[annmaria]

Hi,

I have lost my vb6.0 source code. Could anyone tell if there is a way to convert exe to source code.

Appreciate any help.

Thanks,
Ann

[Zhalix]

I think it's possible to slightly decompile a .exe, but it still wouldn't be code you could just look at and modify. It's a complex thing and I'm pretty sure that right now it's currently impossible.

[Martyr2]

You will not be able to to get the exact source code from an exe. However you can decompile a program which will give you an approximation on how the exe was created (this is behind the technology of reverse engineering a program). As you can imagine you don't want such a tool to exist (that can get the exact source) because any program you write could then have its source code stolen from you.

But as for your original source, it is gone I am afraid. Which is why you should always back up your source code for programs.

[sno]

I think there are programs out there which let you fins the machine code for executable.. but that means a lot of digging through the code to understand it....

[born2c0de]

It's very very difficult to get your source code back but you can retrieve the Form Design for every form accurately as VB stores the property values for every control of every form (Refer to my VB Disassembling Tutorials) in the executable file.

Many freeware "decompilers" successfully recover the form design.

As for recovering the code, if you know what functions were used in each procedure, then if you're well versed with the VB Runtime Signatures, you can manually recover your code. This can take forever if your program is large.

I'm willing to help in my spare time. Attach the executable file (+screenshots) out here and I'll see what I can do.