---------------------------------
| General Tutorial about Patchers |  by da Cracker/CBE
 ---------------------------------


Introduction:
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
If you read all my four tutorials (the first doesn't help, I think :( ), you
should know how to crack:
- Basic protections (Hex Workshop)
- A bit harder basic protections (WinRoute Lite)
- Intermediate Protections (Visual Page)

With this knowledge, you should be able to crack about ... 40% of the programs!
Well, now, I'm going to make deaper approach to patchers.
I hope that you'll enjoy the tutorial! If you have any
comment, suggestions, .... please e-mail me at dc_cbe@hotmail.com


 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄIndexÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
 |                         |
 |1) C++ Patchers          |
 |2) Turbo Pascal Patchers |
 |3) Assembler Patchers    |
 |4) Windows Patchers      |
 |5) Final Notes           |
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1) C++ Patchers
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

In our days, many programmers use C++ to do their programs... Why? Because
it's a very portable version (ie. Without changing the code, it can work in
Unix, Linux, DOS, Mac, Windows, ...) So if we can do a program in C++, why not
a patcher? Yes, we can, because in C++, there are two functions to open files
as output:

A) ofstream myfile(file.exe, ios::binary);
B) fopen("file.exe", "r+")

The A method needs the file fstream.h to be included (#include <fstream.h>)
The B method needs the file stdio.h to be included (#include <stdio.h>)

But in this tutorial, for C++, we are going to use the method B, because it
also has seek methods (to find the right spot in the exe file)

Ok, now comes the source code commented:

------------------------------------cut here----------------------------------
#include <stdio.h> // File required to make fopen work!

long filesize(FILE *stream) // A function that get the size of the program (to check)
{
   long curpos, length;
   curpos = ftell(stream);
   fseek(stream, 0L, SEEK_END);
   length = ftell(stream);
   fseek(stream, curpos, SEEK_SET);
   return length;
}
main() { // Program start

int   counter;
FILE *filename;
unsigned char readbyte;

long int offset[2] = {
	35345, 35346 };

unsigned char data[4] = {
        116, 144, 17, 144 }; // The first number is the original data from the first offset, the 2nd
                             // number is the modified data; the 3rd data is the original data from
                             // the second offset, the 4th one is the modified data, etc...

printf(" ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ\n"); // \n is a line break
printf("Ûß                                   ßÛ\n");
printf("Û           Visual Page v1.0          Û\n"); // Name of the program
printf("Û   REMOVES EXPIRATION DATE + NAG     Û\n"); // What does it do?
printf("Û                                     Û\n");
printf("Û      E-mail: dc_cbe@hotmail.com     Û\n"); // Guess what?
printf("Û     Website: http://www.cbe98.org   Û\n");
printf("Û         IRC: #cbe98 on Efnet        Û\n"); // Come and chat with us!
printf("ÛÜ                                   ÜÛ\n");
printf(" ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß\n\n");
printf("þ OPENING FILE : "); // Self explanatory ;)
if ((filename = fopen("VPAGE.EXE", "r+")) == NULL) { // Replace VPAGE.EXE with the exe file of the program
      printf("SUCCESS!\nþ CHECKING SIZE : ");
 if (filesize(filename) == 1266204) { // Replace 1266204 with the exact size of the program (type "dir" in dos)
      printf("SUCCESS!\nþ CRACKING FILE : ");
	   for (counter=1;counter<3;counter++) {
	      fseek(filename,offset[counter-1],SEEK_SET);
	      fscanf(filename,"%c",&readbyte);
	  if (readbyte == data[(counter*2)-2]) {
	  fseek(filename,offset[counter-1],SEEK_SET);
	  fprintf(filename,"%c",data[(counter*2)-1]);
	  } else
          {printf("ERROR!\nþ FILE ALREADY PATCHED OR DIFFERENT!\n"); fclose(filename); return 1; }
	  }
       printf("SUCCESS!\nþ PATCH SUCCESSFULL!\n");
   } else printf("ERROR!\nþ FILESIZE MISMATCH!\n");
       fclose(filename);
} else printf("ERROR!\nþ CAN'T OPEN FILE!\n");
return 0;
}
--------------------------------cut here--------------------------------------


2) Turbo Pascal Patchers
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Turbo Pascal is another language used by programmers... Anyway, here's the
source code for a patcher:

