How to reverse engineer an exe ?

Best answer: Many developers are still not aware that Portable Executable (PE) files can be decompiled to readable source code. Before learning how to prevent or make it hard for the decompilers to reverse engineer the source code, we need to understand few basics concepts.

FAQ

How do you reverse engineer a program?
In order to perform reverse engineering, you need to combine skills in disassembling, network monitoring, debugging, API integration, several program languages, compilers, etc. You also have to be very careful when reversing software in order not to break copyright laws or harm your system.

Is reverse engineering an app illegal?
Reverse engineering is generally legal. In trade secret law, similar to independent developing, reverse engineering is considered an allowed method to discover a trade secret. However, in patent law, because the patent owner has exclusive rights to use, own or develop the patent, reverse engineering is not a defense.

What is a good decompiler for an .EXE file?
IDA Pro, Hex Rays. IDA Pro is one of the best and most popular reverse engineering software tools. It’s an interactive disassembler that has a built-in command language (IDC) and supports a number of executable formats for various processors and operating systems.

Can we edit EXE file?
The only chance to edit an .exe file is to use a hex editor (with intimate knowledge what all the bytes in the binary mean) or a disassembler or decompiler (e.g. IDA Pro).

Is reverse engineering difficult?
Reverse engineering in itself is a broad task – the difficulty highly depends on the product. The only common is that successfully reverse engineering a product typically requires domain knowledge. Whether it be manufacturing, a process, software, or other.

Can any software be reverse engineered?
You can reverse engineer any software as long as it runs physically on your hardware whatever the hardware is. Sometimes hardware needs to be hacked first in order to begin hacking programs on it.

How do I decompile a Windows program?

1. Let’s start decompiling the above project. Now that we created a sample project, let’s try to decompile the above project using Telerik’s JustDecompile.
2. Step – 1: Open JustDecompile.
3. Step – 2: Locate the executable file you want to decompile.
4. Step – 3: Reverse Engineer.
5. Step – 4: Creating a Visual Studio Project.

Is it illegal to decompile code?
Higher-level reverse engineering such as decompilation is illegal as it is a threat to the ideas and intellectual property of the software creators via recreating the source code, which is the protected element.

Is disassembling a program illegal?
In the USA, it is legal as long as the software was obtained legally, but if the license prohibits it explicitly (and most software licenses do) then it is a breach of the contract which the license constitutes — thus “illegal”, but a matter of civil law, not penal.

Is it illegal to decompile game code?
Decompiling is both illegal and wrong, unless it’s your own work. You can learn what you need on Google, or find open-source stuff using it and learn from that. It’s illegal to decompile ANYTHING without permission.

How do I decompile an EXE file in Visual Studio?
Select Start > All Programs > Visual Studio 2013 > Visual Studio Tools. Double-click on Developer Command Prompt for VS2013. Run “ildasm” from the resulting command prompt. In the tool, select File > Open and open your executable or DLL.

What programming language is used for reverse engineering?
One of the programming languages that are used in Reverse Engineering is Assembly Language, which is one of the most important programming languages in this field and in many other fields!

How do I decompile a file?

1. On the File menu, click Decompile.
2. In the Destination folder box, enter the name of the folder where you want the decompiled files to be copied.
3. In the Compiled help file box, enter the name of the compiled help (. chm) file you want to decompile.