Post: #1

So I had to reformat my computer. I moved all my songs, photos, some movies and all kinds of organized shit onto a portable hard drive, a 1tb Western Digital "My Passport Ultra."
There's some really valuable stuff on there.

The problem is that I cannot open the drive now. I cannot "see" the files or the hard drive directly, as Western Digital's security program loads and asks me for a password (which I cannot recall, plus the hint is worthless) and so I have no standard options. The company's support page tells me to wipe the drive, which I do not consider an option.

I'm about to use Wondershare's Liveboot to create a bootdisc to access the files from the hard drive without Windows, but I am unsure if this will work as yet and I have to go and get a blank CD in order to do it.

I am wondering if there is some kind of brute force password cracker I can use?
I know for a fact that the password would not be overly complicated, just some variations on specific words, but I cannot recall what it was.

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, as there's like 4 years of stuff on there.

Post: #2

Make a 'boot disc'(live cd) using a usb stick? Boot from usb....

Might be worth a try.

Post: #3

(07-08-2014 12:31 PM)Trev Wrote:  Make a 'boot disc'(live cd) using a usb stick? Boot from usb....

Might be worth a try.

Yeah I tried that. Turns out it doesn't work. I tried cloning the drive but its encrypted. I am looking around for various recovery tools but I still believe my best bet is to use some forum of password cracking, since I myself have a reasonable idea of what the password might be.

The issue is I made the password over a year ago, but had checked a box at some point that made the drive auto unlock whenever it was connected to my PC and logged on with my user account. In reformatting the PC, I lost those credentials but assumed I knew the password. Big fucking mistake.

I'm going to make a hand-written list of passwords and variations, and keep trying, but it's likely I used some one-off phrase. My policy is also to always make the "hint" completely unrelated to the actual password. So I'm stuck racking my brain for the phrase, while the hint "The Trial of the Century" keeps coming up on screen.

Trial of the Century is fucking right. I have irreplaceable photos of dead friends, archived manuscripts and all sorts of hard to find shit on there.

Post: #4

(07-08-2014 02:00 PM)Slick Shimmer Wrote:  

(07-08-2014 12:31 PM)Trev Wrote:  Make a 'boot disc'(live cd) using a usb stick? Boot from usb....

Might be worth a try.

Yeah I tried that. Turns out it doesn't work.

What happens when you attempt to boot from a Live DC or bootable device?

You sound like you have some technical knowledge so I'm sure it isn't something obvious like that operating system (presumably some Linux distro) not being able to read your file system (FAT32, etc.). Having said that, knowing why this doesn't work might help some of us get a better idea of what's going on or provide you with ideas for a workaround.

Post: #5

(07-08-2014 03:01 PM)Ethan Amarante Wrote:  

(07-08-2014 02:00 PM)Slick Shimmer Wrote:  

(07-08-2014 12:31 PM)Trev Wrote:  Make a 'boot disc'(live cd) using a usb stick? Boot from usb....

Might be worth a try.

Yeah I tried that. Turns out it doesn't work.

What happens when you attempt to boot from a Live DC or bootable device?

You sound like you have some technical knowledge so I'm sure it isn't something obvious like that operating system (presumably some Linux distro) not being able to read your file system (FAT32, etc.). Having said that, knowing why this doesn't work might help some of us get a better idea of what's going on or provide you with ideas for a workaround.

The drive is encrypted using some kind of AES derivative. When I tried cloning it from a bootdisk with data recovery options, the drives data would copy "0MB" of the 932GB in use. The drive does show up using this bootdisc of the "Wondershare Liveboot" software, but that is, as I've found, geared towards circumventing issues with Windows itself. While it has drive recovery options, it can't tackle encryption.

The drive does not even appear when connected at this point, it only loads a virtual drive with a mounted cd image which includes the Password utility and thereby holds the entry to the user data itself. I am decent with menus, but have only cursory knowledge of things like data encryption and password retrieval.

From reading around, there is a vulnerability that has been found by some group who refuses to release it. Otherwise, normal methods have suggested straight up data recovery from specialists. I know for a fact the password wasn't that complex, so I should be able to crack it using conventional methods, right? Bear in mind, I've never had to crack a password in such a manner before, so I simply have no idea how.

Post: #6

If you're going to try to crack it, make a clone of the hard drive, and run cracking software against the clone. Try 'John the Ripper'. Straight forward piece of software.

Post: #7

I dont know what kind of computer you are using,.... but in certain computers, you can wipe the password by

1. Opening up the motherboard.
2. Reset the CMOS jumper.
(if that doesnt work, go to step 3 below)
3. Remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard and let it sit for a 15 to 30 minutes.
4. Then put back the CMOS battery.
5. Voila! password gone! All you have to do now is put back your computer pieces part together.

This video explains it.





If that video wasnt clear, here is another video that does a good job of explaining things.





regards,

Nemencine

Post: #8

If it's 128 bit encrypted and there's no known backdoor (like microsoft's bitlocker) you're boned. I would call or e-mail OnTrack data recovery and ask if they could.