------------------------------------cut here----------------------------------
Const Offset : Array [1..2] Of LongInt = (
	35345, 35346 );

Const Data : Array [1..4] Of Byte = (
	116, 144, 17, 144 );

Var Filename: File;
  Counter : Word;
  Readbyte : Byte;
Begin
  Write (' ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Ûß                                   ßÛ'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Û           Visual Page v1.0          Û'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Û   REMOVES EXPIRATION DATE + NAG     Û'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Û                                     Û'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Û      E-mail: dc_cbe@hotmail.com     Û'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Û     Website: http://www.cbe98.org   Û'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('Û         IRC: #cbe98 on Efnet        Û'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write ('ÛÜ                                   ÜÛ'+ #13+ #10+);
  Write (' ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß'+ #13+ #10+ #13+ #10);
  Write ('þ OPENING FILE : ');
  Assign (Filename, 'VPAGE.EXE');
  {$I-} Reset (Filename, 1); {$I+}
  If IOResult = 0 Then Begin
    Write ('SUCCESS!'+ #13+ #10+ 'þ CHECKING SIZE : ');
    If FileSize (Filename) = 1266204 Then Begin
      Write ('OK!'+ #13+ #10+ 'þ CRACKING FILE : ');
      For Counter:= 1 To 2 Do Begin
       	Seek (Filename, Offset [Counter] );
        BlockRead (Filename, Readbyte, 1);
        If Readbyte = Data [Counter* 2- 1] Then Begin
          Seek (Filename, Offset [Counter] );
          BlockWrite (Filename, Data [Counter* 2], 1);
        End Else Begin
          WriteLn ('ERROR!'+ #13+ #10+ 'þ FILE ALREADY PATCHED OR DIFFERENT!'); Close(Filename); Halt;
        End;
      End;
      Close (Filename);
      WriteLn ('OK!'+ #13+ #10+ 'þ PATCH SUCCESSFULL!');
    End Else WriteLn ('ERROR!'+ #13+ #10+ 'þ WRONG VERSION OF FILE!');
  End Else WriteLn ('ERROR!'+ #13+ #10+ 'þ CAN''T OPEN FILE!');
End.
-------------------------------------cut here---------------------------------

3) Assembler Patchers
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Assembler is a quite hard programming language, because it's a low level one
(right before machine level code)... Well, here's the Assembler source code
for a patcher

-------------------------------------cut here---------------------------------
code            segment byte public
		assume	cs:code, ds:code

		org	100h
start:
                mov     dx,offset logo          ; Shows your logo
                call    write			; write the message

                call    open_file               ; Guess what ?
		mov	filehandle,ax           ; Put the filehandle in "filehandle"

                mov     dx,offset fsize
                call    write			; write the message

                call    check_size		; Check the current filesize

	        mov     di,offset data		; Point di to data table
                mov     si,offset ofs		; Point si to offset table
		mov	cx,2			; Loop ???? times
                mov     dx,offset crackfile
                call    write			; write the message

crackit:
		push	cx			; Save cx
                call    seek_file 		; Seek in the file
                call    read_file		; Read one byte and compare
                call    seek_file		; Seek again (back)
                call    write_file		; Write the byte

                add     si,4			; Add 4 to si 2*sizeof(word)
                add     di,2			; Add 2 to di 2*sizeof(byte)
		pop	cx			; Bring cx back
		loop	crackit			; Loop Crackit

                mov     dx,offset cracksucc
                jmp     short goback

already_patched:
                mov     dx,offset alreadycrk
                jmp     short goback

size_mismatch:
                mov     dx,offset sizemismtch
                jmp     short goback

error:
                mov     dx,offset erroropen
goback:
                call    write			; write the message

                call     close_file		; Close the file

                mov     ah,4Ch                  ; Jump back to the operating system
                int     21h


