Re: reading binary file

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From: Tom F (TomF_at_discussions.microsoft.com)
Date: 01/27/05 

Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:05:01 -0800

OK, I had a flaw in my code that wasn't cycling through the userid. I have
resolved that. I think I have this figured out except for one part. There is
a time/date stamp at the beginning of each message that I can't decipher.
Perhaps someone has used this method and will recognize it. The time/date is
stored in 4 characters. After several test messages I have worked out that
the first 2 represent the time and the next 2 represent the date. I sent 4
messages within the same hour and all has the same last 3 characters. I sent
one earlier the same day and it had the same 2 bottom characters.

Below is an example.

            message sent
           1/27/05 22:45:30 1/27/05 2:44:40 1/27/05 2:45:02
char1 chr(138) chr(152)
chr(174)
char2 chr(29) chr(85)
chr(85)
char3 chr(248) chr(248)
chr(248)
char4 chr(65) chr(65)
chr(65)

Does this look familiar or does anyone have any suggestions???

Thanks,
Tom

"Gerald Hernandez" wrote:

>
> "Tom F" <TomF@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:9A556BE9-0965-41D7-90BD-AF43590FE5AE@microsoft.com...
> > I am attempting to create a program that will decrypt Yahoo Messenger
> archive
> > files. When a conversation takes place the text is automatically saved
> into a
> > dat file in c:\program
> > files\yahoo\messenger\profiles\{userid}\archive\messages\{id you talked
> > to}\{date-userid}.dat. I have been told that it is encrypted using an xor
> > function on each character in the text using the userid (not the identity)
> of
> > the user.
>
> This is true, mostly.
>
> >
> > I have created a program to read the file and dump its contents into a
> text
> > box. Then I perform the xor function and dump the results into another
> text
> > box. All I get is my userid repeated over and over.
>
> Haven't researched what would happen if you put the encrypted data into a
> textbox first. You might be losing something, cause it won't really be
> recognized as "text" in this form. Couldn't say without testing it.
> Not sure how you are supposedly performing this XOR, cause if you are
> getting one of the original values, something is probably incorrect.
> Couldn't say without seeing your code.
>
> >
> > Can someone tell me if I may be losing something when reading the file.
> I'm
> > not sure if it is binary or just has a lot of special characters that are
> > unreadable. Also, is there more than one xor function?
> >
> > Any help would be appreciated.
> >
>
> You might be losing stuff, without seeing you code, we would have no idea.
> Since the files is "encrypted", although loosely, it would need to be
> treated as binary.
> Plus, there are special characters and other data tags present.
>
> Additionally, why would you be doing this? Doesn't sound like a friendly
> thing to do.
>
> Gerald
>
>
>

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