Unlocking AOL filing cabinet without a password
January 23, 2008 10:05 AM   Subscribe

I have an old AOL account that I haven’t used for over a year. I password protected the PFC (where the emails are stored) and unfortunately I can’t remember the password. There are some emails I’d like to access but as the information isn’t stored online, I can’t ring up AOL and ask them to unlock the PFC.

I was wondering if someone knew how I could access my old emails in this situation? Is it possible to use a text editor to look directly at the files without having to use AOL, etc.?

Thanks in advance.
posted by Tnuocca to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: poster's request -- jessamyn

 
Ooh, I've been wondering the same thing. I'd like to move my old PFC over to my Gmail account, but AOL's damnable policies don't allow for exporting of data (funny how they make it real easy to import mail, though...). There are programs that let you transfer old mail into more open formats -- they're gonna cost you, though, and you'll probably still need the password.

But if anybody finds a free way to export or otherwise extract that information hassle-free, that would be awesome!

*keeps an eye on thread*
posted by Rhaomi at 10:20 AM on January 23, 2008


This is a common problem for computer forensic examiners. I just looked through some of the forensics message boards, but didn't see anything about those files being encrypted when a password is used. I suspect that much of the existing software could read them. You could try signing up for the Paraben P2 beta test. It is free through March and comes with software designed to analyze and extract mail from many different formats. Or if you want to get in touch with me, I would be happy to take a pass at getting it out with the software I have. Email is very personal, though, so I suggest giving it a try yourself.
posted by procrastination at 12:05 PM on January 23, 2008


Of you apparently could pay these folks $75 to do it for you. I have never heard of them, so I can't recommend them personally, but they seem to do what you want.
posted by procrastination at 12:11 PM on January 23, 2008


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