SNRemove

When a dll or exe file is signed with strong name keys, .NET doesn't allow you to modify it. If you try to use a signed assembly, after you have made some changes with Hex editor or any other tool, you'll get the following exception: An unhandled exception of type 'System.IO.FileLoadException' occurred in system.windows.forms.dll Additional information: Strong name validation failed for assembly 'MyAssembly.Test'.

If you try to run a signed executable file after you have made some changes in it, you'll get the following error message: String name validation failed for assembly... The file may have been tampered with or it was partially signed but not fully signed with the correct private key.

SNRemove will remove the reference to strong name signature from .NET exe and dll files. After removing the strong name reference, you can make any change you want in dll/exe file, without getting any exception or error message. However, be aware that assemblies with no strong name reference cannot be added into the Global Assembly Cache (GAC).

Using SNRemove is very simple - just extract the snremove.exe to any folder you like, and run it from Command Prompt with the desired command-line parameters.

SNRemove [options] Options: -r Remove the reference to Strong Name signature from the specified file. -d Display the Strong Name signature of the specified file.

The parameter may also contain wildcards.

Examples: SNRemove -r c:myfilesdll1.dll SNRemove -d "c:my files*.dll"