Hi webmasters: no, I'm not requesting hacking tools, or advice to break software security, older forum members might be aware of this because of my post history.
But advice would be greatly appreciated.
About 5 years ago was talking to a client from Canada who told me he only hires companies, and not individuals/freelancers, why? because something along these words: "people can get ill, and... under those circumstances there is nobody to take the work from their hands, there is no redundancy, and if the developer dies? you are done, there is no hope for your project". Well, he was (is) obviously right (that's the lesson of the thread). Some might remember an old discussion on this forum regarding measures, or instructions for others to follow, in case you die, explaining what to do with pending work, or any digital property still making money.
True story: one of my cousins asked me to help with a project, and I did, just finished last week. But I noticed they are trapped on some weird circumstances regarding the company platform. When I asked, they explained the dev died, the wording sounded like a joke, but I learned right away she wasn't kidding. Due to COVID, their official developer died, and with him all the data regarding anything related to the company. Due to how this business managed the projects, there is nobody to help, unless the clients request access to the computers and files stored at the former dev's home, considering open access is possible (no password protected accounts), and being allowed to check the source code of the apps (something altogether difficult, if not impossible). Most likely, the family has no clue about anything.
The app (c# .exe) uses a security layer (username and password), but the database is also password protected, so there is no way to access or migrate the data. To make matters worse, the software only runs on one particular computer, one... that they allowed to receive Windows updates becoming terribly slow, but now they can't touch it, as formatting the HD would remove the software, a piece that won't run on other computers.
Yeah, nice. Any advice or suggestion will be appreciated, it's a Microsoft Access DB. Probably the only hope is to use brute force methods. Sounds to me, like all the already stored data will be lost eventually, or would be kept frozen on that super slow computer while a new app is designed and built.
Yes, keep this in mind devs, don't die, and if you are going to (naturally) be kind enough to leave some clues, or procedures for your clients, they will appreciate it.
