Technical support

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Frequently Asked Questions

• 1. I got the error message when starting the software: "The application has failed to start because the application configuration is incorrect" or "The code execution cannot proceed because *.dll was not found"

  Try to install Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable Package

• 2. What is Password Definition file and where can I get it?

  Password Definition file (PDF file) is a text file with description of password attacks. The primary goal of successful password recovery is well constructed password definition file. The examples of PDF files are in the folder where you installed the software and here. The full syntax is here.

• 3. I've got the message like "Display driver stopped and has recovered" or "clEnqueueWriteBuffer() failed" and GPU client is not working.

  Please run the file driver-timeout.reg from the folder where you installed the software and reboot. You also may read the article

• 4. What are the difference between Local and Distributed versions?

  Local version can take advantage of home PCs up to 16 processors/cores and 8 CPUs. Distributed version could be used in Local Area Networks or Internet using the power of hundreds clients. It's still not available to purchase

• 5. The software tries to connect to server and doesn't start.

  Unfortunately, this is a common problem of your antivirus or firewall. Kaspersky and AVG are known to block connections, as well as some other tools. Please try to temporary disable your anti-virus, or put Parallel Password Recovery into its exceptions. If this not help, try to temporary uninstall your anti-virus. Especially, AVG anti-virus has a Web browsing component that needs to be disabled.

• 6. The recovery speed is extremely slow.

  This also can be caused by your anti-virus or anti-malware. Windows Defender can slow down your PC. Please try to add processes "cpu-client.exe", "gpu-client.exe" and "run_server.exe" into run-time check exclusions. Also, please refer to the Performance section.

• 7. Which GPU is best for password recovery?

  AMD GPUs were traditionally better for password/hash recovery, but now all modern GPUs are roughly the same. To make the ultimate password recovery computer, you need to use several as powerful as possible GPUs (up to 8).

Performance

• 1. How can I restore my password in a fastest way?

  Firstly, you need to use all known information about the password and write the best password definition file to test minimal amount of passwords. Also, using of regular repetition symbol '*' is highly recommended, because such passwords could be tested on GPU. Let's see on five definitions of date in DDMMYYYY format:

  definition	comment	passwords to test	time to complete
  $1 $1 $1 $1 $1 $1 $1 $1	is too bad, too many extra password are tested, no '*'	100 000 000	3 days, no GPU is used
  $1 *(8)	better, it can be tested on GPU, but still too many extra passwords	100 000 000	39 min
  [0123] $1 [01] $1 [12][90] $1 *(2)	very well, but one more problem: GPU shows maximal performance when it tests thousands of passwords, but here is only 100, so GPU is useless	320 000	15 min, GPU is used ineffectively
  [0123] $1 [01] $1 $1 *(4)	much more passwords to test, but it could be faster on powerful GPU.	8 000 000	5 min
  [0123] $1 [01] $1 *(5)	the same as previous, but faster.	8 000 000	3 min

• 2. How can I achieve maximal performance on CPU-only machine?

  You should start as many CPU clients as many CPU processors/cores you have. However, no need to start 8 clients on 4 cores/8 threads processor, you get minimal speed-up. Also, please set the "Approximate client working time" under Advanced->Settings to the bigger value.

• 3. How can I achieve maximal performance using CPU and GPU together?

  On some systems you'll get the maximal speed if you remain one free CPU core for each GPU client running. So, if you got 4-core processor and 2 GPU cards, you should run 2 CPU clients and 2 GPU ones. But, on some systems you may use all cores and all GPUs for password testing. You should make an experiment to check out the best amount of clients and their balancer.

  Also, please set the "Approximate client working time" under Advanced->Settings to the bigger value.

• 4. Do I always need to start all possible CPU and GPU clients?

  No.
  a) GPU shows maximal performance when it tests thousands of passwords. So, if you've got powerful GPUs and the simple password definition which effictively loads GPUs card, no need to use CPU clients at all
  b) Vice-versa, GPU is only used in regular definitions. So, if you've got password definition without symbol '*', no need to use GPU client
  c) That's why, if you've got complex definition, both CPU and GPU clients are necessary. You can make an experiment to check out the best clients number and balance.