Author Topic: Silent Hunter III Warning  (Read 3754 times)

Offline Gh0stFT

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« Reply #45 on: April 02, 2005, 07:09:28 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by GScholz
Prozac time.


http://www.firingsquad.com/features/starforce_interview/


"Abbie Sommer: We are more effective because it is harder for crackers to reverse engineer StarForce protected games.
We have a proven track record of games that have been on the market and still not cracked."


Software like Starforce are results of to many w***z'ed software,
no wonder, thanks to all who use illegal copys :)

If software like Starforce pays off for publishers, soon others will
use it too.
The statement below is true.
The statement above is false.

Offline mora

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« Reply #46 on: April 02, 2005, 07:23:22 AM »
SH III has been cracked allready so that much for that. Even with the crack I'm not going to support a software which installs stuff and changes settings in my computer without my knowledge. That kind of program is usually called a virus and is illegal.

Offline Nilsen

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« Reply #47 on: April 02, 2005, 07:34:18 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by Grits
Big Brother is watching...


Lol dont say that. Im reading 1984 :lol

Offline Fishu

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« Reply #48 on: April 02, 2005, 07:47:06 AM »
Any 3rd party protection will be cracked sooner or later and then it'll be done just as easily as it was done previously.


Mora,

Good luck then.
It isn't just Starforce which does that, but many many other programs.
They might not stick in a new software device, but they sure might put in other stuff.

Besides legal wise, it is part of the program and the program which end user license agreement you have to agree prior to install.

Basically the problem with Starforce is that it is so visible and takes longer time to verify the disc than with the others.
Caughts people's attention much better than Safedisc, Securerom, custom protections..
Alot of the high end software has quite interesting copy protections, which some would rate intrusive just like the Starforce.

Works much better than Steam though, since you don't need to be connected to the internet for it work.

...and why do you people use the Windows or few of the other MS products?
It sends your hardware configuration to Microsoft, including unique device ID's.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2005, 07:49:45 AM by Fishu »

Offline mora

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« Reply #49 on: April 02, 2005, 08:17:19 AM »
I never said that what they are doing is illegal. Some of the top end software you mentioned use a a licence plug which you install in a serial port. I wouldn't have any problems with that or something similar. An easy route for them would have been an online verification. About 99% of computer users have internet connection as well, so that wouldn't have hurt their sales nearly as much as this BS.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2005, 08:22:59 AM by mora »

Offline Fishu

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« Reply #50 on: April 02, 2005, 08:34:20 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by mora
Some of the top end software you mentioned use a a licence plug which you install in a serial port.


I didn't exactly mean that kind of protections

I don't prefer online verification each time I start a game, since I don't want to be forced to have the internet working every time when playing the game.
The ISP's usually aren't 100% proof with 24/7/356 reliability.
Also the internet isn't always available where you go to, if you travel on holidays or so.

In my opinion Starforce's bad sides are grossly exagerrated over the others.
Reading the stuff along the way people sometimes makes it sound like an excuse to warez the game in question.
« Last Edit: April 02, 2005, 08:38:59 AM by Fishu »

Offline fd ski

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« Reply #51 on: April 02, 2005, 09:24:28 AM »
I paid full price for SH3, my Sata isn't as fast as it used to be, maybe it's starforce, maybe its not, i don't care. If my system is going to get f____d because UBISOFT ASSUMES i'm a thief, therefore i'm not giving them more of my money.

Use of starforce just guaranteed them 0 cash from me, i'll download the stuff i would otherwise buy from now on.

Offline Fishu

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« Reply #52 on: April 02, 2005, 10:14:32 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by fd ski
my Sata isn't as fast as it used to be, maybe it's starforce, maybe its not


Use the Starforce cleaner program to determine íf it is.
It removes the Starforce files.

Offline fd ski

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« Reply #53 on: April 02, 2005, 10:45:46 AM »
Shouldn't have to.

Equivalent of what they are doing is like me going to McDonalds and finding out that BigMac i just had, had an ingridient that will make me violently sick if I ever choose to eat anywhere else.

