How to get rid of SecuRom, NOW

[tunaisafish]

Yes - install the no-cd for your latest ep
No - the old pets .exe file does not need replacing back to the original.

[ScorpioMaurus]

In the thread here :
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=d170b4c761611f7417f3f256e1e36aee&topic=9929.0
They suggest getting your NoCD crack from GameCopyWorld.com but I would recommend GameBurnWorld or Megagames because for the last few months every time I visit Gamecopyworld I get hit with a virus or Drive by download. I thought people should know because it's one of those that installs as a fake AntiVirus such as AntiVirusXP or VirusLab2009 and then gives you warning about your PC having a virus. It takes quite a bit of time to get rid of and this latest one forced a complete reformat because it stopped AVG from being able to download updates and changes something in the search so that when you try to download any new AntiSpy or AntiVirus it will redirect you to porn sites or software sites and not let you see site's like Kaspersky, AVG, or Spybot ETC.  I don't even know how to contact GameCopyWorld to find out if they know about it because I can't access the site without being hit. I don't know if it's like Securom where GameCopyWorld is aware and doesn't care because it sponsers their site or it they were hacked and that's what's causing it. Until this last time I was able to remove it by using SmitFraudFix in safe mode but I don't know what happened yesterday morning. I was not able to remove it completely but it seems to be many viruses all in one Bratsk, Renos, SmitFraud, VirusLab2009. So Anyways please be careful people.

[Marhis]

Update on the Mac issue; thanks to skygirl22 (nanacake on this forum), apparently SecuROM comes also with Pets EP.
In the end, I deleted those entries in plist, and that seems to not harm anything, since I didn't experienced any malfunctioning so far, but I of course don't know if that was enough to get rid of SecuROM - they're DATA entries, i.e. contains binary data, but really don't know.

More interesting informations and tips in this thread on MTS2 (thanks again nanacake).

[pbox]

A .plist is just a preference (settings) .. that is why I'm so unsure (on the mts2 thread) if SecuRom is being installed at all with Pets/OSX. I wasn't able to find any other evidence than this one plist entry, which doesn't mean there is nothing, but: when the Spore install of Securom is plainly visible for everyone, is it reasonable to assume that it would be *this* undercover with Pets? Invisible in the logs, in the Finder, in Search, in ActivityMonitor?

It is *still* strange, and annoying, that a game install is fumbling with my global settings. This is *my* machine, for fuck's sake.

[Mootilda]

It is *still* strange, and annoying, that a game install is fumbling with my global settings. This is *my* machine, for fuck's sake.

Unfortunately, EA and Sony believe that it is *their* machine, to do with as they wish.  They have more lobbyists than you do, so they might even convince some governments to make it law:  if you install TS2 or Spore or TS3, the machine is theirs!

Of course, this is one of the reasons that many of us are so angry at EA.  Angry enough that some people are actually hoping that EA will fail (ie, go bankrupt; stop making games).

[pbox]

I believe sooner or later they'll shoot themselves in the foot in the same way the music industry has =/ not sure whether that's a good thing or not.

Apart from that: you don't know OSX, Mootilda, do you? I don't really know whether or not it is possible for a process to run without showing up in Activity Monitor .. I'd be happy for a competent opinion on that.

ETA: I just had the genius idea to simply email Aspyr and ask what kind of business they have in my global prefs .. but, er, WTF? "Support" = a phone number in the US? And a PO box

Cute.

[jolrei]

So I did a search of my entire C drive for securom:  NOTHING!  However it is in the registry.  Can I delete the registry keys?

It is not unheard of that securom will install in registry, but not on the drive.  You do want to get rid of the securom registry keys.

[Mootilda]

Apart from that: you don't know OSX, Mootilda, do you?

No, I'm sorry.  I don't know much about MACs.

[Marhis]

Well, Mac OS X = Unix, and as far as I can tell (not a sysadmin myself) rootkits don't show up in activity monitor, (or with top command, if you want to use command line stuff à la Pes).
I have no doubt that a skilled sysadmin would know how to detect bad things at work in its system, but alas, I'm definitely too far from having those skills :/.

[seelindarun]

One notable difference between Spore and Pets is that Transgaming declared publicly that they would be using Securom on all their Cider-wrapped games for EA.  There's no question that Spore exposes macs to suckrom, whether you can find the processes for it or not.  The only debate is about how harmful it might be, but I've seen exactly one post by the same guy linked a dozen times, and no one else. 

Aspyr anyway has never said they use suckrom on TS2 or any EPs.  They do put it on some games, and have said so.  It's hard to believe that they would only be coy about TS2.  I'm inclined to think that the .plist entries for Pets EP is just leftover junk from the port.  At the time Pets was released for OS X, Seasons had yet to be released for PC, and EA itself did not add suckrom until BV.
I'm still going to edit my .plist though.

[Simsample]

Well, Mac OS X = Unix, and as far as I can tell (not a sysadmin myself) rootkits don't show up in activity monitor, (or with top command, if you want to use command line stuff à la Pes).
I have no doubt that a skilled sysadmin would know how to detect bad things at work in its system, but alas, I'm definitely too far from having those skills :/.

