Ubisoft Dump Starforce!

[HicRic]

I installed a game with Starforce once, and on startup of the game it informed me that my correct CD was not in the drive. I opened the drive, and there it was, shiny and flawless with no scratches. I then checked "My Computer", and discovered to my horror that the DVD drive was no longer listed. Bear in mind I had literally just installed the game from that DVD drive. Coincidence? I think not!

The Starforce Removal Tool didn't even help, I ran it but I could still find traces of Starforce on my system. A week later a kind chap gave me a vb script which got down to the root of the problem and poked my registry around a bit, and the drive registered in Windows again.

Just another normal, legitimate user who has suffered from Starforce. In fact, I'd never even heard of Starforce before until I started searching the internet for help after the DVD drive disappeared. It's totally unacceptable for a game to also install software which sabotages your system IMHO.

 

[HangTime]

reading this thread could explain my broken dvd rw

Come to think of it a few months ago I had to buy a new DVD-RW because my Pioneer one had stopped reading many disks. I just assumed it was knackered (it was a 4x one) but maybe I should try it on another, starforce-free PC...

 

[robgmun]

You're living in a dream world SC3 and POP3 are both cracked and knocking around the warez scene. Have been for a long time.

Before there are any more post about cracked starforce games, i just like to point out that only CMR05 has ever been properly cracked.

All the rest are avaiable for download but to play them you have to open your pc case and disconnect the dvd drives and do some real faffing about with files. Basiclly it's NOT worth the trouble. I've been hearing that with the new starforce drivers even the the dvd drive disconnection doesn't work anymore. Like it or not (and i don't) Starforce works, and works bloody well

 

[Boogle]

All the rest are avaiable for download but to play them you have to open your pc case and disconnect the dvd drives and do some real faffing about with files. Basiclly it's NOT worth the trouble. I've been hearing that with the new starforce drivers even the the dvd drive disconnection doesn't work anymore. Like it or not (and i don't) Starforce works, and works bloody well

Thats not actually true. Lets face it, if its on a computer, you can do anything you like to it. Given enough time you could turn a game exe into the Linux kernel.

Anyway, its not true. You can crack any Starforce game, and use it. Without messing around with hardware.

 

[Rebel=UK=]

Come to think of it a few months ago I had to buy a new DVD-RW because my Pioneer one had stopped reading many disks. I just assumed it was knackered (it was a 4x one) but maybe I should try it on another, starforce-free PC...

Sometimes it it breaks it completely, if you dont catch it early

 

[Boogle]

Sometimes it it breaks it completely, if you dont catch it early

My DVD RW drive used to be fine, but it doesn't write (or read) recordable / rewritable DVDs well, in fact its pretty much a DVD + CD-RW combo drive for all intents and purposes. Its like it with or without Starforce, but it did work when I first got it... I wonder?

 

[Scott Salisbury]

Ironically, as with all these protections, it's the legitimate users who are pushed through the ringer with always having to have a CD/DVD in the drive and infest their system with starforce or equivalents - while the pirates have apply-once cracks and then no hassle for the rest of their free-game experience.

Yeah its the same with everything these days, always the innocient who have to suffer. Most of the time the CD's take ages to spin up and my DVD drive is on its way out now anyway and sometimes I wait over a minute just to verify the disc. Total PITA.

This is a great move to get rid of Starforce however, it's funny but that has been a thorn in my side much more than other copy-protection methods.

Yeah this is a step forward, problem is its only any good for strickly online games and relies on the company to have good maintainence on the verification servers.

If a game has a big SP mode as well as online play, it would be no good to someone who wants to buy, say COD2 for the single player, if that person doesn't have the internet.

 

[Cybergangster]

Before there are any more post about cracked starforce games, i just like to point out that only CMR05 has ever been properly cracked...

I've just done a search and found that the following SF protected games are cracked and work without unplugging drives:

SC3
TOCA 2
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Soldiers: Heroes of WW2

It looks like they took months (more than a year for SC3) to crack but they are out there. My limited understanding of the situation is that the groups modify some of the code within the games themselves in order to enable the crack to run. In essence - you could not use the SC3 crack with a retail version of the game (although I have not tried this myself).

Personally I've not had any difficulties with Star Force and it has not put me off buying SF protected games. However, if I did find my hardware failing after installing a new version of SF I know I would be voicing my opinions on the other side of the fence.

 

[Dutch Guy]

There is no copy protection that can't be cracked, if it is made it can be cracked, the deciding factor is how long it takes, if it takes them 6 months to crack a game by that time the people have either bought the game or are no longer interested.

In that sense Starforce is succesful but it should not affect other games and apps which clearly Starforce does, I have a problem that could be related to Starforce as well, it does look a lot like the symptoms of Starforce.


Note, it is not allowed to talk about and link to no-cd patches/cracks etc so please refrain from posting about that otherwise the thread will get locked or worse

 

[Killerkebab]

My DVD RW drive used to be fine, but it doesn't write (or read) recordable / rewritable DVDs well, in fact its pretty much a DVD + CD-RW combo drive for all intents and purposes. Its like it with or without Starforce, but it did work when I first got it... I wonder?

This may sound like a stupid question but bear with me...
Do you have an NEC2500? Mine has the same symptoms as yours :/

 

[Boogle]

This may sound like a stupid question but bear with me...
Do you have an NEC2500? Mine has the same symptoms as yours :/

Thats the badger! The conspiracy continues :\