Offline Nefarious

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« Reply #54 on: April 02, 2005, 10:58:42 AM »
Quote
Originally posted by -tronski-
I have no probs with SHIII and running Nero/dvd shrink etc...

However bought a legit copy of Superpower II a while ago and I could not get past the copy protection (refused to recognise the disc)...it's collected dust ever since...

 Tronsky


I did have a installation problem with SP2, but I checked the forums and deteremined that I had the wrong Disc In :o. SP2 Plays off Disc 1, When Installation is complete reinsert Disc 1, TA-DA!
There must also be a flyable computer available for Nefarious to do FSO. So he doesn't keep talking about it for eight and a half hours on Friday night!

Offline Vulcan

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« Reply #55 on: April 02, 2005, 05:34:43 PM »
Quote
How to remove all StarForce components from your PC:

Sometimes the un-installation utility of the protected application does not uninstall all StarForce drivers. The following procedure will ensure that all StarForce related components are completely removed from your system.

Download the SFREMOVE tool as a ZIP archive.
Extract and store sfdrvrem.exe anywhere on your hard disk.
Run sfdrvrem.exe.
If the protected application requires a StarForce driver, this driver will be re-installed as soon as you launch the application again. For further help, please contact the helpdesk of the application publisher.


Notice the driver autoreinstalls? Seems like it doesn't remove itself fully no matter what.

Offline Vulcan

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« Reply #56 on: April 02, 2005, 05:39:19 PM »
It gets worse:

Quote
Users
Drivers vulnerability issue clarification
The old version of StarForce drivers did indeed allow executing code using Administrator rights for its purposes. We would like to clarify some points. What we see here is that drivers may be accessed by any application. This application gets Administrator privileges and is not hampered by OS security as it would have been if being run with normal or low rights. This issue has happened before with some companies, and it was never a "critical" security matter (see http://computercops.biz/article2661.html for details).

It is well-known that the overwhelming majority of home users work under Administrator accounts all the time, thus this driver vulnerability does not affect them at all, as any application run will work with Administrator rights by default. This is significant only for business workstations working with common User rights. Going further we see that there are no complex StarForce protected games on business workstations, therefore this problem is valid only for office computers that have business applications protected with StarForce using the drivers (yet most of the time business applications are protected without drivers).

If you work in User-mode most of the time and wish to fix this vulnerability in StarForce drivers, you should do the following:

1) Run sfclean utility (http://www.star-force.com/index.phtml?category=200&type=5) to remove old drivers. (You may also use this utility in order to remove old StarForce drivers that are no longer needed)
2) Download and install the software patch that fixes this vulnerability from the software publisher. The publishers are informed of this issue and can create a patch.

P.S. StarForce would like to thank the hardworking team and their financial backers who have found this driver vulnerability. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be in business.

 

Offline Kev367th

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« Reply #57 on: April 02, 2005, 06:41:35 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Vulcan
Notice the driver autoreinstalls? Seems like it doesn't remove itself fully no matter what.


If you have applied the NODVD 'patch' they don't reinstall when you lauch the game.
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T
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Offline ALF

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« Reply #58 on: April 02, 2005, 07:52:25 PM »
Quote
Originally posted by Vulcan
It gets worse:


.....
The old version of StarForce drivers did indeed allow executing code using Administrator rights for its purposes. We would like to clarify some points. What we see here is that drivers may be accessed by any application. This application gets Administrator privileges and is not hampered by OS security as it would have been if being run with normal or low rights......


In a word (or two) HOLY ***** CRAP!!!!   And I thought it was bad before:eek:


BTW Vulcan whered you get that, Ifound a ref, but they seem to have hiddedn/deleted the actual archive at SF
« Last Edit: April 02, 2005, 08:00:55 PM by ALF »

Offline Seeker

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« Reply #59 on: April 02, 2005, 08:37:35 PM »
I had these drivers on my system (think they came from TOCA); ran the removal prog; and everything (including IL-2) continues to function perfectly.