Well, at first I thought: woh, finally a very useful app which cannot be replaced easily with FREE alternatives....but it's NOT!

Why? Because for mysterious reasons it doesn't support ZIP files encrypted with AES-256 algorithm, which is the most common chiper used to protect ZIP & PDF files.

So in my view this app is pretty much USELESS and damn expensive, taking into account the limited use it offers to its users.

THUMBS DOWN from me!!

BEST (and BETTER) FREE ALTERNATIVES (just pay attention while installing them, since most of them are Ad supported with bundled crapware!)

- (Portable) Appnimi All-In-One Password Unlocker (==> my Personal First Choice)
It searches for both USER and OWNER PASSWORDS required to open protected zip,rar,PDF,xls,xlsx files by using Brute Force algorithm and Dictionary method!!! As far as I know it's the only FREEWARE able to crack any kind of file protected by USER PASSWORD, which prevents users from opening and reading any protected file (eh,eh,eh...I let you imagine what you could do with this magic FREE tool!! Please don't abuse it!!). And of course, unlike this GAOTD worth 30 BUCKS (??? Come on...LOL!), it supports ZIP files encrypted with AES-256.
Happy cracking dudes!!!

http://dottech.org/104302/windows-how-to-crack-password-protected-or-encrypted-zip-pdf-rar-xls-and-xlsx-files

How to use it:
http://dottech.org/104302/windows-how-to-crack-password-protected-or-encrypted-zip-pdf-rar-xls-and-xlsx-files

* John The Ripper (only for advanced users)
Very powerful and fast command line multiplatform tool designed to crack not only passwords but also hashes, by bruteforcing a massive number of algorithms like MD5, DES, Blowfish etc....
Its main purpose is to detect weak Unix passwords in the attempt to make your system more secure, so it's not just a cracking tool.

http://www.openwall.com/john

How to use it to crack a password protected zip file:
http://synacl.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/decrypting-a-zip-using-john-the-ripper

* Portable Zip Password Cracker Pro
Pretty old but still damn effective FREE password cracking tool supporting brute force attack. Once setting the right parameters, this app is able to generate a list of all possible password combinations including uppercase/lowercase letters, space characters, shifted characters and symbols for numbers.

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Password-Managers-Generators/Zip-Password-Cracker-Pro.shtml

- PicoZip Recovery Tool
Yet another pretty old FREE tool which can retrieve any ZIP file passwords you may have forgotten, using brute force or dictionary-based. Supports self-extracting Zip files, as well as over 650,000 English dictionary words (lowercase alphabets, numbers, all ASCII characters) and many other languages.

http://picozip.com/prt/index.html

- FCrackZip
Nice FREE zip file password retriever app which supports multiple protected zip files with multiple files, as well as brute force cpmask'ed images. It works but may take some time before finding the right password.

http://soft.rubypdf.com/software/fcrackzip-10-windows-version

Full Tutorial:
http://www.ztuts.com/2012/04/how-to-crack-zip-password-using.html
http://www.iweconsulting.net/index/entry/entryid/3/starting-with-fcrackzip.html

Enjoy!

My 2 cents for today's giveaway!!

Giovanni (why protecting Zip files if.....for  –  9 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+131)

Μετάφραση

Used this before.

I have a file I rar'ed and password protected as what I call

a vault for private text and word files.

Just in case the feds come er snooping.

Seriously, no bad stuff.

I protected it with just letters and numbers, 16 in length.

I ran the program list here for 5 months solid day-and-night.

Still didn't find the password.

However if you uses short passwords, maybe 5 or 6 characters long,

then maybe it will work.

I am trying the give away today and will run it for 6 months.

major woody  –  9 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+55)

Μετάφραση

@ major woody

5 month isn't enough. LOL

52 lower&upper case letters
10 digits

62**16 /(364 D, 24h, 35 passes per sec)

caluculates about 2,59e21 years. A way older than the universe

Belfast  –  9 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+50)

Μετάφραση

Pros
*Supports cracking of ZIP, RAR, and ACE archives
*Supports brute-force, brute-force with mask, and dictionary attacks
*Can save cracking progress and pick it up at a later time without having to start from beginning
*Supports drag + drop

Cons
*Supports cracking of password-protected ZIPs (ZipCrypto) but not ZIPs encrypted using AES-256
*Dictionary that comes with the program is for English words only
*Ugly, outdated interface

Free Alternatives
Appnimi All-In-One Password Unlocker

Final Verdict
Click here for final verdict and full review

Ashraf from dotTech  –  9 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+47)

Μετάφραση

The only time I managed to find the password of a zip file was when I knew the contents of one of the files. The program I use would take the encrypted file and the un-encrypted file and calculate the three encryption keys.

It would also estimate the length of time to crack a password depending upon its length, computers were slower then and single core, however if memory serves me correctly a 16 digit password using the maximum range of characters would take thousands of years!

I do not believe it is in business any more nor are many of the others of a similar type, they failed because computers are not powerful enough for anything but a simple password.

#5 charles
It doesn't matter; the computer doesn't know who wrote the password ;-)

XP-Man  –  9 years ago  –  Βρήκατε αυτό το σχόλιο χρήσιμο? ναι | όχι (+23)

Μετάφραση