Computer Crash - Website on Hold

Recently after installing a driver on my PC, Windows 7 64-bit decided it had enough. The software made my system come to a crawl, taking 5 minutes to do things that would only take a few seconds. I uninstalled it, did a system restore, ran the Windows fix tools, etc. - but in the end I was forced to reinstall Windows.

I backed-up my most recent files on a partition on my hard drive thinking they were safe during the reinstall. The Windows restore/install partition decided to delete that partition and add the space to my main partition, reformat my main partition, and installed a fresh copy of Windows.

I ended up losing everything that wasn't backed up for a couple of months. I had several new game trainers I was set to release soon, some new tutorials I was working on, and such; however, that will not be happening as they were all deleted.

To be honest I am not even sure my basic trainer template/skeleton was backed-up. The last time I did back-up my PC I ran out of DVDs so many things did not get backed-up. With all the time and effort that went into making my trainer template if I did lose it, I will not be making a new one.

Long story short - Windows crashed and many of my files were not backed-up, this site is now on hold, and only time will tell if this site simply becomes abandoned as I will most likely have to recreate all my files/programs/etc. again.

Giana's Return v1.001 Trainer +11 Cheat Options

Trainer released for the PC game Giana's Return version 1.001. The game is open source/freeware and available from the Giana's Return website.

The trainer has 11 cheats (listed below), and will work on any PC system with Windows 2000 or newer.

I compressed/packed my trainer to save on file size, and to provide very basic protection of my work. As such some virus scanners may give false positives, so just ignore the warnings, or check the file with a online virus scanner yourself.

VirusTotal reports only two false positives (both packed file warnings) from forty-three virus scanners. Here is the virus report for the trainer from VirusTotal.com.

Wazzal v1.2 Trainer +7 Cheat Options

Trainer released for the PC game Wazzal version 1.2. The game is open source/freeware and available from the Wazzal website, and Sourceforge.

The trainer has 7 cheats (listed below), and will work on any PC system with Windows 2000 or newer.

I compressed/packed my trainer to save on file size, and to provide very basic protection of my work. As such some virus scanners may give false positives, so just ignore the warnings, or check the file with a online virus scanner yourself.

VirusTotal reports only one false positive from forty-three virus scanners. Here is the virus report for the trainer from VirusTotal.com.

EXE File Packers: a Exercise in Antivirus Annoyance

Through the years most antivirus programs overall have gotten better at not giving false positives, especially in regards to game trainers.

Although it seems if a program is compressed/packed with a EXE packer most AV (AntiVirus) programs will still give false positives - many of which are insane warnings.

The advantages of using a EXE file packer however are obvious - smaller file sizes, encrypted data, and even basic protection from would be thieves. As such many trainer authors will not release a trainer without using a EXE packer.

Spelunky v1.1 Trainer +24 Cheat Options

Trainer released for the PC game Spelunky version 1.1. The game is open source/freeware and available from the Spelunky website, FilePlanet.com, and Games.On.Net

The trainer has 24 cheats (listed below), and will work on any PC system with Windows 2000 or newer.

I compressed/packed my trainer to save on file size, and to provide very basic protection of my work. As such some virus scanners may give false positives, so just ignore the warnings, or check the file with a online virus scanner yourself.

VirusTotal reports only one false positive from forty-three virus scanners. Here is the virus report for the trainer from VirusTotal.com.

Protecting Your Game Trainer - Tutorial

There are many tricks for other people to find out what bytes your trainer changes. The most common way is to use a trainer spy program, see my article on trainer spy programs, or a debugger such as OllyDbg.

Some people will take the information from your trainer, where and what bytes are being changed, and write a trainer claiming they found the cheats themselves. Another option now is to sell trainers, as it is becoming popular, so they can even profit from your work.

If you have a problem with others stealing your work then read on.

Creating and Extracting Icons Tutorial

This tutorial explains the common icon settings and provides links to free online tools and freeware/open source programs for editing, extracting, and converting icons.

Icon images are shown in the dialog/window title bar(s) of trainers, in the Windows taskbar, and other places in Windows. Often it is the first thing people will see of any program, as it is clicked to load the program.

The icon has a level of importance, and can influence the opinion people have of a software program - especially if it has a horrible looking icon.

Trainers often use two basic kinds of icons - the icon of the creators avatar/logo (to keep things consistent), or the icon of the game itself; however, of course anything can be used.