How to open an EXE file. Automatic unpackers of installers How to find out what exe file is executing

PE Explorer includes one of the most convenient and powerful executable resource editors for Windows. Ample opportunities for opening and editing problem files, a large list of supported resources, a well-thought-out interface, compatibility with the latest versions of Windows and compliance with all modern requirements - all this makes PE Explorer the de facto standard when choosing resource editing tools.

However, if you do not need the advanced functionality of PE Explorer, give it a try - this is the resource editor from PE Explorer, dedicated to a separate product.

By opening the file in PE Explorer and choosing the Resource Editor button on the toolbar, you will see a list of resources in the form of a tree with folders. Each of the folders contains a specific type of resource stored in the file under study (graphics, menus, dialogs, icons, and so on). Expanding the folder, you will see a list of resource files.

In the right pane, PE Explorer shows the resource selected from the list, depending on its type, in the form of a graphic image, text or binary code (in this case, you can switch the view mode (text / hex) with the F4 key, and the code page with the F8 key). Visual elements are displayed as they would be in a running application: navigation, search and editing of the menu structure and dialog elements with this approach is greatly simplified.

Each element of the user interface found in the program under study can be saved to disk, changed or replaced. Nearly operations are supported, including PNG, XML, Image Lists, and Type Library.

The toolbar contains buttons for extracting and saving to disk a separately selected resource or all resources of a file at the same time, a button for calling the resource editor, buttons for deleting and restoring a selected resource, copying to the clipboard and calling the manifest resource creation wizard, a search button in the resource tree, buttons resource properties and tree navigation. Editing, saving or deleting can also be done by right-clicking on the selected resource and selecting the required action from the context menu:

The standard ones that PE Explorer supports include bitmap, icon, menu, dialog, cursor, font, stringtable, message table, toolbar, accelerator and version info... All other resource types are not standard. Their name is determined by the developer of the file and can be anything. In the resource tree, the names of folders with non-standard resources are displayed in uppercase, for example: AVI, TYPELIB, GIF, PNG image, Html, XML.

In the resources of programs created with development tools such as Delphi or C ++ Builder, you will not find the usual dialogs, menus, or accelerators. Instead, there is such a type of resource as RCData, which stores all this data in the form of DFM (Delphi Form Module).

If the RCData resource contains Delphi forms, then all found objects and their associated properties and events are displayed in a hierarchical tree. Ease of navigation and search through the object tree makes working with such resources a pleasant experience.

The contents of forms and objects (image sheets, bitmaps, glyphs, string lists) can be viewed and saved to disk, as when working with ordinary standard resources.

As a result of changing or replacing resources, you can change the appearance of icons, cursors, dialogs, buttons, lines, animation inserts, replace sounds and other elements of the standard user interface of applications running under any 32-bit operating system from the Windows family.

All changes made to resources are instantly displayed on the screen in WYSIWYG mode, and if you are not satisfied with the result, you can always return to the previous state. Any changes made can be undone until you clicked OK and did not close the editor.

Depending on the type and format of the resource, PE Explorer automatically launches the resource editor in one of the appropriate modes - graphic, text or special (for editing menus, dialogs, versions or Delphi forms).

The most common problem that users cannot open this file is an incorrectly assigned program. To fix this in Windows OS, you need to right-click on the file, in the context menu, point the mouse to the "Open with" item, and select the "Select program ..." item in the drop-down menu. As a result, you will see a list of installed programs on your computer, and you will be able to choose the appropriate one. We also recommend that you check the box next to "Use this application for all EXE files".

Another problem that our users also encounter quite often is that the EXE file is corrupted. This situation can arise in many cases. For example: the file was downloaded incompletely as a result of a server error, the file was damaged initially, etc. To fix this problem, use one of the recommendations:

• Try to find the desired file in another source on the Internet. You may be lucky enough to find a more suitable version. Google search example: "File filetype: EXE". Just replace the word "file" with the name you want;
• Ask to send you the original file again, it may have been damaged in transit;

Resource Hacker is a utility for working with resources packed into executable files. It includes a complete set of tools for editing resources: compiling, viewing, decompiling and recompiling resources of 32-bit and 64-bit Windows executable files (* .exe; * .dll; * .scr; * .mui and so on) ... Resource Hacker can save, add, modify or delete individual resources from these files, as well as create and compile .rc scripts and edit .res format files.

For ordinary users, Reshacker will be interesting primarily as a convenient program for extracting icons, cursors, pictures from programs and, in some cases, audio and video files. For programmers, localizers and people who well understand why they need this program, Resource Hacker opens up wider possibilities, ranging from translating programs into other languages ​​to changing the interface and other functions. The program has a dialog editor and the ability to add new controls from the Microsoft Сommon Сontrol classes. The utility provides the ability to work and compile through the command line using .rc scripts, which are similar in style to the "C" language with additional parameters and directives (for example #DEFINE, #UNDEF, #IF, #ELIF, #ELSE and so on).

