drawing file recovery

Hello all,

I am new here and hope this is in the correct place. A friend of mine had an employee quit and before he left he deleted all of the drawing files and AutoCad from the computer he was using. I have been able to recover the deleted drawing files, but need the password he set. Does anyone know of a way to by-pass the password?

Thanks in advance

Jay

Password protected drawing files are not recoverable without the password. Basically, you've lost any and all drawings files that the ex-employee password protected. Sorry.

Just curious...did he password protect the folder the files were in or individual files themselves?

From the Autocad Help files:

"Warning. If you lose a password, your drawing file is lost. Before you add a password to a drawing, you should create a backup that is not protected with a password."

In the future, when your friend loses an employee, he needs to escort the person back to their desk and watch over them as they collect their belongings and then escort them to the door. You should never let them go back to their desk, or anywhere in the office, unsupervised. This doesn't help with the password problem though. That's just immaturity on the part of the employee. Your friend should consult with his lawyer and take the employee to court. Those drawings are company property, not property of the employee. He had no right to delete them or password protect them, so your friend has every right to take legal action.

Thank you guys for the quick answers, I had to un-delete the files and I can see them in a pre-view but can't open them.

The way I was told the story, the employee, did his ugly deed and then walked in and told my friend he quit. They did not release what had happened until a couple days later when they tried to access some of the drawings and nothing was there. Have been told that the employee said he would return the files for more money, he might have a good copy that we can get the law to return with passwords.

It appears that each dwg file is protected.

Maybe some jail time will do this guy some good.

Have been told that the employee said he would return the files for more money

I believe that's called extortion. Threaten him with legal action and he will probably hand over the password real quick.

Maybe, but I don't think he is that smart

Well, I guess he'll be checking in at the graybar hotel then.