What tool can I use to extract resources from a VB6 application?

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+6 Q:

What tool can I use to extract resources from a VB6 application?

One of my clients has an application that was written for them using VB6. They no longer have the original resources that were given to the developer. The developer has disappeared off the face of the earth. My challenge is to extract the resources from the executable and rebuild the application, adding new material to it.

I've tried using Resource Hacker, but that only finds the icon. The exe is over 26MB, I can't see that the only resource embedded is the icon.

Edit: I do not to retrieve the source code from this. Decompiling is not the objective. I merely want the embedded media resources so that I can utilise them in the application which I am rewriting from scratch. Please do not confuse the word "resources" with "source code".

Is there a way to extract just the resources?

+1 A:

A vanilla VB6 exe has 'Icon', 'Icon Group' & 'Version Info' resources that should be visible in resource hacker, as should any resources added via the VB6 resource tool or VS's RC.EXE.

Its a fat EXE so perhaps the author packed it? There are utilities that will try to determince what packer (if any) was used.

Alex K. 2010-04-30 10:39:59

Downloaded it, and my anti-virus denied me access to it. Not sure if it's a false positive, but I'm not going to take any chances. Are there any others that you can recommend?

RichieACC 2010-05-05 09:24:50

How about http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/File-Analyzer-Download-30.html Shows me "Processed with(1): Packed with UPX v0.93 or v1.00 [PE]" for a upx packed exe.

Alex K. 2010-05-05 11:19:14

I've posted the output from File Analyzer on pastebin http://pastebin.com/Qbhiu7T3 I'm not sure what the information means. Are you able to shed some light on it?

RichieACC 2010-05-10 12:55:13

Doesn't look like its packed then.This decompiler (http://www.vb-decompiler.org/download.htm) claims to be able to recover FRX files (the proprietary resource format images are stored in when set in the ide) open the exe then plugins->FRXView (Worked-ish for me)

Alex K. 2010-05-10 13:44:47

http://strategoxt.org/Transform/VisualBasicDecompilers

Take a look at the tools from the above link and see if any of them are able to extract enough for you.

hth

Sijin 2010-04-30 10:40:11

These are all decompilers, not resource extractors.

RichieACC 2010-05-05 09:51:15

I think you meant to get the source code back from exe file (compiled with VB6). It's almost impossible if the program is compiled in native code, but it's easier if the program is compiled in P-Code. You can try VB Decompiler and find a reverse-engineer to manually convert some of the readable Assembly code to VB6 code. But, i suggest you just find the source code of the program from the programmer, it's cheaper than decompiling.

Zai 2010-04-30 21:05:41

+1. Other questions about VB6 decompilers: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/678544/free-vb-6-0-decompiler http://stackoverflow.com/questions/414068/is-there-a-vb6-decompiler http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1406015/decompiler-for-visual-basic-6-program

MarkJ 2010-05-01 13:09:50

No. I am not interested in the source code. I want the resources that have been embedded within the exe. Any videos, images or audio.

RichieACC 2010-05-05 07:51:51

Perhaps they are the only windows resources the application has.
Visual Studio has a resource editor(I've checked VS2008.net, and it has one)
You might want to try a different resource editor http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/d10resourceeditor.htm

mikek3332002 2010-05-07 08:34:28

This application is not able to list any more than what resource hacker could. Thank you for suggesting it though.

RichieACC 2010-05-10 12:14:02

Thanks for the feedback

mikek3332002 2010-05-10 14:16:29

ansaurus

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What tool can I use to extract resources from a VB6 application?

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