Have a prog which contains three versions in one. ie
standard, plus and pro editions
there is a 48 byte licence data file (loaded on start up) which contains serial no and version details

I'm trying to figure out licence file to end up with pro version but
Windasm98 plus other progs crash when it loads exe file

Language says written in pascal and compiled with borland delphi
borland debugger says not 32 bit

Can anyone help with advise as i'm new to hacking on the PC

Hi tiggerthedude,

To begin, you read this page; you will find surely your answer:
why windasm plus other programs crash (http://www.woodmann.net/fravia/rce-faq.htm)

good luck,
ZaiRoN

Actually, Z, the question is in there, but it looks like the answer has been removed. Woodmann, do you know anything about that?

Funny what you find when you search for 'W32Dasm + WDasm + crash"

http://www.woodmann.net/forum/showthread.php?threadid=3779&highlight=w32dasm+wdasm+crash

I don't know if this addresses your problem though because you said loading it with other programs causes it to crash as well. What other programs and what are the exact error messages?

Good point about the missing answer though

Kayaker

Option 1: Download IDA, there is a freeware version that I think is still available from their site. Dissasm with IDA is a little more involved than windasm, but once you get used to it, it is a very powerful tool and usually immune to anti-dsasm tricks.

Option 2: attack the program with a debugger. save a copy of the license file and replace its contents with some easily recognizible text. then run the proggie and look at the error message.
activate the debugger and find the bogus license text in memory, put a bpm, rerun the program, catch the code that reads and evaluates the license file contents, provided it is loaded to the same area in memory. Or place a break point in createfileA and catch the program opening the license file etc, etc, etc.

If all I am saying sounds like greek to you, read some tuts about license file cracking, and also the cracker's notes, available somewhere in this site.