Convert exe to dll

Question

Hi Experts... I would like to know whether it is possible to convert exe to dll and dll to exe.. Thanks in advance..

Sam Hobbs · Answer

If you still need help then please provide more information. The answer probably depends on information that is not provided. For example what type of DLL. Since you ask about going both directions exe to DLL and DLL to exe I assume you do not have a specific problem. If you have a specific problem to solve then you are more likely to get a specific answer. You probably can execute a DLL as a exe using a wrapper; Microsoft has some that might work but if not then it would be relatively easy to write one. That would be the most flexible since then you could use the same DLL file for all purposes. Correspondingly if you convert exe to a DLL then you can use the DLL as an exe in that manner I describe. To convert from exe to DLL assuming this is a managed (C#) program I would start by creating a new Class Library project and then copying the code over. I would leave the exe project alone. The details of course depend on the program; if it is a Windows Forms application then you might need to do some analysis to decide how the DLL should work.

Vulpes · Answer

As you're posting this in the .NET 5.0 category (BTW it should actually be .NET 4.5) I assume you're talking about converting a .NET exe to a dll and vice versa. The answer is that you can provided you have the source code or can retrieve the IL using a disassembler such as Redgate Reflector. If you're converting a dll to an exe you need to add an entry-point i.e. a Main() method in either one of your existing classes or in a new class. Execution will then begin from this method. If you're converting an exe to a dll then you need to recompile as a library rather than an executable by changing the build option. However to do this cleanly you really need to remove the Main() method make sure any classes you want to export are marked public and check the logic to make sure there's no initialization routines in the Main() method which your classes depend upon.

Shilpa Agrawal · Answer

I am looking for a solution to a similar problem. I have a console application that accepts the username and password and then resets the password by calling another service that i have imported in my project. I now want to create a dll of this application so that whenevr user wants to change the password my dll is invoked.