Access Forensics

Access Forensics by Thegrideon Software is an advanced tool for MS Access database analysis, data preview and recovery as well as password recovery and protection removal. It recovers deleted tables, records (rows) and columns; shows database structure, tables, properties and VBA source code; recovers database passwords and user-level security records; can be used to edit database properties and access rights, remove VBA protection and more... Access Forensics works with all MS Access files (.mdb, .accdb, ...) from version 2000 to 2024.

Trial installer
2023.12.12
6 Mb / .exe

Trial portable
2023.12.12
6 Mb / .zip

Buy License Key »
Price: 99 USD per PC
including one year of free support

Access Forensics Features:

Preview and Export:

tables and columns details;
all objects (tables, ...) ownership and properties;
VBA modules and classes with highlighted source code;
hex preview or export attached files, OLE objects, images, etc;
export tables as XML with XSD Schema or as RFC 4180 compliant CSV files;
bulk XML and CSV export is available as well;

Scan and Recover Deleted Data:

deleted tables, deleted columns, deleted records (rows);

Access Protected Database:

database properties editor: AllowBypassKey, StartUpShowDBWindow, MDE flag, etc.
clears VBA Projects protection;
instantly recovers Access 2000-2003 passwords and user-level security records:

including user names and ids necessary to recreate lost .mdw files;
recover user names, passwords, ids and group names from workgroup files (.mdw);
user-level access rights editor (to assign dbSecFullAccess to any user);

several password search attacks can be queued for Access 2007-2024:

common brute-force and dictionary attacks with modifications and filtering options;
advanced mixed attacks for precise search range setup;

multi-position moves to cover modern password policies;
simple modifications: add part(s) copy, replace chars, etc.
typing errors, case switching, char substitutions;

highly optimized code (SSE, AVX, AVX2, AVX-512) for best performance;
utilizes NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs with a high-performance methods;
supports up to 64 simultaneous processing threads (multi-CPU, multi-GPU);

Windows 7 - Windows 11.

Program Screenshots:

Database Table with recovered Rows and Columns

Database Security

Additional Details:

Access Forensics is designed with 3 main goals: gain access to protected database, analyse database content and recover deleted or hidden information still present in the file. It works with database files directly - independent from any Access libraries or components, so you can edit parameters regardless of access rights and extract data unavailable in any other way.Access Forensics short video demo
MS Access 2000-2003: Password to open and user-level security records can be recovered instantly to access database, recreate lost workgroup information file (.mdw) or recover logins from existing .mdw. Internal permission editor can be used to fix access rights right away if the goal is to access data as fast as possible. You may also check how to access user-level security dialogs in MS Access 2007-2024.
MS Access 2007-2024: User-level security was deprecated and exhaustive password search is required for "password to open" recovery due to stronger cryptographic algorithms used. Access Forensics password recovery engine is based on our well known ACCDB Password tool. Highly optimized assembler code and GPU utilization as well as precise search range setup with advanced mixed attacks are at your service.
Database Properties: One of the functions of database properties (settings) is to control user interface and access to menu and tools. This is used to limit user access to database structure and data. Access Forensics allows you to edit database properties. Just a few examples: enable AllowBypassKey, StartUpShowDBWindow, edit CustomRibbonID to disable custom ribbon menu with limited functionality, switch of MDE flag to access locked mde/accde database and export forms, edit StartUpForm property to disable of change initial form, etc...
VBA: Access Forensics can reset VBA Project protection. Internal VBA code viewer is available with highlighted source code to check the safety of modules and classes included as well as check security measures applied in VBA code.
Data Recovery: Access Forensics is mainly designed to analyze data in a valid (uncorrupted) database. Although it is not its main goal, it can also be used to analyse damaged databases. Redundant information available in a database is used to recover deleted tables, records (table rows) and columns. Columns recovery is a unique feature of our tool and a quite important one. It is not uncommon practice to "delete" several columns with personal data and send database (with data still accessible) to business partners or clients.

Trial Version Limitations:

Trial version can be used to check format compatibility. It allows you to preview odd rows from any table. If VBA source code is recoverable: first 15 lines are displayed. Edit-mode is not available in trial version as are some Export operations. You can setup and test run any password search (versions 2007-2024) for 15 min per set. Recovered passwords and ids are hidden behind the asterisks.