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MARKEXE.DOC
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1994-02-12
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Protect! EXE/COM v.5.0
MarkEXE v.2.0
(C) 1993,1994 Jeremy Lilley
All Rights Reserved
MarkEXE is a simple utility that imbeds a copyright (or
other message) at the beginning of an EXE file. It has 2
parameters:
MarkEXE [ProgName[.EXE]] [Message.Msg]
To put the message in MyProg.Msg at the beginning of
MyProg.EXE, you could do the following:
MarkEXE MyProg MyProg.Msg
MarkEXE v.2.0 was designed for use with Protect!, but it
can be used with other EXE files (but occasionally it won't work
correctly with non-Protected files). The message file can be up
to 4k in length, and it is placed as close as it can safely be
placed to the beginning of the EXE. It will usually not increase
the size of the EXE if there is unused header room, but it will
expand the EXE if needed. NOTE: Protect! will not detect a
change in this copyright message because it is in the header and
not encrypted.
Before I say too much more, let me explain what this
imbedded copyright message is. MarkEXE will place the contents
of the message file toward the beginning of the EXE file in a
way that it is visible but doesn't affect the operation of the
EXE file. This copyright message is not displayed, but you can
see it from hex editors, file viewers, and even the TYPE
command. For example, after MyProg.EXE has a copyright message
imbedded on it:
C:\>TYPE MyProg.EXE
MyProg (C) 1994 John Doe Enterprises
The message is also visible from hex editors, file
viewers, etc. There is nothing monumental about this utility,
but it can add a nice touch to an EXE and it usually doesn't
increase the size of the EXE.
MarkEXE doesn't make a backup file, but it usually
doesn't cause incompatibilities. Use of MarkEXE constitutes to
agreeing with the Protect! EXE/COM v.5.0 license agreement.
MarkEXE *must* be distributed with the rest of the Protect!
v.5.0 files. Your registration of Protect! gets you a registered
copy of MarkEXE. You must be a registered user of MarkEXE to
distribute files Marked with it. If MarkEXE works, it will just
add another frill to your EXE files, and if it doesn't or you
can't use it, it's not the end of everything!
Page 2
The first 32 bytes of the EXE file are needed to tell
the operating system how much memory it needs to allocate, the
starting stack, entry point, and other important loading data,
so the copyright message can't be put there. MarkEXE will
usually be able to put the message right after the first 32
bytes, but not if you have unresolved relocation pointers (only
if you didn't run Protect! on the file). You may want to put the
ANSI clear screen sequence (something like ESC[2J) right before
the beginning of the message. If the user has ANSI, it lets him
just see your message, and if he doesn't, the escape sequence
just adds a few more "garbage" characters to the beginning.
(there are already 32 garbage characters,so why not add 4 more?)
MarkEXE appends an EOF character to the end of your message so
that no more is displayed after the message. None of this should
affect the operation of your program.
For those who remember, I wrote MarkEXE v.1.0 as a
freeware utility almost two months before Protect! v.1.0 was
completed. The original version served as an exercise for me to
learn the EXE header and EXE file structure. At first it was a
struggle to make a security envelope and to modify EXE files
successfully, but now I guess it's just a matter of adding more
and more security and speed. I'd like to create a Windows (R)
version of Protect!, but until I understand the Windows EXE API
a little better, it'll be a while.
Jeremy Lilley
Re: Protect! EXE/COM
2711 Oakview Circle
Medford, OR 97504