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Introduction
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| If you ever accidentally open an exe program file in a text editor such as Notepad you will be confronted with a mass of unintelligible garbage on your screen. Worse still if you write the exe file back to disk, the program file would almost certainly be corrupted and would not work. That's because text editors are designed only to work with text files which are files with extensions such as .txt, .bat, .prg and .html. To view and safely change binary files such as .exe, .com and .dll files you need a hex editor, sometimes called a binary editor. Most average PC users have no need for such a program but techies and gamers find them indispensable. |
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Discussion
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There are some excellent free hex editors available that range from the small and simple editors to advanced products that are comparable to any commercial product. Hex editors are a software category where personal needs and preferences are so important that it is meaningless to pick a "best product". That of course doesn't stop me stating what I like.
For my needs, Hxd is a clear winner. Its first virtue is that it doesn't need installing. Second, it has a great interface. Third, it handles huge files without slowing down. Then add in unlimited undo, great searching and search/replace capabilities, binary file comparison, full support for ANSI, DOS/IBM-ASCII and EBCDIC character plus a dozen other features and you can see why I like it. But it doesn't stop there. Hxd also works as a RAW disk editor and a full read/write RAM editor. This power also makes it a dangerous tool in the hands of beginners. It may also give your security software apoplexy, but users skilled enough to use this product will understand this not a concern.
Hexplorer has some unique features which make it a powerful editor for images. If you want to open images in a hex editor you should try this out. However, I was unable to increase the font size which made reading difficult.
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Related Products and Links
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| There are a few more hex editors like frhed, hex editor neo, etc. which I would review shortly. Stay tuned for updates. |
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Seeing forward to see Hex Editor Neo Free reviewed.
tiny mirkes works great
In Hexplorer, rather than changing the font size, you must change the font. Under [View][Options] select "Fixed Roman Large".
A powerful-yet-small hex editor that I've been enjoying lately is HexEdit from http://www.catch22.net.
I have had it for years. Never was able to check it out
Looking at this hexplorer was a sure turn away. I don't know why the default font is microscopic.
Thanks to you friend. For the first time now, I am able to see the face of hexplorer, using large Roman Font.
Thank you very much.
XVI has some serious shortcomings:
- no undo!!
- difficult to copy from (can't drag a selection, no ctrl+c)
- can't paste hex into the Insert dialog, have to type it
- can't paste hex into the Search dialog, have to type it
- when you maximize it, it doesn't go right to the right edge of the screen, so when you try to quickly close it using the X, you often accidentally close the maximized window that is BEHIND it.
I've been using it for a long time, but no more! It's time to move on!
The only good thing XVI has that others don't (that I use, anyway) is save-able bookmarks. The scripting sounds neat, but I've never used it.
thanks for this job.
I actually try HexEdit (Mitec Hexa Editor).
Seems to be ok about spyware but :
- the exe is packed with upx (so need to be unpack before launched to be sure it's really ok).
- it's not portable because it writes in the registry (HKCU\Soft\MiTeC)
=> so no install but need to be uninstalled.
On the usage :
- all I need !
- no drag 'n drop but the mouse wheel is supported !
Hope it helps
If you're running on Linux or another Unix, consider
bvi. bvi (Binary Visual Editor) is a simple, but usable
hex file editor for those of us comfortable with vi and vim.
http://bvi.sourceforge.net/
Or if yo like bvi try the much more featureful bviplus
http://bviplus.sourceforge.net
On major advantage bviplus has over bvi is opening large file quickly (even working with files over the 2gb (32bit) limit). Also it just does a lot more without feeling much more complex.
To all XVI32 suggesters. This program is terribly outdated (last version from August 2003), and can't handle huge files. The Website states 60 MB to be huge, which apparently really is huge since it takes over 10 seconds to load... other programs need 1 second for 5 GB!
Editing is a pain since it uses a grid instead of a real editor. You can't even select properly.
When you scroll it shows a "scrolling..." message until you stop scrolling, that's incredibly annoying. When scrolling using the keyboard only one pane updates, but the other one lags behind.
No, this really isn't a nice hex editor. It has some good features, but the program isn't well implemented.
Surely the best Hex Editor in the world is HHD Software Hex Editor Commercial version , but the free version is powerfull too, which I think if it is not the best free hex editor, at least is one of the bests :
Free Hex Editor Neo
http://www.hhdsoftware.com/Products/home/hex-editor-free.html
and then :
Tiny Hexer
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Miscellaneous/tiny-hexer.shtml
HexEdit
http://www.hexedit.com/ ( download the free version and templates )
XVI32 whick is commented before :
http://www.chmaas.handshake.de/delphi/freeware/xvi32/xvi32.htm
HxD , exists on this page
http://mh-nexus.de/programs.htm
Catch 22 HexEdit
http://catch22.net/software/hexedit.asp
Hexplorer , exists on this page
https://sourceforge.net/projects/hexplorer/
Hadi
I have go to agree that XVI32 is better than all those listed here.
Hi guys,
Brilliant lists - really useful.
You're right about this category being very subjective. My contribution is Frhed... http://www.kibria.de/frhed.html
It's got most of the features you mentioned above and is Gnu wotsit.
Cheers, R.
http://www.x-ways.net/winhex/index-m.html
WinHex might be worth checking out, and it appears to be free for personal use.
Hi Peter,
Thanks for your suggestion. Please notice however, that the software is not a freeware and requires a license (EUR 44.90) even for personal use.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek
--Category Editor
@commenter above: XVI32 doesn't handle large files well, since it loads them entirely into memory. This makes it *slow*.
How about the hex editor at http://www.hextoolbox.com
It supports:
# Search files as large as 16 terabytes!
# Multi-Threaded searching. Search in all files open.
# Fast searching at over 1 gigabyte per minute* !
# Easy to use integrated base converter.
# Search in hex,ascii or even a mix. C and Java programmers can use \n \r \t and other characters in a search.
# Perform search and replace.
# PKZip(R) and WinZip(R) compatbile checksums.
# S-Record export.
# Measure and Cut locations from one file to another.
# Perform counts of hits found. Example: Search for how many times the word CD-ROM appears in a file.
# EBCDIC to ASCII translation. Even create you own custom translations!
# View data as ASCII text file or HEX.
# Context color highlighting in text view.
# Programmers box to display HEX data as numeric values. Performs INTEL or MOTOROLA formats.
# Store locations for later quick reference (Bookmarks).
# Explorer integration.
# Drag and drop file support.
# Multithreaded searching. Open unlimited files at one time and search them all concurrently.
# Encrypt and Decrypt any part of file.
# Unlimited undo !
Thank you for your feedback. However, I will not be able to include your suggestion as it is not a freeware.
Warm Regards,
Abhishek
--Category Editor
Looks nice... but it's not free!!!
HEXEdit.exe it the correct name however the best is published by MiTeC located at www.mitec.cz. This program is up to date, wheel mouse compatible and all the extras.
The Hex Editor at the top of my list is XVI32 by Christian Maas. Handles large files, has comprehensive search and replace options, even has a built-in scripting language that is easy to use.
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