Extract VB.NET code from exe file - 【StackMirror】|vb.net|decompiling

I made a program using VB and I lost the source code but I have the exe file. How can I extract the code from the exe file?

2009-06-16 08:46
by NoName

Assuming your exe is a .NET assembly (you tagged the question as VB.NET), you can reverse engineer your exe using tools such as Reflector.

2009-06-16 08:48
by Jakob Christensen

<-- this. It absolutely is possible - I've had to do it - and once again red gate are awesome. You can even convert it into C#.. - annakata 2009-06-16 08:50

Good to know in the future :- - gernberg 2009-06-16 08:51

@annakata - Lutz Roeder (reflector author) is awesome, Red Gate are generous to keep a free version. Credit where credit is due - stevehipwell 2009-06-16 08:52

Yeah- you might want to look at using FileGenerator for this approach: http://www.codeplex.com/FileGenReflecto - RichardOD 2009-06-16 08:52

Redgate took over Reflector from Lutz Roeder. So he is the actual hero :- - Jakob Christensen 2009-06-16 08:53

Now hopefully you didn't obfuscate the assembly.. - OregonGhost 2009-06-16 08:54

You know I did wonder about that (since my app says Lutz Roeder all over it) - I just assumed he worked at red gate or something. Ah well, they're both awesome - annakata 2009-06-16 08:59

If it's VB.NET you can use the RedGate Reflector tool and the FileDisassemler plugin to generate the source code. That is if the exe was not obfuscated

2009-06-16 08:50
by Rad

Since you tagged your question vb.net you might be able to retrieve quite some portions of your code using a .NET disassembler. For example try Lutz Roeder's .Net Reflector or MS ildasm which comes with the .NET compiler.

2009-06-16 08:52
by merkuro

Use Reflector (assuming .NET) to dissassemble the exe back into code. You will need to create your own class structure, but you can recover the code as any of the supported CLR languages.

2009-06-16 08:49
by stevehipwell

Have you tried Salamander, or one of the many other .net decompilers?

2009-06-16 08:51
by Binary Worrier

Trey VB Decompiler and see if that works.

2009-06-16 08:51
by Steven