REVIEW: WRPASS: WordPerfect/Professional Write Password Recovery Software I was totally fascinated at the prospect of trying this fascinating bit of code - WRPASS, by AccessData of Orem Utah. I've played with some of the other WordPerfect "cracking" programs that I found on BBSs and ftp but they were not very good at it. WRPASS is very good at it. The WRPASS manual states that in the history of AccessData there has never been a password locked WordPerfect document they could not recover. They further promise that, in the event that WRPASS cannot recover the password they will have their resident data recovery experts retrieve it. I tried it with WordPerfect 4.2, 5 and 6 because each has a different locked document system. The program is MS-DOS based and extremely simple to use. I didn't even have to look at the manual except to find out the secret password that has to be given before I can proceed with the program. WRPASS works like this: Once into the program after entering the correct password you are asked to provide the name of the locked document file. If you don't know the name, F5 will display all the files in the current working directory. Then using the arrow keys, highlight the file you wish to unlock. You can also move through the directories, various drives, etc. WRPASS will attempt to determine what version WordPerfect locked document was used and highlight it. You have the option of over-riding this in case of unknown or multiple files. After this is done you are asked to choose which level of analysis you would like to use, QUICK, REGULAR or IN DEPTH. Once this choice is made, WRPASS will begin doing its magic analyzing the file. There is a neat bar chart that shows the progress of the recovery and a percent-o-meter shows a more precise measure of progress in case you are interested. I tried ten locked files and WRPASS found them easily in less than two minutes. I also tried the multiple file recovery, wild cards accepted, and it wrote an ascii text file of the locked document files and their passwords. You can also use the F5 key and tag multiple files for recovery as well. WRPASS is a nice tight little program and does its job quickly and well. It provides for both command line and cursor interface and is the easiest thing to use. Another very nice WRPASS feature is its multi-lingual capability - passwords containing international characters will be revealed in the form of a mapping code which looks something like this: D[Map-42]REK. Companies and WordPerfect users who make use of the locked document mode will appreciate the usefulness of this tool in case of lost or forgotten passwords. Law Enforcement agencies quite often seize computers in raids and in some cases examine the hard drive for files that may assist in their investigation. Recently, in Bolivia, government forces seized locked WordPerfect document files from a suspected terrorist group. US Embassy and Bolivian officials used WRPASS to recover passwords and read the information on the group's plans and activities. AccessData President Eric Thompson says his company works with law enforcement and intelligence agencies but he did not elaborate. It is indeed the stuff spies are made of. %T WRPASS %I AccessData %C 560 S State, Ste J-1, Orem UT 84058 1-800-658-5199 WRPASS Retail price is $185.00 (C) 1995 Michael Crestohl Nahant Massachusetts USA mc@shore.net DISCLAIMER: I have no interest, financial or otherwise, in the success or failure of the book or materials reviewed herewith, nor have I received any compensation (other than a review copy requested by me) from anyone who has. All opinions expressed are strictly my own. Other Internet and Aviation book/software reviews by me can be obtained by anonymous FTP from: x2ftp.oulu.fi in the /pub/books/crestohl directory.