I'd try another password utility. There are plenty of them around. Try using
google to search for "money password recovery".

David

"Travellini" <Travellini[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7B342C26-0696-4CDB-8036-4375554A279F[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

WELL - I created a TEST.mny file and added a password, and the
PassportService.com demo says that there IS NO password. Guess that's one
way to avoid work!!! I'll keep trying - at least I'm running with the big
crackers now with my new terminology! ~Susan

"Travellini" wrote:

- quote -

In microsoft.public.money, Travellini wrote:

- quote -

It should be worth a try of Money 2007 Deluxe trial. You can do that
on a different computer, and move the .mbf and/or .mny file on a USB
flash drive.

http://www.microsoft.com/money/freetrial_info.mspx

If it works and you want to make changes later than 90 days later,
buy the retail version at a store.

In microsoft.public.money, Travellini wrote:

- quote -

First, keep backups of what you have on different media such as a
USB hard drive. Imagine what a hard drive failure would do.

Perhaps the Money file you have is not actually a Money 2004 file,
but is instead from a later version. That can cause Money 2004 to
indicate that the password is not right.

I would install the Money 2007 trial on a machine, and see if it can
read your file. Note that the Money 2007 trial will uninstall an
earlier version unless you are alert during the install.
Uninstalling Money 2007 trial will remove earlier versions also. It
is possible to keep using Money 2004 on a machine with Money 2007
installed. Just don't uninstall.

The backup file that Money 2007 leaves on your machine will identify
what version that Money file actually was.

I see below that the cause of requesting a non-existing password is that
there is a version incompatibility. I don't think that applies since I know
that she used the program on this laptop. ~ Susan

"Cal Learner-- MVP" wrote:

- quote -

Thanks, Cal! This is already at least a bit of movement on a problem with
which we have been struggling for months.

I downloaded the demo from PasswordService.com - it says that her file is
NOT password protected!! Why then do you think it would continue to tell me
that my password is incorrect even when I leave it blank?? The service is
$29, so not a bad deal - and perhaps I should make the purchase and then let
THEIR techies do the work. Hmm. Anyway, I'll watch for further replies, and
certainly appreciate your help! ~ Susan

"Cal Learner-- MVP" wrote:

- quote -

In microsoft.public.money, Travellini wrote:

- quote -

The term crackers use for your use in search engines is "password
recovery".

I don't know how good or honorable they are. Some offer to crack the
first two or 3 characters of the password free. You could test that
claim on a file you created in Money 2004 if you wanted to.

My sister passed away unexpectedly, leaving all her financial records in
Microsoft Money, and no password in evidence. I have tried guessing, but she
was pretty crafty and would be as likely to have "ooga-booga 398" as a
password, so that's a deadend. I MUST get in to do her taxes, manage
personal loans, checkbook, etc. The Money help says to use the secret
question, but there's no prompt for a secret question. If they want me to go
through Passport - I don't know of any MSN, Hotmail, or such email account -
so that would just be another guessing game. I'm becoming a bit desperate.

One person told me that I would need a court order for them to break the
password. Does anyone know anything more about this? I don't want to go to
that trouble if there is a simpler way or conversely, if this is just an
exercise in futility.