Thread: How to properly (and easily) hack using ResHacker.

So I hear that many of you are going through pains attempting to modify iGuidance using ResHacker. Here is the proper way to do it.

You will need:

1) Resource Hacker 3.4.0 This is a Windows Resource Editor, which gives you access to modify dialogs, bitmaps, icons, etc. for some application files.
2) GoRC: This is a freeware resource compiler. It will turn a .RC file into a .RES file.


Summary of procedure: Export .RC from Reshacker, modify resources, compile a .RES file from the .RC, and import .RES file using Reshacker.

Let's assume you want to modify all the bitmaps for iGuidance.

Procedure:
1) Launch ResHacker, and open the executable file you want to modify.
2) In the left side, you will see a list of resources. Select the folder icon for Bitmap.
3) Select Action-> Save Bitmap Resources. This will save all the individual bitmap files, as well as .RC file. The .RC file is a pure text file that contains the mapping between the bitmap name and the resource number that it had assigned inside the exe file.
4) Modify all the bitmaps using your favorite image editor.

NOTE: Don't get discouraged, read the following which makes the import back into iGuidance real easy:

5) Because ResHacker cannot import back an .RC file, you need to compile it into a .RES file, which ResHacker can import just fine. So... first copy the GoRC.exe file into the same folder where all your bitmaps and .rc are located. Assume c:\bitmaps\, and that you have a file bitmaps.rc inside.
6) Open a cmd line (Start->Run, and type cmd). Go to the folder c:\bitmaps and then you are going to run this command:
gorc.exe /r bitmaps.rc
7) This will output a file bitmaps.res. Open ResHacker, Open the iGuidance executable application file, and select Action-> Update All Resources. Choose your .RES file, and save changes.

This works with other resource types, such as dialogs etc.

Piece of cake!

-=J