XP on modern systems

[WaxfordSqueers]

Looking into the problem of using a dll for holding exports and came across this excellent article from ARTeam, by Goppitt. Don't know if it's in our library.

Note: they don't seem to use a URL to a direct link, so use search engine at URL below and type in win32. It will lead you to the download: Win32_Assembler_Coding_for_Crackers_by_Goppit_v11

You'll need a newer version of 7z to open it and inside is a chm file with several tutes on writing assembly programs to examine PE headers, add sections, write loaders, and writing a simple dll to store exports.

http://cracking.accessroot.com/

If required, I can try to upload it.

[Kayaker]

Since Windows 10 has compatibility modes for Windows versions back to W95, I wonder if there is a way to use that in reverse to make earliers version compatible with newer versions.

Compatibility is done with 'shims', which is code used to redirect older apps to code that will work for them. Since the W10 kernel is 2.5 times the size of the W7 kernel and about 4x the size of the XP kernel, I wonder if the size difference is in part due to the required shims for compatibility? Maybe there is shim code out there that could be used as a template.

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/ ... a-p/374947

I just downloaded the Compatibility Toolkit from here, now part of the ADK

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... dk-install

Interesting in that you can make your own shim database. I'm starting to look into how to use the compatibility modes and fixes to do that.

Under user settings I can even see the compatibility fixes I made manually to several programs. In my case the fix is called DPIUnaware to fix menu and toolbar scaling on a high DPI monitor. Gimp, Inkscape, etc.

Being able to read the sdb database is important

https://www.geoffchappell.com/studies/w ... imdbdc.htm

https://tzworks.net/prototype_page.php?proto_id=33

https://blog.f-secure.com/hunting-for-a ... databases/

[WaxfordSqueers]

In my case the fix is called DPIUnaware to fix menu and toolbar scaling on a high DPI monitor. Gimp, Inkscape, etc.

So, you'll be able to see softice in a larger size, right???

Thanks for links and info. Interesting stuff.

[Kayaker]

I have to set the XP VM to 800x600 and my desktop one step above that to 1024x768 to see Softice reasonably well. Messes up my desktop a bit since a lot of things don't scale *down*, but switching display settings back and forth from the taskbar works OK.