Playing "Starforce" protected games. Guide please!

[icet]

Hello,


Since I have read about "Starforce" creating problems with one's system and damaging the optical drives I stopped buying games with this protection. But before knowing about "Starforce" I had bought a game "Superpower 2" as well as one of my friends sent me "Colin Mcrae's Dirt" which I didn't play yet but saw a friend on mine playing on Xbox and it was great. More another game which I dearly wish to play is being released by June called "Commander in Chief", the English version of "Mission President", a geopolitical game. The problem is sometimes irresistable titles come with "Starforce" but we can not play them for the safety of our PCs. Now what I wish to ask is is there some way with which we could play "Starforce" protected games as well as keep our systems and optical drives safe from "Starforce" related problems? I have googled a lot but could not find any solution. If any great soul here knows if that is possible and how, I would appreciate a lot if they could inform. With my best regards and I hope there might be some way.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Damages to optical drives is a myth that has never been proven. (Of course, it hasn't as it would require an expensive testing lab to prove, without doubt, that faults in the hardware are caused exclusively by the Starforce protection. The company knows this, that's why they came up with their disgusting campaign...)

As for playing without Starforce, use a no-CD/DVD patch: it has (the major parts of) the copy protection removed from the software so no sneaky drivers will be installed and no weird hardware/software behavior will be caused. (A mini/maxi/full image or a backup copy won't help as then you will still have the copy protection installed, even if also fooled.)

[icet]

Originally Posted by Joe Forster/STA

As for playing without Starforce, use a no-CD/DVD patch: it has (the major parts of) the copy protection removed from the software so no sneaky drivers will be installed and no weird hardware/software behavior will be caused. (A mini/maxi/full image or a backup copy won't help as then you will still have the copy protection installed, even if also fooled.)

Thanks Forster for the guidance. But even if I use no CD/DVD patch, the protection gets installed along with the game into my PC so how such a small no CD/DVD patch remove major parts of this copy protection from my PC since the removal of "Starforce" is also a difficult job; we have to download the removal tool from Starforce Company or do some difficult job to manually remove "Starforce" so I can't understand how no CD/DVD patch removes it instantly while it just gets installed along with the game? I know what you say it true but I am unable to understand it? Can you inform me a little bit more so I could play the games confidently? I hope you would not mind still asking from you while you know better but just for some peace of mind it would be too good of you if you let me know. My best regards again thanks for the guidance.

[TippeX]

sf game installs drivers, thats why you usually have to reboot...
crack removes the protection from the exe, but drivers are still on the system
which is why you need the removal tool from the starforce company (the removal tool does NOT remove protection from starforce games, its just uninstalls their drivers..)

hardly rocket science... and covered many many times on this forum too...

[icet]

Originally Posted by TippeX

sf game installs drivers, thats why you usually have to reboot...
crack removes the protection from the exe, but drivers are still on the system
which is why you need the removal tool from the starforce company (the removal tool does NOT remove protection from starforce games, its just uninstalls their drivers..)

hardly rocket science... and covered many many times on this forum too...

TippeX thanks very much for the useful information. So the proper method of playing Starforced games without compromising your system and optic drives is as I understand:


1- Install the game.

2- Reboot if needed.

3- According to gamecopyworld's instructions replace the exe with the No-CD/DVD patch.

4- Download the removal tool from Starforce and run it.

5- Restart the PC and play the game. Enjoy!



I am I correct.

[Joe Forster/STA]

Nope, move step 4 between steps 1 and 2 so that the Starforce drivers never activate (that's the reason why you have to reboot).

[DABhand]

God are people still blaming SF for killing optical drives.

I guess wear and tear doesnt exist then? Or coincendence that old drives and some newer with already faults died when using a SF protected game?

Wish people would stop hanging onto this extremely stupid over used excuse that thousands have adopted.

[icet]

Originally Posted by Joe Forster/STA

Nope, move step 4 between steps 1 and 2 so that the Starforce drivers never activate (that's the reason why you have to reboot).

Thanks a lot Forster for that much guidance. It seems that would make my day! I am posting this precious formula, at least for me, for your review and approval if its correct:



1- Install the game.

2- Download the removal tool from Starforce and run it.

3- Reboot if needed.

4- According to gamecopyworld's instructions replace the exe with the No-CD/DVD patch.

5- Restart the PC and play the game. Enjoy!



Also after installing the game, would Starforce removal tool actually be able to do its job? Thanks again and again and again for your guidance.

[Joe Forster/STA]

If the Starforce drivers have been successfully installed by the game's installation software then the removal software will successfully uninstall them (and they don't get activated). If they are not installed, you will get a message about that. Try it yourself.

[TippeX]

and if you reboot, it can't hurt running the remover again to make sure the drivers are 100% gone...

[Morglum007]

Originally Posted by DABhand

God are people still blaming SF for killing optical drives.

I guess wear and tear doesnt exist then? Or coincendence that old drives and some newer with already faults died when using a SF protected game?

Wish people would stop hanging onto this extremely stupid over used excuse that thousands have adopted.

As always, DABhand u pointing in the wrong direction.

TIP: To reply Fosters reply, nope, it isnt needed a big lab to do testings. Just build up a computer with several partitions (i mean, clean windows/Sfucked), with different hardware configurations (IDE,SCSI...) and different drives (burners/readers). Just get a proggie like Bushound or similar and install it. Then use ur brain to deactivate SF anticracking tricks in driver and just "listen". Preserve logs in read timings and use nero speed or Plextols if available to check ECC/ECR errors and disk quality.

Make that dayly and check drives status after just ONE month. Enjoy with results.

Ppl that does have ears and eyes, pay attention, ppl who doesnt, at ur own risk, stay ignorant.

-- Edit --
Uh, just forgot, specially aggresive up to 3.7 version, in CAV/PCAV zone. From 3.7 on, check on disk changed to CLV zone, making check weakest, bur more compatible (i mean, less hazardous)

Good luck

[DABhand]

Ack Morglum how am I pointing in the wrong direction?

Can you prove that Starforce is the cause of most of hardware faults etc?

Probably not. But yet you seem to think it does without any proof.

Yeah so it installs a few things into the windows kernel, so does most of them these days, and SF reads discs in a unique way as does most of the rest also.

So should all the Protections be boycotted?

And to say im ignorant well thats very ignorant of yourself also.

[TippeX]

morglum if you can prove 100% FLAWLESSLY that starforce ruins drives then you could make a lot of money because you've found the holy grail... starforce even offered people money if they could prove their code destroyed hardware...

Then use ur brain to deactivate SF anticracking tricks in driver

ahhahah, you make it sound so simple.. care to explain how you get round 2 vm's (one of which does the check), the int 01 and int 03 being reset every 10 seconds, and other 'tricks' ?

[Joe Forster/STA]

Let me put it this way... We all know that politicians are thieves. However, we cannot have them thrown into jail unless we find obvious, direct evidences against them. (And even then they can talk themselves out of it.) Got the parallelism?

[DABhand]

Two different unique analogies Joe it doesnt work :P