Computer Files » FAQ

Opening a .dll file to view what is written inside

Computer Expert — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 12:29:59 +0000

A Dll file does not work by itself. It is a library file that contains functions or instructions for other programs to use and work. Actual content in a Dll file is not in the code we can understand because all is in machine code.

To read these machine code functions we need to decompile every dll file ,so that machine code can be converted into the High Level languages like C,C++,VB etc. Decompiling (Reverse compiling) is not easy , as we first have to find out that in Which High Level Language any specific .dll file was written.

Reverse engineering for source code of a software is a legal area. We may also get encoded piece of high level language after all the hard work. Encoding is the way of securing the explicit source code from reverse engineers.

Opening a .Dll file directly with any text editor or any other viewer is not the right option. Some software will reject a file with a warning of “Unsupported File Type” and some will show you the ugly machine code.

Did you know ?

Dynamic-Link Library files use three different file extensions – .DLL , .OCX and . DRV

As result of complexities said above , we have many utility tools to deal with .Dll Files. From Microsoft , DUPS (DLL Universal Problem Solver) tool is used to audit, compare, document, and display DLL information. The following list describes the utilities that make up the DUPS tool:

Dlister.exe
This utility enumerates all the DLLs on the computer and logs the information to a text file or to a database file.
Dcomp.exe
This utility compares the DLLs that are listed in two text files and produces a third text file that contains the differences.
Dtxt2DB.exe
This utility loads the text files that are created by using the Dlister.exe utility and the Dcomp.exe utility into the dllHell database.
DlgDtxt2DB.exe
This utility provides a graphical user interface (GUI) version of the Dtxt2DB.exe utility

For more information about DUPS tool , you can visit the link provided below this article.

There are few more third party (Other than Microsoft) utilities tool for .Dll files. All have different use or purpose as a dll file utility tool. Let see some of them -

DLL Export Viewer v1.45 - This utility displays the list of all exported functions and their virtual memory addresses for the specified DLL files. You can easily copy the memory address of the desired function, paste it into your debugger, and set a breakpoint for this memory address. When this function is called, the debugger will stop in the beginning of this function

InjectedDLL v1.00 – InjectedDLL is a small utility that displays the list of DLLs that are automatically injected on every process in your system.

ResourcesExtract v1.17 – ResourcesExtract is a small utility that scans dll/ocx/exe files and extract all resources (bitmaps, icons, cursors, AVI movies, HTML files, and more…) stored in them into the folder that you specify. You can use ResourcesExtract in user interface mode, or alternatively, you can run ResourcesExtract in command-line mode without displaying any user interface.

IconsExtract v1.47 – Extract icons and cursors from EXE, DLL, CPL, and OCX files and save them as ICO or CUR files.

Resource Tuner – Resource Tuner lets you open Windows executable files such as .EXE, .DLL, Device Drivers (.SYS), OCX Controls, and several others. Once inside, you can change the look of the icons, cursors, dialogs, buttons, sounds, animations and other elements of the Windows user interface by editing and replacing resources in the executable files

ExeInfo v1.01 – The ExeInfo utility shows general information about executable files (*.exe), dynamic-link libraries (*.dll), ocx files, and drivers files.

Most of the tools mentioned above are Free to download and use. But i will like to conclude with a word of caution that do not download such a utility tools from forums or communities sites. Almost every tool is free so download it directly from the creator’s site. I hope you will find this article helpful.

Resource Box

How do I combine multiple media files?

Computer Expert — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 16:59:48 +0000

This is one of the most commonly asked questions on many video and audio forums. Many want to know how to combine video and audio footage, or combine multiple video files together.

The great thing is that the process of doing this is not that hard. You just have to have the right software and a little bit of time. I am going to go over four of the most popular software titles for combining multiple media files below.

Mediajoin

Are you looking for a solution that allows you to combine your video and audio files together quickly and easily? Mediajoin is a great piece of software that allows you to combine MP3, OGG, WAV, and WMA audio files with AVI, MPEG and WMV video files. This software is free, but unavailable for download from the developers website. If you look around on other download sites, though, you should be able to find it.

