Posted by Bernie Siegrist on 2001-01-02
> Date: Sun, 31 Dec 2000 19:13:01 -0500 > From: "Frank Hale" <frankhale@xxxxxxxx.xxx> > > I've got a small 3k DOS COM file which I think is compressed. Is there > anyway to tell by looking at it in a Hex Editor? Most compressors have some human-readable signature in their decompression code. Ofcourse you have to know most of the signatures in order to "see" them. :-) Alternatively you might want to try an unpacker or something. A good place to start is http://www.suddendischarge.com. Or, if it's a one-time problem, send me the file and I'll try my best. If you're stuck to a hex editor (for whatever reason), check if the file contains any clear-text messages, or search it for code that is likely to occur, e.g. "B4 ** CD 21" (the asterisks denoting an unknown byte). Don't check the first 256..512 bytes (<--decompression code).
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