How to get rid of SecuRom, NOW
JCSpencer:
I can at least answer part of your question. In order to limit the appearance of, return of, or initial installation of SecuROM, I advise you to read the thread Joe directed me to, here: BV and no CD?
While the primary purpose was too discuss BV in particular, most of the other problem expansions are also covered, and there are plenty of methods to choose from. Some may work for you, some may not. But the thread is definitely very informative.
EDIT: Oh, and make sure you read all of the posts, because different configurations are discussed on later pages. Some people had different approaches depending on whether they had XP or Vista, and some of the solutions were easier (but theoretically only short term), while others were much more advanced (but theoretically long term). The only part I found confusing was that some people say to remove registry files, others say not to touch them - that it either isn't necessary, or could cause instability.
That's one reason I would like to see if there is more substantial evidence regarding the "badness"of SecuROM before I bother messing with stuff. After all, the old saying goes, "If ain't broke, don't fix it." I'm perfectly fine running with SecuROM on my system (it came with Deluxe, which I have atm); no problems to report.
sluggo:
Quote from: JCSpencer on 2007 October 13, 16:20:29
Oh for God's sake. You obviously didn't even bother to READ my post, let alone anything else. I never, EVER asked "how to remove said maulware."
Well, Obviously *you* didn't read, because this thread clearly states "How to get rid of SecuRom, NOW," and I was clearly stating your origional post :
Quote from: JCSpencer on 2007 October 13, 03:28:07
This is the only thread that search returns for "SecuROM," so I'll ask here. What the hell is it, or rather why is it so evil?
I was posting a list of problems on Insim in the General Help area, and I got the response that because I have Deluxe (Base+NL), I have the evil SecuROM and that is the likely culprit. I really don't understand how copy protection software can cause the errors I was experiencing, but because I have no knowledge about this particular program, I obviously can't be 100% certain of that fact.
was vague and unacceptable and would normally be responded on this board with the reply that I threw.
As your later posts elaborated on the subject, they would have been more acceptable, and you would have happily been pointed to the correct thread, which also tells you that not everyone is experiencing problems, only those of us that have programs/configurations that Sony has decided they don't like.
And, as this is wandering off the subject, I'm going to drop it here.
Zazazu:
JCSpencer, you may have just been searching for results in this thread (the big blank text box). It's best to run a search from within "Advanced search". I got 2 pages of results for SecuRom.
First, few here are panicing about SecuRom. We aren't that alarmist. The BBS...well. That's another story, and the big NOW was a badly-aimed mocking at the pitchfork-raising going on over there. And "we" (and especially I) am not saying that you must remove it...it's your computer. It's your choice. But if you are having issues, or feel violated by it, here in this thread we have instructions that have been reported to work with both XP and the evil Vista.
Issues that can be caused by SecuRom:
1. Causes some CD-burning programs not to work. Known targets: Nero, Sonic, Alcohol 120.
2. Causes some anti-virus programs to stall during a scan, not start a scan, or report subscriptions as expired. Known targets: Norton, McAfee.
3. Causes issues with running the game from CD on initial install or on reinstall. This is especially bad since EAxis' solution to everything is to tell us to reinstall the game. Users get the message to enter the original game CD instead of a backup, even though they are using the original game CD.
4. Rumored to actually break CD readers. While this is technically not possible, one user did report that they had been trying to burn a CD right before bed and when they woke up, Nero was still stalled and the CD writer had misaligned. Unnecessary wear-and-tear, if you will.
5. Possible security risk through rootkit set-up. This one is beyond me, perhaps someone more awesome can explain. (hint hint)
JCSpencer:
Hmm, not sure how I made such a silly error, but I was puzzled by why the "BV no CD" article never showed up in my search results when it clearly talked a lot about SecuROM. Now I know. Thanks!
