Wh00t!
Thanks, aldiboronti, that did it.
I know; fair play to those publishers who can see through SecuROM’s (and the like) bullshit.
re: Fallout 3. I couldn’t play it straight from install because SecuROM decided that I had some sort of virtual dvd software like Alcohol 120% (their example) installed.
Umm… Nope. Don’t have it. Never have. And currently no plans to ever install it.
Checked there website and apparently others have had the same issue because there was a replacement executable to download.
Yep. Suck shit through a straw and die, SecuROM. Straw optional.
Thank you!
I’ve done what I can to delete SecuRom. It doesn’t show up on the regedit window and I think I’ve gotten ride of its registry but neither drive will read my warhammer disk. I’m thinking that somwhow secuRom is still in here somewhere but I do not know what to do about it since I don’t know where to look or what exactly to look for. If anyone can give me some advice I’d appreciate it. The device manager says both drives are working properly.
If the software has an icon on your desktop, can’t you just right click on properties, go to Find Target, and just delete everything that is there?
SecuRom does not show up on your desktop. It is incredibly invasive and hidden and was specifically made to be hard to uninstall. Thats why people hate it so much.
Is there a reliable way of telling what (revolting) flavor of DRM that is used on a game, before you try to install it? Or am I on my own scouring message boards?
Agreed. Whether or not piracy is right, wrong, or a problem at all, the point is that DRM doesn’t work like it should. Pirates will find a way to crack it, and honest users get annoying, at best, restrictions on the product they actually paid for. At worst, the product can actually wreck havoc on their computers. (And on a side note–the Sony DRM shit actually helped hackers cheat in WoW. Nice going there, Sony.)
The companies that use DRM are pissing off their customers, and then complaining that sales are down. Anyone else see a logical disconnect here?
There aren’t two sides to this argument.
If I buy a game, I expect to get a game. If the publisher want to put some anti-piracy measures on it, fine. But when those anti-piracy measures are created in such a way that they can potentially cripple my computer and they’re installed secretively and in such a fashion that they’re difficult to remove even after removing the game product from my system…
It’s just criminal. I am very hopeful that in the next decade this kind of behavior on the part of the game companies is formally outlawed. At the very least some kind of disclaimer should be placed, big and bright, on every box : “This game includes copy protection software that may cripple your computer.”
Electronic Arts has no right to install software on my computer without informing me. Period. Electronic Arts has no right to potentially cripple my computer in the interests of delaying illegal downloads of their game by two days. Period.
I have to agree with this. It’s all well and good for software companies to want to protect their IP, but this is not the way to do it. It’s like the TSA; it’s just security theater which does nothing but hinder those who play by the rules.
I can only hope there’s a random genius out there who comes up with a non-invasive, effective method that the companies immediately switch to. (Steam’s close, but not quite there yet. I should have to connect online to play a single-player game?) What I fear is that it already exists and nobody wants to use it.
Not strictly true. You can go into C:\Windows\Program Files (or wherever Oblivion is installed) and manually delete the folder for the Oblivion game*. This of course won’t truly “uninstall” the program and get rid of the associated gobbledy-gook that comes with it, but you can reclaim your lost hard drive space.
*Warning: be careful to delete only the files you intend to.
The Sims 2 was my favorite past time until they decided to fuck it up with SecuROM. I even bought the first one with the really invasive SecuROM hoping there would eventually be a workaround for it, but no such luck. I guess EA got the last laugh, since I bought something I’ll never even USE 
When I first heard about Spore, I was even more excited. That was until I found out it too had the evil SecuROM on it. No more for EA for me, and I’ve purchased and enjoyed almost every Sim game there is, starting with Sim Earth and what’s now known as Sim City Classic.
Ultimately, it will be their loss, because there’s no way I’m going to pay for something that can and most likely WILL screw up my machine and let the criminals have the game for free and without hassle
This isn’t as vitriolic as I’d like it to be, but I just don’t have the energy. Suffice it to say, it REALLY pisses me off.
Jaglavak, you can check here to see what “protection” a game uses:
So buy yourself a legal copy, DON’T OPEN IT (EULA’s are a bitch) then download a cracked copy of the game to actually install and use. You’ve paid the piper, you own a copy of the game to do whatever you wish with it, and you also have a safe piece of software that won’t cripple your shit. Win/win!
There’s at least one class action suit already about SecuROM and Spore, so maybe in the future EA will stop putting that thing on their programs. Their messageboards for The Sims are full of people saying people don’t intend to buy The Sims 3 this winter if SecuROM is on it, so maybe the potential sales loss and legal suits will make them think a bit…
I know I won’t purchase any game that has SecuRom on it again. I’ll laugh is pirates make more money from the game than the makers.
As far as i know pirates dont make any money of what they do.
Maybe he’s suggesting the makers will make negative money?
That’s what eh… some company I know of had to do. Software valued on the tens of thousands of dollars, all paid for fair and square; security crap on it wouldn’t let the IT team install it. Quick trip to the mall, get a 3 buck bootleg copy and install in as many workstations as licenses paid for.