I am using MS Office (Pro) Excel 2003 (11.8237.8221) SP3
I create a new workbook.
I password protect the first sheet using the password "az" without the
quotation marks.
The sheet is now protected.
I unprotect the sheet and, when prompted for the password, input "Aj"
without the quotation marks.
The sheet is now unprotected.
Why does this other password work for unlocking the worksheet?
(There are other examples. For instance, "test" can be unlocked using "BBAb")

Why the heck does this work?


--
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

Hi,

This is a know limitation of the password handling routine in Excel. The
good news?, its consistant between version, the same problem occurs in 2007.
Aparently Microsoft doesn't consider sheet passwords a critical issue.

--
If this helps, please click the Yes button.

Cheers,
Shane Devenshire


"spikefuzzy1" wrote:

I am using MS Office (Pro) Excel 2003 (11.8237.8221) SP3
I create a new workbook.
I password protect the first sheet using the password "az" without the
quotation marks.
The sheet is now protected.
I unprotect the sheet and, when prompted for the password, input "Aj"
without the quotation marks.
The sheet is now unprotected.
Why does this other password work for unlocking the worksheet?
(There are other examples. For instance, "test" can be unlocked using "BBAb")

Why the heck does this work?


--
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet

Simply because the hash results are same for each pair.

spikefuzzy1 wrote:
I am using MS Office (Pro) Excel 2003 (11.8237.8221) SP3
I create a new workbook.
I password protect the first sheet using the password "az" without the
quotation marks.
The sheet is now protected.
I unprotect the sheet and, when prompted for the password, input "Aj"
without the quotation marks.
The sheet is now unprotected.
Why does this other password work for unlocking the worksheet?
(There are other examples. For instance, "test" can be unlocked using "BBAb")

Why the heck does this work?