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I am in a process of learning things in reverse order for fun, and I have decided to dissect Windows 10, bit-by-bit, and learn what makes a great OS function. And I also suppose that my question will be geared in other ways as well.

My question is, how do I look at something like Windows bootmgr source code properly? I have opened the file - which the file type is redundantly called "File" - and even though it is in Assembly language, it is completely impossible to read. My guess is that whoever wrote the File did something to encrypt the File so that it is unreadable, and thus unchangeable/unable to be edited.

Let me be perfectly clear: my purpose is not to change the bootmgr File to change windows, but rather to get a better understanding of how an OS works via reading, and also through trial and error.

Any help that anyone can give would be greatly appreciated. I love to learn about these things, and I just have been completely unable to find the answer I am looking for on any site thus far, including this one...IDK if I need to refine my searches or what.

Thank in advanced for your help. :)

Ps. I shall include a picture of what I am seeing in Notepad++ so you can get a better understanding of what I need here .

Orion Wilson
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I think you may be confusing assembly language with machine code. Machine code is the language that your computer's processor understands. Assembly language is a series of symbols that are used to represent machine code. Compiled executables are stored in machine code.

That said, the standard way to view the machine code for a compiled binary is through the use of a program called a hex editor. A hex editor will display the binary code in a numerical format, rather than attempting to interpret the binary as text, like your editor is trying to do in the screenshot you supplied. Frhed is a popular hex editor, but there are many good ones to choose from.

Dominic Dos Santos
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  • That's actually very helpful. That being said though, how does one interpret that into something understandable? Is that a possibility? Thanks for your help. :) – Orion Wilson Mar 10 '17 at 01:35