Quote
Rich Hawley - 2009-02-25 6:26 PM
Depending on how they were written, once they are compiled into executable code, reverse engineering become pretty much impossible. You really need the source code to study the structure....
that's not entirely true
the executable binary
(we are obviously talking C/C++, not stuff like VB, which is a lot easier, as it is decompilable
) consists of the machine code, which quite directly
(definition of that depends on your taste
) corresponds to the source code.
so you can transform this directly to assembler code, then read it with a disassembler, and debug with any debugger
(unless antidebug tricks are applied, then harder to do
)
the problems are that nothing is named nicely in the assembler output
but a good disassembler can do real wonders, and some patience and knowledge of the higher level languages
(C++ here
).
how do you think I got some tricks done in my roms otherwise
to the original question: old wince apps will not be very challenging if you want to learn how to patch, they usually don't have serious protection, but are perfect for learning reverse engineering itself.
my recommendation is, do not start with the debugger right away, try to understand some static disassembly first, that will greatly help with debugging too later.
and the software to use is IDA Pro both as a disassembler and as a debugger
PS: reverse engineering knowledge does not have to be evil. it all depends on the intentions it is used with
Edited by cmonex 2009-02-25 9:34 PM
