by a new user you create. This folder could be encrypted, or you could use restrictive file and folder permissions to keep prying eyes away. You would have to launch Money and PalOMoney using "runas" to access the files, or switch between desktops via fast user switching.

Versions before 1.0.3-b

Currently, password protection is experimental. If you use a password, please note that the password is currently being saved in plain text in PalOMoney.ini, and is not secure. You are strongly suggested to remove the password at least until the password is obfuscated or replaced in a future version. Update: the .msi version included a password redactor to keep the password secure, however, it had a minor bug that clobbers the "Last Launch=" entry in PalOMoney.ini when a password is not used, and makes it harder to troubleshoot problems.

Versions before 1.0.3-a

If your Money 2008 or Sunset file is password protected, you will need a newer version that supports entering a password. Opening a password protected file should display an error message and an error code. This code is a generic Microsoft Library error message, which is too non-specific to be useful.

The real error message and code is saved in a log file in the MnyUpdates subfolder where your Money File is located. The log file is date and time stamped, e.g., "PalOMoney_2013-02-09_19-47.log." Open this file in notepad, and note the last entry, which should be an error message in the form: "Error 800a1406 opening $$$" where 800a1406 is the error code (see Error Codes) and $$$ is your Money file path and name.

Note the error message and code and post it on the support forum. We will try to supply you a version that will accept a password if that code appears. We cannot just do this because those error messages are undocumented (or at least, we don't have the documentation). There must be only a finite number of these messages, so we will get this right for everyone eventually (if anyone wants it, that is). This project task has been delayed because opening password protected files hasn't worked here, yet.

In the meantime, you can keep testing by removing the password:

• Making a copy of your Money file
• Open the file in Money, entering your password, then remove the password from the copy (set it to empty).
• Close Money to fix the password removal.
• Continue with Test Installation.