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Progam Intel C
- Thread starter SANET
- Start date
That's a bit unspecific: Intel has produced compilers for the x86 line of CPUs starting from very early days (386) until today. If you don't specify what CPU and operating system this should be for, help is unlikely.
But if your happy with the supported host platforms, even the more contemporary versions are still able to produce x386 code.
But if your happy with the supported host platforms, even the more contemporary versions are still able to produce x386 code.
Thank you for your message
I don't know much about it I got this it was written in Intel C with a 286 PC.
I have the program
So let's see what's out there for me
Bob-O-Rama
Experienced Member
When you say you have the program, do you mean the source code?
If its from the '286 era, the Intel C compiler would be their Intel iC 86/286/... 4.x compiler. I used version 4.x when it was "new" in ~1991. So 4.0 was late 1980s. You can try with any version. The date on the source code may help you pin down which version was used.
You can look for copies of the Intel iC 86 / 286 / 386 compiler software on archive.org or winworldpc.com, but of course the provenance of that stuff is iffy - so you will want to scan for viruses / malware before trusting it.
-- Bob
daver2
10k Member
Still not sure what you are asking.
Have you got a copy of the Intel 'C' compiler and are looking for 'C' code to compile on it and run.
Or, do you have some 'C' source code that is designed to be compiled with the Intel 'C' compiler and you are looking for that compiler.
Dave
Have you got a copy of the Intel 'C' compiler and are looking for 'C' code to compile on it and run.
Or, do you have some 'C' source code that is designed to be compiled with the Intel 'C' compiler and you are looking for that compiler.
Dave
I may be unclear I have a program that is secured with a hardware dongle see photo I have included the download link from my site it concerns progdev1 and it is secured, maybe someone here can help me to make this work see link SANET download.
SANET download
SANET download
Bob-O-Rama
Experienced Member
Oh, so you need help cracking the licensing on a piece of old software. If you can find out what license key technology it uses - these things were usually a 3rd party products - there may be blanket cracking tools you could try. There are also software engineering folks that will do this sort of work for hire. There are legitimate reasons for it, like trying to virtuallize old software. The other option is see if this company still exists and if they are willing to work with you to preserve their history.
Some of these early DOS hardware keys were fairly ingenious and the dongle would include snippets of code or light weight encryption keys that would dynamically decrypt critical portions of the program - so it may not just be a matter of reverse engineering to a IF ( KEY PRESENT ) THEN .., branch and just making that true all the time. The key might contain material making the binary usable.
-- Bob
Bob-O-Rama
Experienced Member
It won't ... LOL!It's not clear to me how an "Intel C" will help you get rid of an hardware dongle... Sapere aude
Mine doesn't either, but because the program is written in it.It's not clear to me how an "Intel C" will help you get rid of an hardware dongle... Sapere aude
Hoi Bob,okay the company no longer has the source code, so it's going to be difficult I think to run it, I'm not really versed in this matter, so if someone can help me with this to make the program run I would love it.
daver2
10k Member
Just because the program was written in Intel C, and the source code no longer exists, the Intel C compiler is absolutely no use to you.
How large is the executable code that requires cracking?
Have you got written authorisation from the software 'owner' to do this work or not?
Dave
How large is the executable code that requires cracking?
Have you got written authorisation from the software 'owner' to do this work or not?
Dave
company then went bust in 90's and is more than 33 years ago.
krebizfan
Veteran Member
One could disassemble the software for amusement but doing anything with the results may not be legally possible. It will take a lot of effort. If the dongle is smart with a portion of the necessary code on a ROM, patching out the calls to the dongle won't result in a program that can run.
It may well cost more hiring programmers to remove the copy protection than it costs to buy the rights to distribute the program.
It may well cost more hiring programmers to remove the copy protection than it costs to buy the rights to distribute the program.
Chuck(G)
25k Member
Ignoring the issue of dongles aside.
Compilers (I don't know if Intel C falls in this category, but it might) that employ advanced optimization techniques can be pretty difficult to unravel. Not impossible, but a knowledge of what the code is supposed to be doing can be very helpful.
That being said, there are many programs that have had their dongle code short-circuited or disabled. The same for diskette copy protection.
In particular, I recall that the rollout demo of the PS/2 line employed a hacked copy of 1-2-3, as the marketing people at IBM didn't have access to a 3.5" version.
Compilers (I don't know if Intel C falls in this category, but it might) that employ advanced optimization techniques can be pretty difficult to unravel. Not impossible, but a knowledge of what the code is supposed to be doing can be very helpful.
That being said, there are many programs that have had their dongle code short-circuited or disabled. The same for diskette copy protection.
In particular, I recall that the rollout demo of the PS/2 line employed a hacked copy of 1-2-3, as the marketing people at IBM didn't have access to a 3.5" version.
daver2
10k Member
I coded up the dongle protection on some of my previous companies software. It can get pretty evil! Or it can be relatively simple. It all depends.
The application (historical computer control of audio equipment - if I understand it correctly) looks very interesting though.
You might consider running the software in an emulator environment and seeing what happens at the dongle interface... I did this to crack the Commodore SuperPET protection.
Dave
The application (historical computer control of audio equipment - if I understand it correctly) looks very interesting though.
You might consider running the software in an emulator environment and seeing what happens at the dongle interface... I did this to crack the Commodore SuperPET protection.
Dave
we'll see, it's an old software program.
daver2
10k Member
I did ask how 'large' the program is.
This will give me some idea how complex the problem could be. The larger the program, the more effort could be required.
Just because a company went bust doesn't mean that no one owns the intellectual property. A creditor could have taken it, or it could have been bought by someone.
Dave
This will give me some idea how complex the problem could be. The larger the program, the more effort could be required.
Just because a company went bust doesn't mean that no one owns the intellectual property. A creditor could have taken it, or it could have been bought by someone.
Dave
Hoi Dave, The size of the program is 140 kb.