[TippeX]

some versions do work in vm's (very old versions though), other seems to have a detection (which seems to be able to be enabled / disabled by the publisher).. old securom had drivers (again optional by the publisher) and services which i think may be where your 'fears' are coming from but the game you have is relatively recent, and thus.. 'cleaner'.. honestly i'd just advise running it, and playing the game and not worrying about the protection, securom is only 'resident' in the process thats running it (the game), and when you exit the game, securom is also 'exited' (cant think of a better term / explaination).. and i'd just go with the activate online method, its a lot less hassle and means you don't have to dig up the disk each time to play..

if there are any problems in this i'll be happy to help, but i really think you'll have none