How to Remove a RAR Password Using Command Prompt (CMD)

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Everything you need to know about WINRAR password crackers
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When a RAR file is protected with a password, the file is encrypted with one of the strongest levels of encryption—either AES 256 or AES 128, depending on the version. [1] If you can't open a RAR because you don't know the password, your only chance of recovering the password is to use brute force. This might be possible if the password is short and simple, but it's not as easy as it seems. This wikiHow article will show you how to use free Windows command prompt tools to find the password of an encrypted RAR file.

Cracking a RAR Password

Password-protected RAR files are strongly encrypted and nearly impossible to crack. If you can't guess it, you'll need to use brute force. If the password is short and you know some of the characters, you may be able to crack it using a free tool called cRARk and other brute force password crackers .

Section 1 of 3:

Using cRARk

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  1. cRARk is a command-line program that can crack RAR passwords using brute force. If the password is fewer than 6 characters long, you have a chance of cracking it with cRARk. You can grab the latest version from cRARk's website . [2]
    • If you are trying to crack a password that's more than 6 characters and you have no information about the password, it's impossible to crack due to the incredibly strong encryption of RAR files. [3]
    • If you know a few characters in the password, you may be able to crack a RAR password that's 28 characters long or less. [4] Knowing some facts about the password will really cut down on the time it takes to find it with brute force.
    • cRARk supports GPU password recovery using CUDA and OpenCL technologies and works with NVIDIA and AMD GPUs. If you don't have a high-end GPU, finding the password will take much longer.
  2. You'll need WinRAR or 7-Zip to do this. To extract:
    • Right-click the file, select Open with , and then choose WinRAR Archiver or 7-Zip File Manager , depending on which extractor you have.
    • In WinRAR, click the Extract To button at the top, select an extraction location, and click OK .
    • In 7-Zip, click Extract , select a location, and click OK .
    • If you are prompted for a password, just hit cancel, and the files will extract. The extractors just try to get you to enter a password because one of the files in the archive is encrypted. You don't actually need a password.
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  3. In the extracted folder, you'll see a bunch of files that end with .def for different languages. Just right-click your language, select Rename , type password.def , and then press Enter .
    • If you're using Windows Vista or Windows 7 and have an NVIDIA GPU, such as a GeForce, you'll also need to run the file called driver-timeout.reg in the extracted folder. [5] After running the file, reboot your computer. Since this will disable certain functions of your video card, we'll show you how to undo this action when you're finished cracking the password.
  4. To do this, just right-click the file, select Open with , and then choose Notepad .
  5. Now you'll need to make some changes to the file below the two hash symbols ## so cRARk knows the rules for finding the password. Only make changes to the section below those hash marks.
    • All lines that begin with one hash # are comments—you'll see that the only uncommented line is the one that says $a * . This means that cRARk will try to brute-force the password using only lower-case letters.
    • Several other examples appear in the file, including the option to search for passwords that only contain numbers or combinations of both. To use any of these other options, delete the hash symbol from the beginning of its line to uncomment it.
    • The last two options are for if you know part of the password. For example, if you know that the password begins with certain characters and ends with a 4-digit number, you can uncomment the line MyPass $1 $1 $1 $1 and modify it so it fits your criteria.
    • To learn more about different options for the password definition file, see this password guide from cRARk .
  6. Just click the File menu and select Save when you're finished editing to save your new password rules.
  7. This is so that you won't have to type long, complicated paths at the command prompt. Drag the file right into the extracted folder to move it.
  8. Here's how:
    • First, copy the full path to the extracted folder at the top of the File Explorer window. To do so, highlight the full path and press Control + C to copy it.
    • In the Windows Search bar, type cmd , and then click Command Prompt in the search results.
    • Type cd and press the Spacebar .
    • Press Command + V to paste the copied URL and press Enter .
  9. Replace yourarchivename.rar with the name of the RAR file you want to crack. This will start the process of cracking the password using the definitions you specified. Once the password is cracked, you'll see the password followed by CRC OK . [6]
    • A short, simple password may only take a few minutes to crack, while more complicated passwords could take days, weeks, months, or longer.
    • If you want to stop the process, you can press Control + C at the prompt. If that doesn't stop the cracking, just close the command prompt window.
    • If you're using Windows 7 or Vista and ran the driver-timeout.reg file, you'll want to undo the action when you're finished with the tool. Right-click the file, select Open with > Notepad , change dword:00000000 to dword:00000001 , and save the file. Then, double-click the file to run it again, and reboot your PC.
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Section 2 of 3:

