Executable compression is any means of compressing an

executable In computer science, executable code, an executable file, or an executable program, sometimes simply referred to as an executable or binary, causes a computer "to perform indicated tasks according to encoded instruction (computer science), in ...

file and combining the compressed data with decompression code into a single executable. When this compressed executable is executed, the decompression code recreates the original code from the compressed code before executing it. In most cases this happens transparently so the compressed executable can be used in exactly the same way as the original. Executable compressors are often referred to as executable packers, runtime packers, software packers, software protectors, or even " polymorphic packers" and " obfuscating tools". A compressed executable can be considered a self-extracting archive, where a compressed executable is packaged along with the relevant decompression code in an executable file. Some compressed executables can be decompressed to reconstruct the original program file without being directly executed. Two programs that can be used to do this are CUP386 and UNP. Most compressed executables decompress the original code in memory and most require slightly more memory to run (because they need to store the decompressor code, the compressed data and the decompressed code). Moreover, some compressed executables have additional requirements, such as those that write the decompressed executable to the file system before executing it. Executable compression is not limited to binary executables, but can also be applied to scripts, such as

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language and core technology of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. Ninety-nine percent of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior. Web browsers have ...

. Because most scripting languages are designed to work on human-readable code, which has a high redundancy, compression can be very effective and as simple as replacing long names used to identify variables and functions with shorter versions and/or removing white-space.

Advantages and disadvantages

Software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...

distributors use executable compression for a variety of reasons, primarily to reduce the

secondary storage Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and Data storage, recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The cent ...

requirements of their software; as executable compressors are specifically designed to compress executable code, they often achieve better

compression ratio The compression ratio is the ratio between the maximum and minimum volume during the compression stage of the power cycle in a piston or Wankel engine. A fundamental specification for such engines, it can be measured in two different ways. Th ...

than standard

data compression In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compressi ...

facilities such as

gzip gzip is a file format and a software application used for file compression and decompression. The program was created by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler as a free software replacement for the compress program used in early Unix systems, and ...

, zip or

bzip2 bzip2 is a free and open-source file compression program that uses the Burrows–Wheeler algorithm. It only compresses single files and is not a file archiver. It relies on separate external utilities such as tar for tasks such as handli ...

. This allows software distributors to stay within the constraints of their chosen distribution media (such as

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

, DVD-ROM, or

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

), or to reduce the time and bandwidth customers require to access software distributed via the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. Executable compression is also frequently used to deter

reverse engineering Reverse engineering (also known as backwards engineering or back engineering) is a process or method through which one attempts to understand through deductive reasoning how a previously made device, process, system, or piece of software accompl ...

or to obfuscate the contents of the executable (for example, to hide the presence of

malware Malware (a portmanteau of ''malicious software'')Tahir, R. (2018)A study on malware and malware detection techniques . ''International Journal of Education and Management Engineering'', ''8''(2), 20. is any software intentionally designed to caus ...

from antivirus scanners) by proprietary methods of compression and/or added

encryption In Cryptography law, cryptography, encryption (more specifically, Code, encoding) is the process of transforming information in a way that, ideally, only authorized parties can decode. This process converts the original representation of the inf ...

. Executable compression can be used to prevent direct disassembly, mask

string literal string literal or anonymous string is a literal for a string value in the source code of a computer program. Modern programming languages commonly use a quoted sequence of characters, formally "bracketed delimiters", as in x = "foo", where , "foo ...

s and modify signatures. Although this does not eliminate the chance of reverse engineering, it can make the process more costly. A compressed executable requires less storage space in the file system, thus less time to transfer data from the file system into memory. On the other hand, it requires some time to decompress the data before execution begins. However, the speed of various storage media has not kept up with average processor speeds, so the storage is very often the bottleneck. Thus the compressed executable will load faster on most common systems. On modern desktop computers, this is rarely noticeable unless the executable is unusually big, so loading speed is not a primary reason for or against compressing an executable. On operating systems which

