CD-Rom Protection and T:V

i use daemon tools, havent had any issues.

Well Menzo, the only reason why I know about the stealth driver shit with the new SecuROM is the debacle that's the new war3 patch. It came with a new version of it, and installs stuff in the users registry/elsewhere. Supposedly it degrades system performance as well. It's what prompted me to make this post actually.

Edit: New war3 patch also stops daemon tools (for now). Even though other less known emulation software still works (cdspace for one). Still though, its a real pain in the ass to any legitimate users (as you need a valid key to go online anyways), that don't want to have a war3 cd in their drive at all times when they play.

CDSpace has always been very reliable for me when I make images of my cds. Not sure why, you can get it at http://www.cdspace.com. It works for the new war3 patch too.

By the way...what is the best virtual CD software to use?

I use Virtual clonecd (edit: CloneDrive, from makers of CloneCD), but a few games (such as WC3: Frozen Throne), dont work.

It's not SecuROM, that's for sure. Check the copy protection on Homeworld 2. That's our standard set. It does exactly what we expect of it, and it does help stop piracy. Remember, less than 5% of our audience are sofisticated computer users. The job of the copy protection is to stop casual copying of CDs. I'm not trying to stop Ixiterra or other TW folks from installing a no-cd. I am trying to keep my Uncle from making a copy for his buddy at work.

Please bitch all you want about copy protection. The day people stop stealing my software is the day I'll stop trying to prevent that theft.

werd dawg

oh and ban thrax's uncle.

fukin haker

Here's the exact post I read from a thread on b.net forums, pretty much detailing what the new patch did with updated securom tech:


After installing the 1.13 patch on my system I've noticed an increased memory consumption on my system, also I'm unable to open my cd tray without rebooting first.

The problem is that if you launch TFT 1.13 it installs a new driver on your system without asking you!
The system driver will be installed to C:\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Local Settings\Temp\
The driver will use different file name, as of know I know about lredbooo.sys and kbeepm.sys (maybe random filenames), file size is exactly 29696 bytes and most likely dated sometime 2002.
Until now I though tactics like different file names and the invalid timestamp of the file were only used by viruses and trojans.

In some contries you even get legal issues if you install system drivers without asking the user.

actual thread: http://www.battle.net/forums/war3/thread.aspx?FN=war3x-general&T=635764&P=1&ReplyCount=14#post635764

edit: more info since I read more of the thread

The filenames that SecuROM makes are completely random. It also messes up the timestamps. It looks like they designed it almost similar to a virus in how its installed, since they're trying to make the files very hard to find and delete. Considering that you aren't even asked whether or not you want that shit on your system when you install the new patch/start up war3, that's pretty fucking low.

Let's hope they just go the login route like T2 so that they can avoid all cd-rom protection schemes outright.Well actually.. I forgot that T:V will have a single player :p ... so I guess some protection is in order, otherwise (like Thrax said), someone will just copy the CD and give it to friends (just for single player).

Why not this idea though... Have a "solo" and "online" (just like T2), but this time... have it require a CD when playing "solo" (offline), and NOT when you're playing "online". Just require a login (that can be set to autologin, mind you), when playing "online".

Eh EH EEHH???

Just download daemon tools, it allows you to copy a cd, into my computer, IE it makes the iso a new drive. Ie, you have c:, , d:, it would make a false f: drive, with the tribes vengeance cd, sure this wastes another 600 meg, but for a game I'm going to play so much, its definatly a necessity.

Well actually.. I forgot that T:V will have a single player :p ... so I guess some protection is in order, otherwise (like Thrax said), someone will just copy the CD and give it to friends (just for single player).

Why not this idea though... Have a "solo" and "online" (just like T2), but this time... have it require a CD when playing "solo" (offline), and NOT when you're playing "online". Just require a login (that can be set to autologin, mind you), when playing "online".

Eh EH EEHH???
it'll likely be that way just to save on space anyway. depends. i'm kind of getting sick of some recent games where we seem to have lost the option to not install everything to the HD. i'm willing to wait the extra 30-60 seconds of load time for a level if i can choose not to install 2 gb worth of data. i'm not saying remove the option of a full install, i'm saying bring back the options of partial installs.

it'll likely be that way just to save on space anyway. depends. i'm kind of getting sick of some recent games where we seem to have lost the option to not install everything to the HD. i'm willing to wait the extra 30-60 seconds of load time for a level if i can choose not to install 2 gb worth of data. i'm not saying remove the option of a full install, i'm saying bring back the options of partial installs.
Recently? It's been that way for several years now. Most people have hard drives bigger than 800MB now. ;) If you don't play the game anymore, just delete it.

ZProtoss, here's a suggestion, let the dev worry about this shit. If they fuck up, who cares? There's going to be a no-cd crack before the game's actual release date anyways, so don't fuckin worry about it.

Recently? It's been that way for several years now. Most people have hard drives bigger than 800MB now. ;) If you don't play the game anymore, just delete it.
i have plenty of hard drive space (270gb). my point is i should have the option of not installing 2gb to play a simple game :disgust: . it pisses me off even more when those games make me still use the cd, just to make sure its there.

i have plenty of hard drive space (270gb). my point is i should have the option of not installing 2gb to play a simple game :disgust: . it pisses me off even more when those games make me still use the cd, just to make sure its there.
Bleh, CD-ROM's are too slow, and they're noisy. Don't need that crap. ;)

I'm curoius as to why you think you should have that option? Look on the box and adhere to the minimum-reqs, then bitch if min-reqs say something other than what you get.

ahh, min reqs :lol:

I'm curoius as to why you think you should have that option? Look on the box and adhere to the minimum-reqs, then bitch if min-reqs say something other than what you get.
why not have the option? it's an OPTION. like i said, i have plenty of HD, i just think its useless for some games to take up an obscene amount of space.

why not have the option? it's an OPTION. like i said, i have plenty of HD, i just think its useless for some games to take up an obscene amount of space.
Well, unless it's a DVD, one CD only holds 700MB. Many games are multiple CD's now, so do you not only want to have to have a CD in there, but have to swap them as well? ;)

ZProtoss, here's a suggestion, let the dev worry about this shit. If they fuck up, who cares? There's going to be a no-cd crack before the game's actual release date anyways, so don't fuckin worry about it.:heart:

Well, unless it's a DVD, one CD only holds 700MB. Many games are multiple CD's now, so do you not only want to have to have a CD in there, but have to swap them as well? ;)
i never had a problem swapping CDs before ;) . especially w/ 2 CD-RWs drives and 1 DVD-rom.

i never had a problem swapping CDs before ;) . especially w/ 2 CD-RWs drives and 1 DVD-rom.
Oh yeah?? Well you're a faggot! :)

I'm all about software protection as long as it doesn't place unrealistic burdens on legitimate users/customers. If your protection scheme ultimately breaks the product, you're only shooting yourself in the foot. No doubt people like Thrax are well aware of that.

I fully intend to purchase my copy of T:V from a retailer, but I know Sierra is notorious for installing useless bloatware with some of their games. That's something I'm not exactly looking forward to. :p
I'll buy it and just use the cd key that comes with it to install a warez copy so I don't have to deal with gay protection shit.