jameen
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Expansion
Why do exe files have signature "MZ" ? What is the expansion for "MZ" ?
Please explain more on what you mean.. what is this signature?
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As Massey said, they're the initials of the guy's name who worked on that matter at Microstuff (some centuries ago).
The main purpose of those letters "MZ" that appear as the two first bytes of every .EXE file, is to differentiate the .EXE from a .COM file.
Althoug both of them are binary files, and whose contents are intended to be executed directly by the machine (in fact, both of them contain binary instructions understood by the processor), they receive different treatment. A real .EXE file is slightly different from a .COM
If you RENAME a .COM file as if it were a .EXE, operating system ignores that fact, 'cause it doesn't regard of extension itself (.COM / .EXE). When file is loaded into memory, op.sys. checks the first two bytes, if they are "MZ", file is treated as a .EXE one; if not, file is treated as .COM
The main purpose of those letters "MZ" that appear as the two first bytes of every .EXE file, is to differentiate the .EXE from a .COM file.
Althoug both of them are binary files, and whose contents are intended to be executed directly by the machine (in fact, both of them contain binary instructions understood by the processor), they receive different treatment. A real .EXE file is slightly different from a .COM
If you RENAME a .COM file as if it were a .EXE, operating system ignores that fact, 'cause it doesn't regard of extension itself (.COM / .EXE). When file is loaded into memory, op.sys. checks the first two bytes, if they are "MZ", file is treated as a .EXE one; if not, file is treated as .COM