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

executable images on demand from the disk, compressed executables make this process less efficient. The decompressor stub allocates a block of memory to hold the decompressed data, which stays allocated as long as the executable stays loaded, whether it is used or not, competing for memory resources with other applications all along. If the operating system uses a swap file, the decompressed data has to be written to it to free up the memory instead of simply discarding unused data blocks and reloading them from the executable image if needed again. This is usually not noticeable, but it becomes a problem when an executable is loaded more than once at the same time—the operating system cannot reuse data blocks it has already loaded, the data has to be decompressed into a new memory block, and will be swapped out independently if not used. The additional storage and time requirements mean that it has to be weighed carefully whether to compress executables which are typically run more than once at the same time. Another disadvantage is that some utilities can no longer identify

run-time library Runtime, run-time, or run time may refer to: Computing * Runtime (program lifecycle phase), the period during which a computer program is executing * Runtime library, a program library designed to implement functions built into a programming lang ...

dependencies, as only the statically linked extractor stub is visible. Also, some older virus scanners simply report all compressed executables as

virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

es because the decompressor stubs share some characteristics with those. Most modern virus scanners can unpack several different executable compression layers to check the actual executable inside, but some popular anti-virus and anti-malware scanners have had troubles with false positive alarms on compressed executables. In an attempt to solve the problem of

obfuscated with the help of runtime packers the

IEEE The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE ...

Industry Connections Security Group has introduced a software taggant system. Executable compression used to be more popular when computers were limited to the storage capacity of

s, which were both slow and low capacity media, and small

hard drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...

s; it allowed the computer to store more software in the same amount of space, without the inconvenience of having to manually unpack an archive file every time the user wanted to use the software. However, executable compression has become less popular because of increased storage capacity on computers. It has its use in the

demoscene The demoscene () is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off computer programmi ...

where demos have to stay within a size limit, e.g. 64k intro. Only very sophisticated compression formats, which add to load time, keep an executable small enough to enter these competitions.

List of executable packers

CP/M and MSX-DOS executable

Known executable compressors for CP/M-80 / MSX-DOS .COM files: * PMexe (since 1990, written by Yoshihiko Mino, PMARC.COM+PMEXE.CPM, signature "-pms-") * PopCom! (since 1992, written by Yoshihiko Mino, POPCOM.COM, signature "-pc1-")

MS-DOS executable

Known executable compressors for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

-compatible executable files ( .COM or .EXE): * Realia Spacemaker (since 1982, written by Robert B. K. Dewar, SM.COM, signature "MEMORY$") *

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...

EXEPACK (since 1985, written by Reuben Borman, EXEPACK.EXE, LINK.EXE /E EPACK signature "RB") * LZEXE (since 1989, written by Fabrice Bellard, LZEXE.EXE) * PKWare PKLite (since 1990, written by

Phil Katz Phillip Walter Katz (November 3, 1962 – April 14, 2000) was a computer programmer best known as the co-creator of the ZIP file format for data compression, and the author of PKZIP, a program for creating zip files that ran under DOS. ...

, PKLITE.EXE) * DIET (since 1991, written by Teddy Matsumoto, DIET.EXE) * TINYPROG (TINYPROG.EXE) * RJS Software RJCRUSH (since 1994, written by Roland Skinner, RJCRUSH.EXE) * XPA (since 1995, written by JauMing Tseng, XPA.EXE) * Ibsen Software aPACK (since 1997, written by Jørgen Ibsen, APACK.EXE) * UPX (since 1998, written by Markus F. X. J. Oberhumer and László Molnár) * 32LiTE (since 1998, written by Oleg Prokhorov, 32LITE.EXE) * Knowledge Dynamics LZW Compressor * WWpack (since 1994, written by Piotr Warezak and Rafal Wierzbicki, WWPACK.EXE) * 624 (only for .COM files smaller than 25 KB, uses LZW) * AINEXE * AvPack * ComPAck * HASP Envelope * LGLZ * PMWLITE * ProPack * UCEXE * WDOSX * XE * XPack

OS/2 executable

Known executable compressors under

OS/2 OS/2 is a Proprietary software, proprietary computer operating system for x86 and PowerPC based personal computers. It was created and initially developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft, under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci, ...