And I hope you didn't take offense to anything I said. I didn't mean to infer that you or anyone else was causing unnecessary panic; I did notice some of the posts in related threads did reflect a more panicky response (usually from the people that were only following the advice but didn't really understand what they were doing it or why they were doing it). I simply like to be kept abreast of things, and I really just didn't understand what was so bad. Contrary to what my friend above thinks, I did quite a bit of research, but most of the sites keep talking about how to remove it, or about the CD-burner/VP problems. Not even the Wiki or hack sites really gave much info. They just mainly focused on the here-and-now: I don't want it, how do I get rid of it.
Oddly, I do have Sonic, but I haven't noticed any problems that I know of. Well, I get the occasional "failed to make a copy" thing, but I've been getting those forever. 1 out of every 15-20 discs or so. I attribute it to trying to do too much other stuff while burning. Or just a bad disc now and again (which is a pretty common error, but has been incorrectly attributed to the wrong sources).
No problems for me on #2 and 3, but #4 can actually be caused by almost any copy-protection software, especially when it is called needlessly and incessantly. Can't recall which of my games was doing that, but I know the community was pretty ticked off about it. It's actually bad for the entire system, especially laptops, because of the extra heat and vibrations. But to be honest, I haven't noticed excessive spinning of my drives; but since I know I acquired SecuROM through Deluxe, and I currently have installed up to OFB, that means I am playing with the OFB disc, which in turn means I'm not susceptible to constant CP checks caused by SecuROM - right? At least until (or if) I have installed BV. Let me know if I'm wrong with that line of thinking.
Unless I misunderstood #5, SecuRom itslef isn't actually a rootkit. You can find out everything you ever wanted to know about (and how to find) rootkits here: RootkitRevealer v1.71 (yeah, I know, I'm linking the scriptures of Satan). Anyway, SecuRom is just a service, and can be disabled/deleted; of course that doesn't mean it couldn't be a potential threat (XPSP1 proved that). However, the problem is that it gets reinstalled and reinitiated every time you load a standard disk. That alone could make this "magically" reappearing program look malicious, but I still haven't found any real cases of security risks. And the only real downside to having SecuRom running is that it can cause intermittent spikes in resource usage. Not that Sims doesn't already handle resources in an incredibly inefficient manner.
I could be way off base here, I suppose. Just what I can find on the subject thus far. There are a gazillion tuts out there for removing SecuRom, but hardly anything discussing what the problems are. I think people may be associating the evils of the Sony Music DRM to Sims, but that doesn't apply because there's no such protection granted to Sims discs. I think I'm even more confused. I can just delete the service after each game session; only takes a few seconds, and I'm never connected while playing (assuming there is a security hole and nobody's found it yet).
Anyway, thanks for taking the time out to educate me, Zazazu. I may be new here, but I've spent countless hours reading threads lately, and have seen enough of your replies in other posts to respect you and your opinion. So again, apologies if my wording was offensive in anyway. I merely came seeking information. I had preconceived notions about the issue, but I was wondering if I may have been wrong.
Ambular:
Quote from: JCSpencer on 2007 October 13, 18:29:36
Hmm, not sure how I made such a silly error, but I was puzzled by why the "BV no CD" article never showed up in my search results when it clearly talked a lot about SecuROM. Now I know. Thanks!
The search function in this forum is the cause of much wailing and gnashing of teeth even among forum regulars, so don't feel bad. :)
I just wanted to add that I've heard some people report that Bon Voyage refused to install if it detected the presence of certain programs (such as Daemon Tools) on their computers. Others have been unable to run the game at all without a no-CD crack due to Zazuzu's issue #3.
I personally dislike the thing because it irritates me no end to have to haul the CD out every time I want to run the game, and unlike the copy protection on earlier EP's, SecuROM won't let me start it up using GameJackal (a perfectly legal program that requires the original CD for initial setup) instead.
Also, I just have a strong philosophical objection to anything being on my computer that won't delete when I hit 'Delete,' especially if I was not accorded the courtesy of being told about it beforehand.
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