Printable View
hi,
does anyone knows how to combine a couples of exe files to be one big exe file in a release mode compilation?
i'm writing a program that used a couples of exe files in it and i want to distribute the exe file to other people. but in order to do that, i also have to give them the others exe files to make the program works and it's quite messy. so that's why i want to combine all the exe files needed by the program into just one exe file for easier distribution. :o
thanx in advance.
You want to combine exe-files? Sure about that? I can imagine that you have several sourcefiles which are compiled to binary and then linked to one exe. But I've never heard of combining exe-files? Don't you mean you want to link binaries?
BTW, which compiler are you using?
It's quite challenging...
Thinking...
The only imageable method I can accept is : pack two EXE file as custom resource, and , unpack them to disk(or ramdisk) and run them when you need them.
...
Quite complex.
Why don't u just put it in a folder?
P.S. Sounds a lot like a virus to me, no offense.
Hi Tsarena,
It just isn't possible. An executable file is something like a jigsaw puzzle. Unless someone created another jigsaw that you can put side by side with the former and have a bigger picture, you will not make any sense of it.
The only way is for you to have access to the source code for those executables and add it to your project, then change your code to accomodate that addition. Bear in mind this is most probably not an easy task.
It would mean 1st of all a very sharp code analysis ability on your part (depending of course on the complexity of the newly added sources) so that you could understand what the developer had in mind. You would then have to remove all the main functions and move their code (or part of it) to new functions, change the code, create calls for them, change almost certainly the code on the new sources... I mean, you are better off writting it from scratch.
It is possible and I think there are tools for it. Some make viruses by attaching a virus to a game so when the game is installed, so is the virus. At least that is what I have heard.
So, I think that it is possible. Not 100% sure though because I have never needed to do something like that.
thanx for all your suggestion.it sound liked i'm doing something impossible.
i'm using microsoft visual c++ 6.0 as my compiler.
golfinguy4: don't worry,it's not a virus.BTW i have no idea how to make one either. it just a simulator program. :D
so, is it possible if i'm using nmake to link the other exe files with the program? for the other exe files, i don't have the source codes nor the .obj files because i'm not the one who wrote those files.
thnx in advance.
Viruses that act on such a manner are very small when compared with full executables and have 2 main differences:
1. They lack the code that is prefixed to all exes at link time. i.e. they are not executables in the way we know them.
2. They specifically tag that code. In other words they are designed to attack/change/corrupt the code that instructs an exe to load itself to memory and run under a given kernel.
Are you perhaps thinking of zipping them?
So however many files u have get compressed into one .zip file (which u can make into a self-extracting .exe). Then the user downloads your file and unzips everything to a folder???
Try searching for WinZip, EasyZip, or PowerArchive on Google, and it should turn up some results. Im not quite sure which of those are free though, i think EasyZip.
Thanx for the brilliant suggestions you guys gave me. Since i'm running out of time, i just used the zip method. :D
Don't gave up, you will do that once your own ver of C++.
you can build it...
Nobody think in the past that we will have Pentiume CPUs...
You will do it ... it is a great idea.
some people don't actually "ATTACH" viruses, they use a hex editor and put the virus in.
oh, but it is possible! disassemble both, and link them together or something. i believe thats how viruses are "attached".
Last time I checked a virus could attach itself to varies EXE programs thus making multiple copies of itself. You know like a biological virus, the way it got its name. The coding to attach to an exe is incorporated into the virus itself, that way in can spread. Its not really too hard you just need to know how an EXE is laid out and then after that its just simple file manipulation.
**Note** However things have changed a little from the past because now a virus writer needs to outthink the virus protection software so the attaching is not quite as bold as it use to be.
I didn't say it wasn't possible, I just said that some people use hex editors to put viruses in. That's beyond my knowledge, I'm not smart enough to do anything like that (I know some people that used the hex editor to add stuff to Wolfenstein 3D before ID software released the C sourcecode)
My comments were not exaclty pointed towards you rather the seeming misunderstanding of viruses on this post, I believe that it is more vocabulary than anything else however. Hex editors are a great thing, you can go through and add cheat codes and change the number of lives you start out with and what not. Also for attaching 'viruses' I believe the corrext term here is a trojan horse. Which is a bug embedded in a program which could spawn a virus (a program which multiplies and attaches itself to other programs) or a worm( a program which moves around however generally keeping only one copy [I choose not to get into a multiheaded one at this point]) or that simply just does something at a predetermined point.
Yes. It's a vocabulary problem. But you didn't get it right either.Quote:
Originally posted by Traveller
My comments were not exaclty pointed towards you rather the seeming misunderstanding of viruses on this post, I believe that it is more vocabulary than anything else however.[...] Also for attaching 'viruses' I believe the corrext term here is a trojan horse. Which is a bug embedded in a program which could spawn a virus (a program which multiplies and attaches itself to other programs) or a worm( a program which moves around however generally keeping only one copy [I choose not to get into a multiheaded one at this point]) or that simply just does something at a predetermined point.
A virus is a virus is a virus... there's nothing of a trojan horse in a virus. They are completely different in architecture and capabilities. A virus is a program that has the ability to copy itself and attach this copy to other programs. These other programs, when fired up, will execute the virus and thus repeat the process, ad eternum... These infected programs can indeed be labeled "trojan horses". But that's more a slang than anything else. A virus is in fact a wonderful piece of software design.
A trojan horse is a disguised program that, behind a cape of apparent benignity, hides malefic code. Very few trojans spawn viruses or copy themselves, simply because of 2 things:
1. trojans horses that copy themselves would be easily spoted by the system as they are independent units. Not like a virus that only exists within another executable.
2. Trojans horses are indeed piece of crap software. Made by lamers that don't understand their system well enough to take the plunge into lower level virus coding. They simply don't know how to.
A Worm is similar to a virus. Difference here is that it is designed to operate under networks. It does not keep only one copy as you say. In fact, a worm creates several copies of itself as it moves through the network. It does this by "entering" a computer, spawn a copy and "inserting" this new copy in the network again. The computer stays infected while the worm moves through the network to infect some more.
If you reread my post you will note that I said that you can use hex editors to attach trojan horses which can spawn viruses. I did not say that was their routine use, also ... ah nevermind.
There is a big difference between a trojan horse and a virus, virii operate by themselves, and a trojan horse is a remote-access program, requiring another individual to control it.
My mistake. I thought you meant you wanted to run 2 programs at the same time from your program. I didn't fully read your post.:rolleyes:
Combining two exe's is completely possible.. there are tools called as Packers ( Usually used to combine trojans and virus with games. utilities etic...) this program takes two or more files as input and creates a single exe file.. I do not completely know how this works but when you double click the resulting file.. Both the files are executed.. if this is what you wanted.. Post a message i will give you the link to download it...
Yes Vasanth, that's what i really need for my progams.:D
can u please give me the link to download it.
thanx in advance