: * NeLite * LxLite

New Executable

Known executable compressors for

New Executable The New Executable (NE or NewEXE) is a 16-bit executable file format, a successor to the DOS MZ executable format. It was used in Windows 1.0–3.x, Windows 9x, multitasking MS-DOS 4.0, OS/2 1.x, and the OS/2 subset of Windows NT up to versio ...

s: * PackWin * PKWare PKLite (from version 2.01) * WinLite

Portable Executable

Known executable compressors for

Portable Executable The Portable Executable (PE) format is a file format for executables, object file, object code, Dynamic-link library, dynamic-link-libraries (DLLs), and binary files used on 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows, Windows operating systems, as well ...

s: ''Note: Clients in purple are no longer in development.''

ELF files

Known executable compressors for

ELF An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic peoples, Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in Norse mythology, North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda'' ...

files: * gzexe (uses a

shell script A shell script is a computer program designed to be run by a Unix shell, a command-line interpreter. The various dialects of shell scripts are considered to be command languages. Typical operations performed by shell scripts include file manipu ...

stub and

, works on most Unix-like systems) * HASP Envelope * UPX * 624 (for Linux/386)

CLI assembly files

Known executable compressors for CLI assembly files: * .NETZ * NsPack * Mpress * HASP Envelope * dotBundle * Exepack.NET * DotProtect: Commercial protector/packer for .net and mono. Features on-line verifications and "industry standard encryption".

Mac OS Classic applications

Executable compressors for Mac OS Classic applications: * Application VISE * StuffIt InstallerMaker

Mach-O (Apple Mac OS X) files

Known executable compressors for Mach-O (Apple Mac OS X) files: * HASP Envelope * UPX * VMProtect

Commodore 64 and VIC-20

Known executable compressors for executables on the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

and

VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit entry level home computer that was sold by Commodore International, Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commod ...

: * PuCrunch * Exomizer * ByteBoozer

Amiga

Known executable compressors for executables on the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

series: * powerpacker * Titanics cruncher * imploder * TNM cruncher * Shrinkler * PackFire

Java

Known executable compressors for

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

: JAR files: * HASP Envelope * pack200 * ProGuard WAR files: * HASP Envelope

JavaScript

There are two types of compression that can be applied to

scripts: * Reduce the redundancy in the script (by removing comments, white space and shorten variable and functions names). This does not alter the behavior of the script. * Compress the original script and create a new script that contains decompression code and compressed data. This is similar to binary executable compression.

Self-decompressing compressors

These compress the original script and output a new script that has a decompressor and compressed data. * JsSfx * Packify

Redundancy reducing compressors

These remove white space, remove comments, and shorten variable and function names but do not alter the behavior of the script. * Packer * YUI compressor * Shrinksafe * JSMin

