Solway's Password Recover

With the help of Solway's Password Recover you can try to find out the passwords to ZIP or RAR archives, keys which you have previously lost or forgotten. It supports the dictionary and brute force attack methods.
Before proceeding any further, you should know that this is not the type of software to use for malicious purposes, namely attempting to crack the passwords of archives belonging to other people. It's for personal archives only.

Approachable interface with sample archives

Packed in a user-friendly interface that shows all options available, Solway's Password Recover contains a couple of sample archives that you can use for testing purposes.
You can begin by selecting the archive type between RAR and ZIP, as well as indicate the archive itself and main dictionary file. The application has a default dictionary file prepared for the English language which contains a very long list with words.

Differences between dictionary and brute force methods

If you select the dictionary method, the app will try each word or words from each line. However, you can edit this file (since it's a plain text document) or create a new one to use as the main dictionary file.
The brute force mode tries all possible combinations of numbers, lowercase or uppercase letters, or all ASCII characters, depending on your preferences. If you remember anything from the password, you can specify a starting string and define the minimum and maximum password length (i.e. number of characters) in order to narrow down results and speed up the task.

Additional options for RAR archives

There are different settings available for ZIP and RAR archives. In ZIP mode you can either select the main dictionary or apply brute force. Extra options become available in RAR mode, which also lets you mark the archive header as encrypted, enable GPU usage and set the CUDA delay, use two dictionaries instead of one, and create a custom pattern for the brute force mode.
If Solway's Password Recover manages to locate the password, it shows it in the log area as "password confirmed". Otherwise, it finishes the task without pointing out to any errors.

Conclusion

Taking into account its approachable interface and options, Solway's Password Recover proves to be a reliable assistant for recovering lost or forgotten passwords to RAR and ZIP archives using dictionary files or brute force.