With help Resource Tuner you can open executable files like .EXE, .DLL, .OCX, screensavers (.SCR) and many more. Once you open the file, you gain access to the file's resources and can replace icons, cursors, and graphics in various formats, change strings in menus, dialog boxes, and other user interface elements.

However, it should be borne in mind that the resources in the executable file are separated from the program code, and by changing the program interface, you do not get access to the program code. Using the resource editor, you can change the control elements of the program. You cannot change the program code using the resource editor.

For more serious changes (which, however, will not lead to anything good without sufficient experience in programming applications for Windows), we recommend using PE Explorer (editor for the structure of PE files) or FlexHex (hex editor for binary files).

Opening an EXE or DLL file in Resource Tuner

Supports several ways to open files. To open the file for viewing and editing, click the button Open File on the toolbar or select the command File > Open from the menu. The drop-down menu next to the button on the toolbar gives you quick access to a list of recently opened files. The same list can be obtained with the command File > Recent Files from the program menu. The number of files in the list is configured in the dialog Customize.

You can also open a file with Resource Tuner directly from Windows Explorer by right-clicking on the file and choosing Open with Resource Tuner from the context menu.

Or you can simply drag and drop the file icon from Windows Explorer onto the Resource Tuner icon on the desktop or onto the Resource Tuner window.

You can also open the file from the command line.
For example: restuner.exe filename.exe

When opening a file, Resource Tuner performs several automatic operations: it unpacks the file if it detects that it was packed using UPX, then it checks the structure and resources of the file for possible errors, and finally rebuilds the damaged resources in accordance with the specification of the executable file format.

Errors when opening a file

If an error occurs when opening a file, it is most likely for three reasons: the file is protected, the file is 16-bit, or it is not an executable file at all.

1. Error: The file is damaged, compressed by a packer or protected by a protector.

The chances are high that the file is compressed to reduce its size. There are dozens of packers and protectors for executable files, and new ones appear all the time. Resource Tuner supports unpacking only one, but the most common packer - UPX. The rest of the packers are not supported, and you will have to unpack the file yourself before you can open the file for viewing or editing.

This situation is not considered as a program error. We are not going to fight the attempts of other authors of programs to protect their creations from hacking, nor to support the unpacking of several dozen different packers, among which there are both commercial products and homemade products.

2. Error: The file is identified as a 16-bit NE Executable. This format is not supported!

Our programs only work with 32- and 64-bit PE files. The NE format (short for "New Executable") is a 16-bit application format inherited from older versions of Windows 3.xx. With the advent of Windows 95, this format is considered obsolete and not used, although it can be executed on modern platforms from Microsoft. We do not support 16-bit files, and we do not intend to support them.

3. Error: The file is not an EXE or DLL file. Generally!

Resource Tuner detects a file not by extension. If you rename the extension of the executable file, say, fix .EXE to .TXT or remove the extension altogether, Resource Tuner cannot be fooled by this: the program analyzes the file header inside the file when opening a file, but does not look at the extension at all.

Therefore, if the Resource Tuner tells you that the file is not executable, then it is so. If for some reason someone supplied a text file in the game with the extension .DLL, then the file does not cease to be a text file and does not become a dynamic library. Don't be fooled by the file extension.

Which files do not make sense to open in the resource editor

Despite the fact that Resource Tuner is designed to open and edit any 32- / 64-bit executable files, there are some types of EXE files in which resources are practically absent.

1. Files created with Visual Basic.

In such files, there is nothing in the resources section, except for the icon and version information. Lines and dialogues in programs written in visual BASIC are stored in their own closed format, and the standard resource section is not used in them.

2. Files.EXE in gigabytes or more.

Since Resource Tuner is a 32-bit program, there are natural limitations for placing an image of an opened file in virtual memory within the first gigabyte. A gigabyte or more file simply won't fit there.

3. Self-extracting archives in the form of EXE files.

In such files, there is nothing in the resources, except for the icon and version information, or it may not be. In fact, this is archived data, provided with a subroutine for unpacking.

4. Installers of other programs.

In such files, there is nothing in the resources, except for the icon and version information. They are very similar to item 3. The installer file can be thought of as a container that contains another .EXE file in compressed form and a subroutine to extract it. In addition, programs for creating installers use different algorithms to store archived data inside themselves.

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Resource Tuner works on all Windows versions
from 2000 and XP to 8 and 10.

Minimum system requirements:
Intel Pentium® or AMD K5 166 MHz processor
16 MB RAM

Understand the process. EXE files do not support OS X, so you need special software to make them work. To do this, install the free Wine utility, in which you can work with Windows files. Remember that not all EXE files can be opened with this utility, and some programs will work better than others. You don't need a Windows installation disc to install Wine.

Download and install Xcode from the Mac App Store. This is a free developer's tool needed to compile code. You will not be using this tool, but it is required to work with other utilities that open EXE files.

• Launch Xcode and open its menu. Select "Settings" - "Downloads". Click Install (next to Command Line Tools).