References

{{reflist, refs= {{cite web , title=PMarc help manual , editor-first=Wolverine , editor-last=Logan , author-first1=Pierre , author-last1=Gielen , author-first2=Johnathan , author-last2=Taylor , date=1997 , orig-year=1993 , url=http://oldcomputers-ddns.org/public/pub/rechner/zilog/z280/source_from_tilmann_reh/cpu280-files/pmarc_4_dos/pmmanual.txt , access-date=2019-02-22 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://archive.today/20190422123539/http://oldcomputers-ddns.org/public/pub/rechner/zilog/z280/source_from_tilmann_reh/cpu280-files/pmarc_4_dos/pmmanual.txt , archive-date=22 April 2019 , quote= ��PMEXE.CPM ��is a module ��in combination with PMARC ��used to make executable compressed COM files (just like LZEXE or PKLITE ��type: PMARC .COM=PMEXE2.CPM ptionsThe archive-name must be .COM ��not .PMA. The output file will have the extension .CPM. It's an MSX-DOS COM file ��rename file ��to run it �� {{cite book , title=Cambridge University Press et al v. Patton et al, Filing 124, Supplemental Initial Disclosures by Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Inc., Sage Publications, Inc. - Cambridge University Press, Oxfort University Press, Inc., and Sage Publications, Inc. v. Mark P. Becker, Georgia State University President, et al, Civil Action No. 1:08-CV-1425-ODE , publisher=United States District Court For The Northern District Of Georgia, Atlanta Division , chapter=Expert Report of Robert B. K. Dewar In Response To The Report Of Kenneth D. Crews , id=Exhibit A , type=Court document , page=18 , url=https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/georgia/gandce/1:2008cv01425/150651/124/1.html , access-date=2019-04-23 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501180115/https://docs.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/georgia/gandce/1:2008cv01425/150651/124/1.html , archive-date=2018-05-01 , quote= ��SPACEMAKER and TERMULATOR, commodity software for IBM PC ( PC DOS file compression utility and VT-100 emulator), being marketed by Realia, Inc. R.B.K. Dewar (1982–1983), 8088 assembly language, 8,000 lines ��}{{cite journal , title=If you use DOS, you need this program. , type=advertisement , date=January 1983 , author=Realia, Inc. , journal=

PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Mag ...

, publisher= Ziff-Davis Publishing , volume=2 , number=9 , page=417 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&pg=RA3-PA417 , access-date=2019-04-22 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://archive.today/20190422174428/https://books.google.de/books?id=vy3cBZkjbZgC&pg=RA3-PA417&redir_esc=y%23v=onepage&q&f=false , archive-date=2019-04-22 {{cite web , title=DOS 3.1 ASMB (Another Silly Microsoft Bug) , date=1984-03-13 , author-first=Robert Berriedale Keith , author-last=Dewar , author-link=Robert Berriedale Keith Dewar , [email protected] , url=https://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/qzkom/ibmpc-8605-000511.html , access-date=2019-04-23 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501183936/https://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/qzkom/ibmpc-8605-000511.html , archive-date=2018-05-01 , quote= ��The /E option of the linker should generate an EXE file which is logically equivalent to the uncompressed EXE file. The current version ��results in AX being clobbered. AX on entry to an EXE file has a definite meaning (it indicates drive validity for the parameters), thus it should be passed through to the uncompressed image. Given this one very obvious violation of the interface rules, there may be others, I have not bothered to investigate further ��I did write the Realia SpaceMaker program which does a similar sort of thing to the EXEPACK option (but needless to say does not have this particular ��} {{cite web , title=Realia SpaceMaker , author-first=Michal , author-last=Necasek , date=2018-04-30 , work=OS/2 Museum , url=http://www.os2museum.com/wp/realia-spacemaker/ , access-date=2019-02-22 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127131634/http://www.os2museum.com/wp/realia-spacemaker/ , archive-date=2019-01-27 {{cite web , title=An Update on Early Norton Utilities , author-first=Jeff , author-last=Parsons , date=2019-01-10 , work=PCjs , url=https://www.pcjs.org/blog/2019/01/10/ , access-date=2019-02-22 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190129213010/https://www.pcjs.org/blog/2019/01/10/ , archive-date=2019-01-29 {{cite web , title=Yep, Norton Did It , date=2019-01-12 , author-first=Michal , author-last=Necasek , work=OS/2 Museum , url=http://www.os2museum.com/wp/yep-norton-did-it/ , access-date=2019-04-22 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190422073356/http://www.os2museum.com/wp/yep-norton-did-it/ , archive-date=2019-04-22 {{cite web , title=EXEPACK and the A20-Gate , date=2018-03-23 , author-first=Michal , author-last=Necasek , work=OS/2 Museum , url=http://www.os2museum.com/wp/exepack-and-the-a20-gate/ , access-date=2019-04-20 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113170124/http://www.os2museum.com/wp/exepack-and-the-a20-gate/ , archive-date=2018-11-13 {{cite newsgroup , title=Re: masm .com (PSP) related trouble , author-first=Matthias R. , author-last=Paul , date=2002-10-07 , orig-year=2000 , newsgroup=alt.lang.asm , url=https://groups.google.com/d/msg/alt.lang.asm/PNOd9zfYow0/vXbab16j4XwJ , access-date=2017-09-03 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://archive.today/20170903231100/https://groups.google.com/forum/%23!msg/alt.lang.asm/PNOd9zfYow0/vXbab16j4XwJ , archive-date=2017-09-03 {{cite web , title=Re: d-devANNOUNCE: CuteMouse 2.0 alpha 1 , author-first=Matthias R. , author-last=Paul , work=freedos-dev , date=2002-04-11 , url=https://marc.info/?l=freedos-dev&m=101853130816682&w=2 , access-date=2020-02-21 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221130238/https://marc.info/?l=freedos-dev&m=101853130816682&w=2 , archive-date=2020-02-21 , quote= ��> no one packer may pack combos like .SYS+.COM or .SYS+.EXE. ��There are packers for .COM or .EXE and others for .SYS, but I too have not seen a packer which supports both in one. ��possibility to combine a program/TSR and device driver in .EXE files ��and a program/TSR.COM and device driver into a .COM program ��It might also be possible to add another self-made stub to the file, after it has already been compressed ��all the compressed

