Lost a PDF password? Use Advanced PDF Password Recovery to decrypt Adobe Acrobat PDF files that are protected with an owner password. It's not top-of-the-line password recovery — the software can't decrypt files that have user and owner passwords set — but it can handle typically secured documents.

Decrypting a PDF with Advanced PDF Password Recovery will allow you to change a PDF's security settings, allowing you to print, edit, cut and paste text and graphics, or add and change annotations and form fields. A decrypted file can then be opened in any PDF viewer.

Using Advanced PDF Password Recovery is pretty easy: The application's GUI is little more than a script log with one file command ("Open Document"). The script window displays the steps taken in removing a PDF's security.

The trial version of Advanced PDF Password Recovery does not expire, but it will only allow you to decrypt the first page of any document. According to the product literature, the professional edition of Advanced PDF Password Recovery allows you to search for both owner and user passwords using brute-force, dictionary and Key search attacks. These attacks apparently only work on 40-bit encryption, and take about four days to work on a standard PC.

A personal license for the software costs $30, and a business license costs $60. The software is available for download at Elcomsoft's Web site.

Discuss Utility of the Day: Advanced PDF Password Recovery   >>> Be the FIRST to comment on this article!

>>> More Utilities Articles          >>> More By Stephen Bryant