Word won't let me open my password-protected document! I know the damned password.

September 21, 2005 7:58 AM

Password problem in Word 2000...

I have two computers, a desktop and a new laptop. I emailed myself a bunch of Word files to the laptop to work on there. Some of those files are password-protected with a simple one-word password. (I write smut, and I don't like having some unfinished drafts 'exposed'.) This morning, I went to open a Word file on the laptop, and my password doesn't work. I checked for caps lock and typos, and no go. I thought I might have inadvertently changed the password last night, but no, I am 99.9% certain I did not. (It's always the same simple password for my writing files.)

The password will not work on any protected Word document that I've tried to open on the laptop. This is new.

The only thing I have recently changed was the setting for logging on to Win XP at startup after reading another AskMe thread. I wanted to avoid having to click my username after sleep mode, since I'm usually the only person who uses the machine.

I've gone back and changed to a regular 'log on to Windows' setting.

It's not the end of the world--I can update the Word files from the older versions still present on the desktop machine, but it has me annoyed and stumped. The only other time I've had a Word password problem was years and years ago, when I had a different password, and tried to open very old files.

I'm stumped! And annoyed.

posted by Savannah to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Are the Word versions different on each laptop? I've had trouble opening password-protected files in newer versions that were created by older versions. Try sending an un-protected file to the new version, then protecting it on the new one and saving it specifically for the older version by picking that version from the Save As Type drop-down menu.
posted by odinsdream at 8:13 AM on September 21, 2005

Er, also.. you might want to abandon any Office password protection in favor of encrypted folders and files. Try PGP or GnuPG (frontends available).
posted by odinsdream at 8:17 AM on September 21, 2005

It's the same copy of Word on each machine. I've been opening files I've emailed to myself just fine for two weeks now. This morning, the password will not work.
posted by Savannah at 8:17 AM on September 21, 2005

I AM A MORON.

My laptop has a button that toggles a portion of the keyboard to a number pad. I had that toggle switch on inadvertently.

I was not typing in the correct password.

Duh!

Thanks for the speedy tips, sorry to have been a dolt.
posted by Savannah at 8:22 AM on September 21, 2005