Open/edit .exe files!?

Ye' old general discussion board. Basically, for everything that isn't covered elsewhere. Come here to shoot the breeze, shoot your mouth off, or whatever suits your fancy.
This forum is not for asking programming related questions.

Moderator: General Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Guldstrand
Forum Newbie
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:16 pm
Location: Sweden

Open/edit .exe files!?

Post by Guldstrand »

Hi!

Im looking for a program/editor where i can open .exe files, and edit/change the script.

(Just for open source projects of course.) ;)
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

that'd be a hex editor, but altering the internals of an exe without knowing what each part does is dangerous and generally irresponsible unless you know exactly what you're doing.
User avatar
Guldstrand
Forum Newbie
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:16 pm
Location: Sweden

Post by Guldstrand »

Hmm, ok...

I just wanted to learn more about creating own programs, by looking on other programs/scripts.

What is the easiest way and tool to create own programs like a database program where i can store my dvd's.
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

binary applications won't tell you anything if you just open them in a hex editor.. it'll just show you machine code.

You'd have to, at the least, decompile it. But that probably wouldn't help a lot as it'll be in assembly, the lowest level programming language.

If you want to learn more about programming binary applications and things like .dll's and such, you need to learn a slightly higher level language like C/C++.. Although they can be created in assembly too. I'd suggest getting a few books on C. Not any of the "Teach Yourself C in 21 days, or 24 hrs" crap.. those are mostly trash. For learning C I recommend "Pointers on C" by Kenneth Reek (ISBN 0-673-99986-6), for C++ I recommend "The C++ Programming Language" by Bjarne Stroustrup (ISBN 0-201-88954-4).. If you want to know more about the Win32 API: "Programming Windows" by Charles Petzold (ISBN 1-57231-995-X)

Also, there are tons of examples on the MSDN site, along with all the details of the Windows APIs, DirectX, and many more: http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/
User avatar
phice
Moderator
Posts: 1416
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2002 3:14 pm
Location: Dallas, TX
Contact:

Post by phice »

C# is better. ^_^
Image Image
User avatar
Guldstrand
Forum Newbie
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:16 pm
Location: Sweden

Post by Guldstrand »

phice wrote:C# is better. ^_^
Why is that?

Is it easier or just better because of what?? :?
kettle_drum
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1150
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2003 9:25 pm
Location: West Yorkshire, England

Post by kettle_drum »

I think thats just Phice's view on the subject. Its hard to compair languages against one another as they were all designed to be used to do certain things - so there good to use when doing what it was designed for, but other things.
User avatar
infolock
DevNet Resident
Posts: 1708
Joined: Wed Sep 25, 2002 7:47 pm

Post by infolock »

C# isn't even really close to C++ imo heh. it's more like javascript but on steroids.
d3ad1ysp0rk
Forum Donator
Posts: 1661
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2003 8:31 pm
Location: Maine, USA

Post by d3ad1ysp0rk »

Javascript on steroids?

lmao.. nice.
User avatar
evilmonkey
Forum Regular
Posts: 823
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 1:24 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Post by evilmonkey »

What is C# for anyway? Does it produce .exe files?
User avatar
feyd
Neighborhood Spidermoddy
Posts: 31559
Joined: Mon Mar 29, 2004 3:24 pm
Location: Bothell, Washington, USA

Post by feyd »

yes. It makes binary executables (after JIT) on supported OS's.. Basically, take the great parts of C, C++, and Java, and smash them together.. Add an XML documentation parser, built-in.. and MASSIVE ability to extend itself, the compiler, and a crap load of other things on the fly, and you have it. Sorta.. Read the MS sites, or dotguru for detailed information.
User avatar
evilmonkey
Forum Regular
Posts: 823
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 1:24 pm
Location: Toronto, Canada

Post by evilmonkey »

Thanks feyd. :)
User avatar
phice
Moderator
Posts: 1416
Joined: Sat Apr 20, 2002 3:14 pm
Location: Dallas, TX
Contact:

Post by phice »

infolock wrote:C# isn't even really close to C++ imo heh. it's more like javascript but on steroids.
Why? Because it's not confusing to learn? Right.
Image Image
Post Reply