Have you tried 'OSX Rootkit Hunter'? Link and details here:
http://theappleblog.com/2008/01/23/why-mac-security-matters-os-x-rootkit-hunter/

[Marhis]

Yes, thanks Simsample, I tried that one, but apparently it didn't find anything on my mac.
I hope that deleting those SecuROM entries in plist did the trick, so far I haven't experienced any malfunctioning... (crosses fingers)

[Fat D]

for those of you who want to prevent MGS from creating securom infestation without downloading the entire ISO:
http://rapidshare.com/files/166037112/Sims2EP9.exe
now also RAR'd for low-bandwidth users:
http://rapidshare.com/files/166374207/Sims2EP9.rar

[TisiphoneStar]

I've been having weird problems with securom. I deleted everything but the only step that didn't work for me was the securom folder in the roaming folder.
I can't delete it because it doesn't exist, hidden folders are visible, but it's just not there.

Am I overlooking something important? Please excuse my utter lack of tech skills. 

[morriganrant]

In the thread here :
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=d170b4c761611f7417f3f256e1e36aee&topic=9929.0
They suggest getting your NoCD crack from GameCopyWorld.com but I would recommend GameBurnWorld or Megagames because for the last few months every time I visit Gamecopyworld I get hit with a virus or Drive by download. I thought people should know because it's one of those that installs as a fake AntiVirus such as AntiVirusXP or VirusLab2009 and then gives you warning about your PC having a virus. It takes quite a bit of time to get rid of and this latest one forced a complete reformat because it stopped AVG from being able to download updates and changes something in the search so that when you try to download any new AntiSpy or AntiVirus it will redirect you to porn sites or software sites and not let you see site's like Kaspersky, AVG, or Spybot ETC.  I don't even know how to contact GameCopyWorld to find out if they know about it because I can't access the site without being hit. I don't know if it's like Securom where GameCopyWorld is aware and doesn't care because it sponsers their site or it they were hacked and that's what's causing it. Until this last time I was able to remove it by using SmitFraudFix in safe mode but I don't know what happened yesterday morning. I was not able to remove it completely but it seems to be many viruses all in one Bratsk, Renos, SmitFraud, VirusLab2009. So Anyways please be careful people.

With AntiVirusXP I had luck removing it by using avast "run on boot" option, smitfraudfix or malwarebyte's anti malware program, and manual removal by searching for and pinning down anything I found in services.msc and msconfig that shouldn't have been there and looked odd. Then double checking while is safe mode. I've removed it twice this year from two different peoples pcs who do not even torrent. I now just keep a small flash drive with necessary tools for it's removal. Adaware, avast, smitfraudfix, malwarebytes and a few other things including spybot, because of that lock down that it does to certain websites. Avast will install while other anti viruses are installed. AVG has a hissy fit. Gameburnworld makes me feel dirty for some reason. I seem to pick up more from their pages then I ever do from gamecopyworld.

[profoundlycan]

I've been having weird problems with securom. I deleted everything but the only step that didn't work for me was the securom folder in the roaming folder.
I can't delete it because it doesn't exist, hidden folders are visible, but it's just not there.

Am I overlooking something important? Please excuse my utter lack of tech skills. 

Actually, I had this problem as well (I have Vista), but managed to figure it out. I went to C:\Users\<Your Administrator Name> then did an advanced search. When doing so, make sure you check the box that asks to reveal non-indexed and hidden files. For me, the folder SecuROM came up, but the actual malformed files that you have to delete specifically using administrator command were not within that folder. I found mine in C:\Users\<Your Administrator Name>\AppData\Roaming\SecuROM\UserData. Afterward, I ran administrator command and managed to finally delete the stupid files. Then I went back to my Roaming folder and deleted the empty SecuROM/UserData directories and then deleted the crap from my registry. Only after all of that was it finally gone.

[zepherine]

Hello, All.  I have been following this thread with great interest for some time now, but I have yet to read of one other person who has experienced the SecurRom related problem which is causing me grief.

I have purchased "Bon Voyage," FreeTime," and "Apartment Life," but cannot install any of them.  SecuRom is ALL that installs before I receive the ubiquitous "Autorun has encountered a problem and needs to close.  We are sorry for the inconvenience" message

Needless to say, EA has been no help whatsoever about this, and in fact they have apparenely failed even to read my Emails, judging from the woefully inapplicable responses they have returned to me. 

Do any of you know what causes this?  Have you heard of others having this problem?  And is there a workaround? 

[dragoness]

Workaround:

Uninstall SecuROM, if it's on your system, using the directions here.

Download a copy from one of the many filesharing sites. It isn't even illegal, since you already have a paid-for copy.

Use the downloaded copy to install.

Get a No-CD crack so you don't need to use the CD when you run (to avoid SecuROM).

Should work!

[Rainne]

OK, question.

