Trouble Removing Password

[cure4glass]

I'm using Word 2007 to open Word 97 - 2003 filetype Documents (.DOC)
I am attempting to remove the passwords ( I have 150 +/- of these files) by going To the Office button, choosing Prepare and Encrypt Document. and thought I'd be able to simply delete the password entered there and resave.However, when I get to the encrypt document box there is No password to wipe out..Any ideas?
Also, these 150 =/- files with this folder all have the same password.I'd love to have a code that would remove the password from all of the files in this specific folder.Can this be accomplished fairly straightforward? Thanks in advance!