Combimovie

Are you just looking to combine a few video media files for a one-time project? Are you looking for something free? If so, then Combimovie is for you. Combimovie allows you to combine multiple mpg/mpeg videos into one big file. This is freeware, so you will not have to pay any money to do this.

Windows Movie Maker

This is a basic program that comes with Windows XP. It allows you to combine WMV files and make them into one large file. It is pretty basic and isn’t very effective in working with other file formats, but it is free with your operating system and can be of some use.

Easy Video Joiner

Easy Video Joiner is the only one of these programs you will have to pay for. It is for good reason, though. Easy video joiner has support for many different file formats the others do now offer. This is a good program if you are combining videos on a daily basis, but if you are just an occasional user, this is overkill. If you want to combine media files together, all you need is a simple piece of software nothing else.

All of the above applications make it easy for you to combine different media file types.

How to password protect files and folders in XP

Computer Expert — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:32:50 +0000

Private information, private photos, or just a present for your loved one in a word files, all these are files, that you need to protect on your computer, so that other people can not access them, or even see them.

The first problem here is that the operating system Windows XP does not have encryption software, when you install it. The best way to do the job is to get third party software that you can use to hide and encrypt your files and folders. There are many different programs that you can use, such as WinCry, a free program, or a commercial version, called Folder Guard. These programs will give you the biggest security that you can expect from a program on Windows XP.

You need to know, that there is no 100% security, and if someone really wants to get to the file, he will. But, for the normal user, you can use any of these programs.

There are ways, how you can hide your files and folders, using just Windows XP. You need to choose a folder that is connected to your account that means that it is located in the C:\documents and settings\your-name\ folder. If that is not the case, then you won't be able to use this option, and you will need to download one of the mentioned programs. But if you would like to protect a folder within the \your-name\ folder, then you navigate to the folder in Windows explorer and right click on it. Choose properties and the "Sharing" tab. Now here you can choose the "make this folder private" option. If you tick this box, this means, that the folder is only accessible to you, when you are log into your windows account. So if your son, for example, uses another account to log into Windows, then he won't be able to see the folder. But if someone uses the computer while you are logged in, then he or she will be able to see the file.

So Windows XP have only limited ways to protect your files and folders. If this is not enough for you, then download a program, and use it. It will give you a much better protection.

How to change file extensions

Computer Expert — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 09:11:33 +0000

There are cases when the filename doesn’t have the right extension as it was intentionally changed either to confuse someone or of security reasons. Whenever this happens, the file can not be accessed by the application it was created with. An example is when a Microsoft Word file extension is being changed from .doc to .exe. The Operating System will automatically send an error message when the file is being launched.

In case you are using Windows Operating System, the change of a file extension is very easy however before doing so; you have to check if the system is showing the extensions of the files. If not, then you must enable the Operating System to show extensions of the files. After this you will right click on the file, select Rename then delete the actual file extension and type the new one.

In case you are using Linux or UNIX, the command for changing file extension is as follows:
mv filename.exe filename.doc

Renaming multiple file extensions
There are cases when you need to rename the file extension of many files with the same extension. For this the only thing you have to do is to type the following command in MS-DOS under the directory in which your files are being stored:
ren *.doc *.txt
The above example will rename .doc file extensions to .txt of all the files in the current directory.

What are computer files?

Computer Expert — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 14:50:45 +0000

Computer files are generally used to store information which can be accessed and viewed by a computer program associated with the file type. You can imagine a file just like a paper with written text on it which is now considered an old style solution to store data.

Nowadays computer files are stored electronically in digital format consisting of binary digits, which are a combination of 0 and 1 representing integer values. A file can contain all data of a company’s customers or employees which is usually stored in special data base files.

Files are usually being organized in folders or directories. There can be personal files or different application or system files. Computer files have two parts: a name of the file and the extension or suffix. There can’t be two files with the same name under same directory thus the name of the file should be unique.

The size of a computer file is measured in bytes which tell how much space the actual file takes on the storage device. Computer files can be created, modified and deleted with the help of a file manager program.

Most common type of files: program files, text files, data files and directory files.