Hi, i managed to ignore my brain and run an exe file that ended up stealing one of my passwords. Because of that i managed to lose an account, and would like it back. First thing i want to do is find out what exactly the file does, by reading the code. I opened it in notepad and got a general idea of it, but could not read most of it, because of the strange characters. I was wondering if there was anyway to decode these or whatever so i can basically read the code behind the exe file. Feel free to insult my bad decision, as i deserve it, but please try to provide useful info while doing so. Thanks everyone.

Your odds of finding out waht an exe does by looking at it in notepad are slim and none. An exe is not a text file. ===================================== If at first you don't succeed, you're about average. M2

then how would i find out what the program does?

It would take a dissembler, a practical understanding of assembly, and, while not required, an in-depth understanding of an undergraduate Computer Science curriculum wouldn't hurt. Alternatively, you could try using a debugger instead of a dissembler to understand what it's doing. (I suggest VC++ 2008 Express, as it's one of the more graphical debuggers, but you'll need to configure its symbol server if you don't download the Win32 SDK.) The other two requirements still apply, however. EDIT: Something like Process Explorer might at least show you the running malware's handles, but it's going to want a debugger with a symbol server.

well then i better start learning assembly. thanks for the help!