Write           proc    near
      		push	ax
                mov     ah,9
                int     21h                     ; Display String
    		pop	ax
                retn
Write           endp

open_file       proc    near
                mov     ah,3Dh
                mov     al,2                    ; open file function 3Dh
                mov     dx,offset filenaam
                int     21h
                jb      error
                retn
open_file       endp

close_file      proc near
                mov     ah,3Eh                  ; close file function 3Eh
                mov     bx,filehandle
                int     21h
                retn
close_file      endp

check_size      proc near
                mov     bx,ax
                mov     ax,4202h
                xor     cx,cx                   ; Check the filelength
                xor     dx,dx
                int     21h
                jb      error
                cmp     ax, lowsize             ; (Lowbyte)
                jne     size_mismatch
                cmp     dx, highsize            ; (Highbyte)
                jne     size_mismatch
                retn
check_size      endp

read_file       proc near
                mov     ah,3fh
                mov     bx,filehandle           ; read file function 3Fh
                mov     cx,1
                mov     dx,offset readbyte
                int     21h
		mov	ah,readbyte
                cmp     [di],ah                 ; Compare patched bytes
                jne     already_patched
		jb	error
		retn
read_file       endp

write_file      proc near
                mov     ah,40h
                mov     bx,filehandle
                mov     cx,1                    ; write file function 40h
                mov     dx,di
		inc	dx
                int     21h
		jb 	error
		retn
write_file      endp

seek_file       proc    near
                mov     ah,42h
                mov     al,0
                mov     bx,filehandle           ; move file ptr function 42h
                mov     dx,[si]
		mov	cx,[si+2]
                int     21h
		jnc 	here
                jmp	error
here:
                retn
seek_file       endp


filenaam        db      'VPAGE.EXE', 0
filehandle	dw	0
lowsize         dw      21020
highsize        dw      19
readbyte        db      0

logo            db      ' ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Ûß                                   ßÛ', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Û           Visual Page v1.0          Û', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Û   REMOVES EXPIRATION DATE + NAG     Û', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Û                                     Û', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Û      E-mail: dc_cbe@hotmail.com     Û', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Û     Website: http://www.cbe98.org   Û', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'Û         IRC: #cbe98 on Efnet        Û', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'ÛÜ                                   ÜÛ', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      ' ßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßßß', 0Dh, 0Ah
                db      'þ OPENING FILE : ','$'
fsize           db      'SUCCESS!',0Dh,0Ah,'þ CHECKING FILESIZE : $'
crackfile       db      'SUCCESS!',0Dh,0Ah,'þ CRACKING FILE : $'
cracksucc       db      'SUCCESS!',0Dh,0Ah,'þ PATCH SUCCESSFULL!',0Dh,0Ah,'$'
alreadycrk      db      'ERROR!',0Dh,0Ah,'þ FILE ALREADY PATCHED OR DIFFERENT!',0Dh,0Ah,'$'
sizemismtch     db      'ERROR!',0Dh,0Ah,'þ WRONG VERSION OF FILE!',0Dh,0Ah,'$'
erroropen       db      'ERROR!',0Dh,0Ah,'þ CAN', 027h,'T OPEN FILE!',0Dh,0Ah,'$'

ofs             dw	35345 , 0 , 35346 , 0

data            db	116, 144 , 17, 144

code		ends

		end	start
-------------------------------------cut here---------------------------------

4) Windows Patchers
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

Many of you guys probably know how to program in a visual language (ie. Visual
Basic, Delphi, Borland C++ Builder, ...) or even in a non visual language
(Visual C++, they call it visual, hahaha). Well, with these programming
languages, you can do patchers. From these languages, I only know Visual Basic,
so I'm going to tell you how to do a visual basic patcher (even though the
users need the Visual Basic runtimes to make it work... But almost everyone has
them):

A) Start Visual Basic
B) Choose Create a new exe
C) Do your own design
D) Do a button called "Patch it!", or whatever
E) Double-click on this button (shows the source code)
F) Type "Open file.exe For Binary Access Write As #1"
That's the function who opens a file in binary mode for editing! After, you
have to tell the location that needs to be patched, the data, etc... At the
end, to close the file, type "Close #1".


5) Final Notes
   ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ

If you didn't understand ANYTHING in this tutorial, just use a patcher... It's
MUCH easier. For CBE memberz, you can get a patcher in the directory patchers/
from the memberz ftp area... For the others: search the net ;)

I hope that you enjoyed reading this tutorial as much as I did writing it!
Good luck!

btw, my next cracking tutorial is going to be about ummm, dunno yet... =)

-da Cracker/CBE
dc_cbe@hotmail.com
http://www.cbe98.org
#cbe98 on Efnet
Come and chat with us on IRC!