Help to Recover Data File Password in Outlook 2010, Apr 2017

A friend asked my advice with a problem I've never encountered. He's a computer novice running Office 2010 on an Acer laptop with Windows 10 Home. He is recently unable to open Outlook 2010. The program is suddenly asking for a Data File Password which he did not install. We're guessing that the need for password started after a family member visited and used his laptop.

I have searched the web and found a few options including a free recovery tool at www.nirsoft.net/utils/pst_password.html

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to recover an unknown Data File password, or any experience with the recovery tool at Nirsoft? The Nirsoft site warns that the tool sets off a false positive with anti-virus thinking it delivers a trojan, when really it's because of the nature of what it does...crack Data File passwords.

Any thoughts from the TenForums family is appreciated.

I've not tried this utility but NirSoft are well respected site and I use some of their (his?) other utilities for checking context menu items and so on. They work well.

I honestly think they are safe site.

Discussing recovering passwords is against forum rules though so you'll probably not get a answer on that front.

Thank you lx07.

I understand about the forum rules. I'll try the Nirsoft tool then and respond next week if it works for him. Otherwise, we may need to uninstall and reinstall Office.

Alternatively if the email account is IMAP you could just create a new profile and set up email account(s) again. Outlook will download the mails again.

Adding/Recreating a Mail Profile - HowTo-Outlook

If that works you can delete the old password protected one.

It is IMAP. I've never tried to set up an account without having access to Outlook, but I could give this a try. Thank you for the 2nd option.

If I'm successful in creating a new profile that then allows Outlook 2010 to open, couldn't I just then change the Data File Password and delete the new profile. Outlook should then open without need of a password, and his old profile and address would still work.

Wouldn't that work?

TY. Then my best first option is to try Nirsoft to recover the password for the existing Data File, then change the password in that file. He will then be back to the start, and good to go.

Assuming the Nirsoft tool will work, it will be the easiest...otherwise I'll continue along this learning curve.

Good Morning from Toronto.

Been away, as has my friend with the Data File Password problem. Saw him yesterday. He said he called Microsoft who fixed it for him on-line. As a novice he doesn't know what they did or how. He claims they also updated him to Windows 13. I've never heard of Windows 13.

Nonetheless, I was not able to try the NIROSOFT tool and cannot report its success or failure.

Thank you for you help and interest in this problem.