Using a Batch File

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  1. Some people claim you can use a simple batch file to crack a RAR password, but this isn't really true. If it were that simple to crack AES-128, we'd all be in big trouble! The following batch file, which has been circulating around the web for years, is an even less efficient way to brute force crack a RAR password than cRARk, as it's super limited in function. For starters, it will only help you crack the password if there are only numbers in it (no letters or symbols). The script tries every number incrementally, beginning with 1 . If the password is something like 1234, it'll crack it once it makes it to that number. If it's a longer number, or if there's anything other than numbers in the password, it will never crack the password. Still, we'll provide the batch file in case you want to play around with it: 
     @ 
 echo 
off title 
WinRar Password Retriever copy 
 "C:\Program Files\WinRAR\Unrar.exe" 
 SET 
 PASS 
 = 
0 SET 
 TMP 
 = 
TempFold MD 
 %TMP% 
 : 
 RAR 
 cls 
 echo 
. SET/P 
 "NAME=File Name  : " 
 IF 
 " 
 %NAME% 
 " 
 == 
 "" 
 goto 
 ProblemDetected 
 goto 
 GPATH 
 : 
 ProblemDetected 
 echo 
You can't leave this blank. pause 
 goto 
 RAR 
 : 
 GPATH 
 SET/P 
 "PATH=Enter Full Path (eg: C:\Users\Admin\Desktop) : " 
 IF 
 " 
 %PATH% 
 " 
 == 
 "" 
 goto 
 PERROR 
 goto 
 NEXT 
 : 
 PERROR 
 echo 
You can't leave this blank. pause 
 goto 
 RAR 
 : 
 NEXT 
 IF 
 EXIST 
 " 
 %PATH% 
 \ 
 %NAME% 
 " 
 GOTO 
 SP 
 goto 
 PATH 
 : 
 PATH 
 cls 
 echo 
File couldn't be found. Make sure you include the (.RAR) extension at the end of the file's name. pause 
 goto 
 RAR 
 : 
 SP 
 echo 
. echo 
Breaking Password... echo 
. : 
 START 
 title 
Processing... SET 
 /A 
 PASS 
 =% 
 PASS 
 %+ 
 1 
UNRAR E -INUL -P %PASS% 
 " 
 %PATH% 
 \ 
 %NAME% 
 " 
 " 
 %TMP% 
 " 
 IF 
 /I 
 %ERRORLEVEL% 
 EQU 
0 GOTO 
 FINISH 
 GOTO 
 START 
 : 
 FINISH 
 RD 
 %TMP% 
/Q /S Del 
 "Unrar.exe" 
 cls 
 title 
1 Password Found echo 
. echo 
File = %NAME% 
 echo 
Stable Password= %PASS% 
 echo 
. echo 
Press any key to exit. pause 
 > 
NUL exit
Section 3 of 3:

Other Ways to Remove a RAR Password

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  1. 1
    John the Ripper This famous password recovery tool could potentially crack the RAR password eventually, especially if you know a few characters already. You can get John the Ripper from Openwall.com .
  2. 2
    RAR Password Recovery Software. This is yet another brute force RAR cracking tool that may be able to (eventually) crack a RAR password as long as it's short. This tool is available from the Microsoft Store and has a graphical interface, so you can't use it from CMD. It also costs money, though it will display 3 characters from the password for free if found. [7]
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.loc.gov/preservation/digital/formats/fdd/fdd000450.shtml
      2. ↑ http://www.crark.net/#download
      3. ↑ https://www.win-rar.com/faq-encryption.html
      4. ↑ http://www.crark.net/#download
      5. ↑ https://github.com/olacin/ecw2019/blob/master/forensic/ntfs/crarck/README
      6. ↑ http://www.crark.net/cRARk.html
      7. ↑ https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nrx3ptgbvb4?hl=en-US&gl=US

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      1. Download and extract cRARk.
      2. Rename the language.def file of your choice to "password.def."
      3. Edit the password definitions in the password.def file and save it.
      4. Move your RAR file to the extracted directory.
      5. Open the command prompt and go to the extracted directory.
      6. Type "crark yourfilename.rar" to crack the password.

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