Difference between revisions of "Password Protected Money File"

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If your Money file is password protected, you will need a version that supports entering a password, which we will try to supply, eventually. 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.
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If your Money 2008 or Sunset file is password protected, you will need a version that supports entering a password, which we will try to supply, eventually. 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 XXX opening $$$" where XXX is the error code and $$$ is your Money file path and name.
 
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 XXX opening $$$" where XXX is the error code and $$$ is your Money file path and name.

Revision as of 06:37, 10 February 2013

If your Money 2008 or Sunset file is password protected, you will need a version that supports entering a password, which we will try to supply, eventually. 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 XXX opening $$$" where XXX is the error code and $$$ 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.


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.).