Copy running exe from RAM?

Question

1.00/5 (3 votes)

See more:

C#

Hello,

Is is possible to copy running exe file from RAM and then save it to hard drive and reuse its functionalities?

Posted 11-Sep-15 0:11am

Zhivko Kabaivanov

Add a Solution

3 solutions

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Dave Kreskowiak · Answer 1 · 2015-09-11T04:15:00

Possible? Probably not.

This is just speculation from my understanding of how the Windows Loader works. You'd have to reconstruct an entirely new .EXE using the code and data you find in memory. An executable is loaded in various segments throughout memory and not all at once either. You will find that an .EXE can be partially loaded into memory without loading the entire thing to start it. The data you're looking at won't be complete so there's really not enough information in memory to rebuild the .EXE accurately.

OriginalGriff · Answer 2 · 2015-09-11T00:47:00

I'm just guessing that you want to bypass security systems on app startup, and this is a way to avoid them - certainly I can't think of any other reason for trying to save a "running exe" to disk and restore it.

And I'm glad to say that it won't work.
An application is not just the memory, the values in that memory are subject to context, and additional information. For example, the Program Counter is not stored in memory while the app is running, it is located in a special register inside the core. And window handle values will not be the same from one run to the next: so the "memory dump" would not refer to the right controls.

Forget it: buy a legit version and stop trying to cheat the developers company.

CPallini · Answer 3 · 2015-09-11T00:50:00

Solution 2

I would copy the executable file instead.
If you are really interested at accessing running process memeory, then have a look at the Debugging Functions[^].

Posted 11-Sep-15 0:50am

CPallini

Copy running exe from RAM?

3 solutions

Solution 3

Solution 1

Solution 2

Add your solution here

Preview 0