DR-DOS DR-DOS is a disk operating system for IBM PC compatibles, originally developed by Gary A. Kildall's Digital Research, Inc. and derived from Concurrent PC DOS 6.0, which was an advanced successor of CP/M-86. Upon its introduction in 198 ...

device drivers use a similar technique to let the normal PKLITE .COM decompressor work with .SYS files (meanwhile PKLITE supports a similar feature for .SYS files itself). ��} (NB. PKLITE 1.50 (1995) and higher gained the capability to compress device drivers, but not combined COM+SYS drivers.) {{cite web , title=Undocumented Microsoft LINK option: /E , author-first1=Ya'akov , author-last1=Miles , author-first2=Ed , author-last2=Nather , date=1986-05-17 , orig-year=1986-02-05, 1986-02-09 , work=INFO-IBMPC mailing list , url=https://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/qzkom/ibmpc-8605-000511.html , access-date=2019-04-26 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180501183936/https://people.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/qzkom/ibmpc-8605-000511.html , archive-date=2018-05-01 , quote= iles:There exists an undocumented ��switch to

LINK.EXE �� which will cause an automatic compaction during binding. This process will eliminate storage for uninitialized arrays from the .EXE file produced by the linker ��To use this feature, specify the /E option to the command line �� ather:The option does not exist in MS Link versions 3.00 and 3.01 iles:By comparing the sizes of the (packed) files generated from LINK ver 3.02 and the /E option with the size of the .EXE file manually packed with ��EXEPACK, I have come to the conclusion that LINK ver 3.02 option /E generates EXACTLY the same size file as manually running EXEPACK on a regular .EXE file output by LINK ��} {{cite web , title=LZEXE home page , author-first=Fabrice , author-last=Bellard , author-link=Fabrice Bellard , date=2003-02-09 , website=bellard.org , url=https://bellard.org/lzexe.html , access-date=2019-03-18 , url-status=live , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324224537/https://bellard.org/lzexe.html , archive-date=2019-03-24 {{cite book , title=Data Compression: The Complete Reference , chapter=Chapter 3.22: EXE Compressors , author-first=David , author-last=Salomon , date=2000 , orig-year=1998 , edition=2 , publisher=

Springer-Verlag Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in ...

