security - Removing the password from a VBA project

Question

How can I programmatically remove a (known) password from an Excel VBA project?

To be clear: I want to remove the password from the VBA Project, not the workbook or any worksheets.

Answer 1

Another way to remove VBA project password is;

• Open xls file with a hex editor. (ie. Hex Edit http://www.hexedit.com/)
• Search for DPB
• Replace DPB to DPx
• Save file.
• Open file in Excel.
• Click "Yes" if you get any message box.
• Set new password from VBA Project Properties.
• Close and open again file, then type your new password to unprotect.

UPDATE: For Excel 2010 (Works for MS Office Pro Plus 2010 [14.0.6023.1000 64bit]),

• Open the XLSX file with 7zip

If workbook is protected:

• Browse the folder xl
• If the workbook is protected, right click workbook.xml and select Edit
• Find the portion <workbookProtection workbookPassword="XXXX" lockStructure="1"/> (XXXX is your encrypted password)
• Remove XXXX part. (ie. <workbookProtection workbookPassword="" lockStructure="1"/>)
• Save the file.
• When 7zip asks you to update the archive, say Yes.
• Close 7zip and re-open your XLSX.
• Click Protect Workbook on Review tab.
• Optional: Save your file.

If worksheets are protected:

• Browse to xl/worksheets/ folder.
• Right click the Sheet1.xml, sheet2.xml, etc and select Edit.
• Find the portion <sheetProtection password="XXXX" sheet="1" objects="1" scenarios="1" />
• Remove the encrypted password (ie. <sheetProtection password="" sheet="1" objects="1" scenarios="1" />)
• Save the file.
• When 7zip asks you to update the archive, say Yes.
• Close 7zip and re-open your XLSX.
• Click Unprotect Sheet on Review tab.
• Optional: Save your file.