Found: 5
Windows Resources
Executable Windows files bear the .exe extension. They generally consist of three parts:
- Header
- Executable code
- Resources
The header contains the auxiliary information that the operating system uses when launching the file. One example is the program entry point, which is a very important piece of information for any program. Another example is information about where the program's resources begin. They are usually located immediately following the executable code, but sometimes there are exceptions.
Date: 2009-02-15
[Read the full version]
[Windows Resources]
Restorator and menu resources
The most effective utility for editing resources would be one that works equally well with programs written in any language. Personally, I prefer the Restorator utility, which can be downloaded from the following site: Restorator home page. Restorator allows you to edit boot loader files and has significantly more to offer in the way of capabilities than any other program I have had the pleasure to use. As a result, this is the program we will consider here.
Before proceeding to the following material, I recommend that you install this program on your computer so that it will always be handy, allowing your to check into the described operations as they are covered. This book is not a help file for this program, so we will only consider those basic elements that are relevant to breaking programs and providing them with a more pleasant appearance.
The main window has three parts:
- Resource tree: here you can view the resources of the open file accordinig to categories organized in a tree structure.
- Resource view: view of the selected resource.
- File browser: an Explorer-style browser for viewing computer resources. The organization of the window allows for very convenient resource viewing.
Date: 2009-02-18
[Read the full version]
[Windows Resources]
Restorator: Editing Dialog Resources
Editing dialog windows is somewhat more complicated than editing menus. Many commands are used for this purpose, making it simply impossible to describe them all here. Instead, we will focus on the most important examples. Open the Dialog section in the resource tree and select resource number 200. You should see the dialog window form in the Resource Viewer window:
Viewing a dialog window form
You can switch into editing mode by selecting the Viewer/Edit Mode menu sequence. The source code of the dialog window number 200 is shown in the next code.
Date: 2009-03-05
[Read the full version]
[Windows Resources]
Editing Strings and Accelerators
The String section in a resource file is for the storage of ... strings! These can be various messages, names, or simply string lines used by a program. Select any resource in this section and switch into the editing mode (menu sequence Viewer/Edit Mode). Use resource 57 (in the dealer.exe file) as an example to examine source code that can be edited:
STRINGTABLE
{
901, "Dialer"
902, "Phone Dialer"
}
The string resource code starts with the keyword STRINGTABLE. It is followed by a pair of curly brackets, inside of which strings are defined as follows:
Number, "String"
Date: 2009-04-11
[Read the full version]
[Windows Resources]
XP Themes
Themes are stored in the drive:\WINDOWS\Resources\Themes folder. Open this folder and inspect its contents. At first, the folder may look the same as in the old Windows 9x - the same useless files with the theme extension and a bunch of useless folders.
The Luna folder contains all of the files necessary for the standard XP theme. Let's take a look at this. Whoa, what is this strange thing: luna.msstyles?! I don't remember seeing this extension in the old Windows. Let's take a closer look at it. The first thing I did the first time I saw this file was to examine its contents in Windows Commander (pressing the F3 key). The immediate thing that catches your eye is that the first two bytes of this file are MZ. This tells me that this file likely contains byte code like that in executable files. Looking further, we can see the magic message: "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." This means that the luna.msstyles file not only contains byte code, but is also executable, or, at least, that its structure is very similar to the executable file structure.
You already know that any executable or DLL file can contain resources, and you also know how to edit those resources. I was hoping that this file would also hold some resources, so I tried to open it with Borland Resource Workshop. I was deeply disappointed, because BRW simply issued a system error message, and terminated. The program's age does have some undesirable effects.
Date: 2009-05-04
[Read the full version]
[Windows Resources]
Low cost auto insurance quotes