Password issue

Report · Mar 23, 2009

We have both RoboHelp v5 & v7 being used here. The prior admin retired, and we discovered that RoboHelp v5 is password protected by the "admin" user. We are unable to reach this person - they are on a several month cross country trip, and he disconnected his cell phone.

Does anyone know how we can get into the application? Would greatly appreciate assistance!

Thanks,
Anahid Avakian

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Welcome to our community, Anahid

I'm unclear on exactly how one goes about password protecting. Are you using Source control? If so, I'm not sure how one would go about stripping away the password. If you have access to his machine, you might try copying the files from its C drive to yours.

Cheers... Rick

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Hi Rick,

Unfortunately his laptop is already reformatted and redeployed. When I remote to the server Robo is on, , I attempt to open an existing project and I get the RoboSource Control Login window.

It comes up wtih user "Admin" and no one has the password. So - yes, it is the using RoboSource. Anything that can be done here?

What is the impact if I respond "Yes" to "Do you want to discontinue connection attempts to version control when you open this project in the future"? Only one person will be maintaining it... as a matter of fact this is the first update for this project in two years!

Thanks,
Anahid

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Hi there

Perhaps try "Admin" and if that doesn't work try "Password" and if that doesn't work try leaving it blank?

Cheers... Rick

Report · Mar 23, 2009

Do you have access to an output, the webhelp or CHM that gets produced?

If you do, the other approach might be to reverse engineer that. If the output is webhelp, it is more work than for a CHM but at least this might get you going.

There's an article on Reverse Engineering on my site.

Help others by clicking Correct Answer if the question is answered. Found the answer elsewhere? Share it here. "Upvote" is for useful posts.

Report · Mar 24, 2009

Hi -

Unfortunately no simple passwords work. I might be able to do something with the reverse engineering, but I really don't have the time right now.

Also, when the RoboSource Control Login box comes up, there is a message at the bottom of the screen which says:
"Hold Shift key down to skip all Source Control Initialzation"
but if I do that and click OK, I still get "Invalid user name or
password"

What about the message I get when I click cancel to the password message? What is the impact if I respond "Yes" to "Do you want to discontinue connection attempts to version control when you open this project in the future"?

Since only one person will be maintaining it, and there really are not frequent updates, would this be the way to go? Only two people are actively using this server, so if the version control is meant to prevent multiple people from updating the project, I think this would be a low risk for us.

Thanks,
Anahid

Report · Mar 24, 2009

Hi Anahid

Sorry but I really don't have any answers for you. I've been a RoboHelp user since 1992. But when it comes to RoboSource Control, I'm a bit like a young engineer fresh out of college. Sure, I know all about the theory, how it *SHOULD* work and all that. But have none of the "Life experience" that really solidifies the trained understanding. I have used RoboHelp with source control for many years. But I did it using Microsoft Visual Source Safe long before RoboHelp actually integrated source control into the workflow. It was always used as a separate application.

What you might do is to try re-posting this issue in the RoboSource Control forum category. Perhaps someone that monitors that category will see your issue and pick it up.

Best of luck to you... Rick

Report · Mar 24, 2009

Hi Anahid,

Version control is designed to stop two people working on the same files at the same time so if this is not an issue for you maybe you don't need source control. One other reason why source control is used is to record information required by auditors (e.g ISO 9001).

You could try taking a copy of the project and then clicking Yes to that message as it does sound like it would remove the project from source control. I don't use RoboSource Control so can't say for sure but it sounds like it may be worth a go and if you have a backup you're not loosing anything by trying.

Report · Mar 24, 2009

Thanks so much for replies! I will post in the RoboSource folder first, but it sounds like this is an easy work around... especially since in the future we'll be migrating that project to Robov7

Thanks again,
Anahid