All About Resource Hacker !!

Resource Hacker

Defination : Resource HackerTM is a freeware utility to view, modify, rename, add, delete and extract resources in 32bit Windows executables and resource files (*.res). It incorporates an internal resource script compiler and decompiler and works on Win95, Win98, WinME, WinNT, Win2000 and WinXP operating systems.

Download : click here to download.No need to install it,its just a rar file, extract it and run the aplication.

How To Use : Whenever you open Resource Hacker you will see this :




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Now to edit any file click FILE on the upper left corner and open that particular file.Whenever you open any file to edit you will see the following directories in left-side pane :


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Here are some examples of directories :

• AVI
• Cursor
• Bitmap
• Icon
• Menu
• Dialog
• String Table
• Accelerators
• Version Info

and many more.....

The above directories may vary from file to file.So here is a brief description about the directries mentioned above :

AVI : contains all the AVI files.
Cursor : contains all the Cursor files.
Bitmap :contains all the Bitmap images.
Icon : contains all the Icon files.
Menu : contains all the various Menus.
Dialog : contains all the various Dialog boxes.
String Table : contains all the various Strings.
Accelerators : contains all the Shortcut keys.
Version Info : contains the version information of the file.

Viewing the resources : To change any resource you first have to locate it and then you have to replace it with your own resource. (Here resource means images,bitmap images,AVI's etc).So first we will learn how to locate and view resource and then we will learn about changing/replacing resources.

Suppose we want to locate any image in any file, so what we will do.First we will open that particular file in which we have to edit the image.If it is an image type so it is understood that it must be located in BITMAP directory.Here I take an example of SYSDM.CPL file located in SYSTEM32 folder.

After opening it we have to expand the BITMAP directory ,see the image below


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In the red cirles above you can see that I have expanded BITMAP and I have located the images stored in SYSDM.CPL file.

Similarly we can locate or view any type of resource like this.

Now comes the main and informative part.Any resource file contains 3 parts :

• Resource Type
• Resource Name
• Resource Language

Resource Type tells us about the type of resource ,that resource is AVI or BITMAP or ICON etc..

Resource Name tells us about the resource name.In any file no two resources of same type can have same name.

Resource Language tells us in which language the particular resource is written.

As told before ,to edit any resource we first have to locate it and then we have to replace it.So now lets learn how to EDIT any resource.

Editing or Changing the Resource :

Suppose we have to change the BITMAP image of SYSDM.CPL file shown above, we have to follow the following steps :

1)First select the resource : for example I have selected BITMAP>>1>>1033
2)Now to replace it right click on the selected resource and then select REPLACE RESOURCE. See this screenshot for help


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3)After clicking replace resource a new window will pop up asking for the file to replace.See this screenshot for help


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Now click on "Open file with new bitmap" >>Select your new BITMAP image and then click on REPLACE.

Remember I told you about Resource type, Resource Name and Resource Language.

So after replacing any resource it will ask for :

Resource Type : Name it according to your type e.g if it is AVI name it AVI,if it is BITMAP name it BITMAP and so on .....

Resource Name : Give the name of the resource replaced as it was earlier.

Resource Language : And for language just write 1033. 1033 is for ENGLISH

After that click on FILE and you can save your resource by clicking SAVE AS.

To edit Menus/Strings/Dialogs just select the resource , edit the script and make the changes and click on COMPILE SCRIPT. See this screenshot for help


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This was all about on how to use Resource Hacker

In the future posts I will tell you that how you can use Resource Hacker to edit Windows Themes,Making Yahoo Messenger Skins,Editing Windows Looks and animation and many more......So keep visiting :)


If you need any help regarding this tutorial feel free to drop me an EMAIL at gagan.exe@gmail.com or comment here.

Posted in: Resource Hacker