, isbn=978-3-540-78086-1 , doi=10.1007/978-3-642-86092-8 , page=212 , s2cid=35889155 , chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c9OoCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA212 , access-date=2019-04-26 , archive-date=2022-04-07 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407170859/https://books.google.com/books?id=c9OoCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA212 , url-status=live {{Cite web , url=http://www.dotbundle.com/download.html , title=DotBundle - Download an evaluation version , access-date=6 May 2013 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130821065931/http://dotbundle.com/download.html , archive-date=21 August 2013 , url-status=dead {{Cite web, url=http://www.enigmaprotector.com/en/downloads/changelog.html, title=Software Protection, Software Licensing, Software Virtualization, access-date=2018-03-12 , archive-date=2018-03-13 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180313092125/http://www.enigmaprotector.com/en/downloads/changelog.html, url-status=live {{Cite web, url=http://webtoolmaster.com/news.xml, title=WebtoolMaster Software News, access-date=2012-01-15 , archive-date=2020-07-20 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720034115/http://webtoolmaster.com/news.xml, url-status=live {{cite web , url=http://www.xtreeme.prv.pl/ , title=Archived copy , website=www.xtreeme.prv.pl , access-date=15 January 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040525022811/http://www.xtreeme.prv.pl/ , archive-date=25 May 2004 , url-status=dead {{Cite web, url=https://www.obsidium.de/show/download, title=Download | Obsidium Software Protection System, access-date=2017-04-18 , archive-date=2019-02-07 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207020116/https://www.obsidium.de/show/download, url-status=live DotProtect http://site.yvansoftware.be/dotpacker1_0 {{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110122015225/http://site.yvansoftware.be/dotpacker1_0 , date=22 January 2011 {{cite magazine , title=A Chat With Steve Kiene , author-last1=Kiene , author-first1=Steve , author-last2=Mark , author-first2=Dave , date=1999 , volume=15 , issue=4 , magazine=

MacTech ''MacTech'' is a monthly magazine for consultants, IT Pros, system administrators, software developers, and other technical users of the Apple Macintosh line of computers. The magazine was called "MacTech" for its first two issues, starting in ...

, url=http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.15/15.04/Apr99FactoryFloor/index.html , access-date=2017-12-10 , archive-date=2017-12-10 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210232048/http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.15/15.04/Apr99FactoryFloor/index.html , url-status=live {{Cite web, url=https://code.google.com/archive/p/mz-explode/, title=Google Code Archive - Long-term storage for Google Code Project Hosting, access-date=2022-04-07 , archive-date=2021-12-03 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211203183801/https://code.google.com/archive/p/mz-explode/, url-status=live {{Cite web, url=http://sed.free.fr/624/, title = 624 {{cite web , url=http://www.cs.tut.fi/~albert/Dev/pucrunch/ , title=Lossless Data Compression Program: Hybrid LZ77 RLE , website=www.cs.tut.fi , access-date=15 January 2022 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730211711/http://www.cs.tut.fi/~albert/Dev/pucrunch/ , archive-date=30 July 2014 , url-status=dead {{Cite web, url=https://csdb.dk/release/?id=33093, title=ByteBoozer (PC), access-date=2022-04-07 , archive-date=2022-08-15 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815093908/https://csdb.dk/release/?id=33093, url-status=live {{Cite web, url=http://www.amiga-stuff.com/crunchers-download.html, title = Crunchers to download web.comhem.se/~u13114991/exo/ {{Cite web, url=https://github.com/askeksa/Shrinkler, title=Askeksa/Shrinkler, website=

GitHub GitHub () is a Proprietary software, proprietary developer platform that allows developers to create, store, manage, and share their code. It uses Git to provide distributed version control and GitHub itself provides access control, bug trackin ...

, date=25 September 2021, access-date=2022-04-07 , archive-date=2022-04-07 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407170939/https://github.com/askeksa/Shrinkler, url-status=live {{Cite web, url=http://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54840, title=PackFire v1.2k by Neural, access-date=2022-04-07 , archive-date=2024-06-30 , archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240630000410/https://www.pouet.net/prod.php?which=54840, url-status=live EXE packers

Advantages and disadvantages

List of executable packers

CP/M and MSX-DOS executable

MS-DOS executable

OS/2 executable

New Executable

Portable Executable

ELF files

CLI assembly files

Mac OS Classic applications

Mach-O (Apple Mac OS X) files

Commodore 64 and VIC-20

Amiga

Java

JavaScript

Self-decompressing compressors

Redundancy reducing compressors

See also

References