I have followed these instructions and now Free Time is running properly with a no-cd crack and i haz no SUCKurom.  My question is this:

I want to install K&B, IKEA, AL and M&G.  When I install the first SP, do I still run the game using the FT crack, or do I need to get a new crack for K&B?  Then, IF it works (it didn't yesterday), when I go to install IKEA, do I need a new crack for IKEA, or do I still use the FT crack?

I know when I install AL I will definitely need a new crack for that... but what about M&G?  Will I still use the AL crack, or will I need an M&G crack?  I want to try installing each pack one at the time to see if they work, since last night I installed them all together and got nothing.  Any ideas?

[jolrei]

OK, question.

I have followed these instructions and now Free Time is running properly with a no-cd crack and i haz no SUCKurom.  My question is this:

I want to install K&B, IKEA, AL and M&G.  When I install the first SP, do I still run the game using the FT crack, or do I need to get a new crack for K&B?  Then, IF it works (it didn't yesterday), when I go to install IKEA, do I need a new crack for IKEA, or do I still use the FT crack?

I know when I install AL I will definitely need a new crack for that... but what about M&G?  Will I still use the AL crack, or will I need an M&G crack?  I want to try installing each pack one at the time to see if they work, since last night I installed them all together and got nothing.  Any ideas?

For SPs you would use the crack for your latest EP, which is FT.  You are correct that you will need the no-cd crack for AL when you install that.  I believe the exception to the SP rule is M&G, which runs from its own .exe, so you would need a no-cd crack for that as well.

[Rainne]

OK, clearly something is NOT RIGHT and I am blaming SecuROM. 

Here's what my situation is.

After uninstalling back to Free Time, it worked... then I put in K&B and it worked... then I put in IKEA and it worked... then I put in AL and it wouldn't work.

I called tech support and they said it was my video card, so I upgraded my video card, but AL still wouldn't work, so I backed up to FT again, and it still wouldn't work.  Then I discovered that despite my use of no-cd cracks, SecuROM was back on my system.

So I removed SecuROM again, only here's the thing... I got it all out of the registry keys and everything but the files that the steps say to delete don't show up, so I can't delete those.

I've spent all day going back and forth trying to get something to work, and it wouldn't, so I finally uninstalled the entire f*ing game and started over from scratch.

Base game worked... Uni worked... NL won't load, and it doesn't even have SecuROM on the f*ing disk.

PLEASE help.  I am completely confused and frustrated and I have NO idea how to fix this. 

[Lulz]

First off, I love this thread. SecuROM is the enemy. But after going through a little over half of it, I still have a question. I have every expansion except Pets installed (get to that in a second) with every patch (except Pets, obviously), and I just downloaded the no-CD crack from gameburnworld (Sims2ApartmentLifev1.16.0.194NoDVDFixedexeEng.rar, in case that matters at all? I checked, and it matches the version of the patched game I have installed). But, if I happen to, by some miracle, find my Pets Disk 1 (It sort of disappeared, I guess, but I do have the other disk), how would it work if I installed it? Meaning, do I just install that, grab the patch, and then install the no-CD crack version for the patched Pets? Would I then use that no-CD crack shortcut to run the game, or would I just not download the no-CD crack for Pets and keep using the Apartment Life shortcut? On my other computer, before I knew about SecuROM and it's evil nature, and back when I still had my Pets Disk 1, I installed all the expansions in order, because I could xD So, now I have no idea how to go about this whole installing Pets last thing -- if I do find it. If not, I suppose this is pretty much completely irrelevant. 

[dragoness]

You always use the No-CD .exe for the latest EP you have, as that's what will try to run when you start the game.

The only difference is M&G because, despite it being marketed as a stuff pack, it runs from its own CD, has its own .exe, and thus needs its own No-CD file. If you do not have M&G, but you have AL, then yes, AL is the latest one.

[Mootilda]

The early SPs also behave like EPs and require their own no-cds... I believe that this just applies to Family Fun and Glamour Life.

[Edit: fix typo]

[Princess Artemis]

OK, I've got a question...

Santaroth tossed BV down my chimney today, and I happened to strongly suspect this would happen, so I've had the SecuROM removal tools, latest EA BV patch, many MATY game-fixing hacks, and the No-CD crack for BV v1.10.0.130 ready to go for a bit.

I've run into a bit of 'trouble' following the instructions.  After installing BV, I patched it, renamed the BV .exe, put the no-CD crack in its place, then directed all my shortcuts to it instead of the launcher.  The BV disc is now safely ensconced in its clamshell where it will never ever touch my computer again if I can help it--I haven't started the game from the regular .exe.  I tried the cracked .exe, game started fine, so I quit without playing and went onto the "kill SecuROM" steps.

I looked at my registry--SecuROM is there just as I expected it to be.  Running regdelnull this way: "C:\regdelnull HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SecuROM -s" and this way "regdelnull hkcu -s" gives me no results, says the scan is complete.  I did the same with "hku -s", scan turned up nothing.  "hklm -s" brought up a few, but none that were related to SecuROM, so I left them alone.

Doing the uaservice7 step predictably came back as being unable to be performed because I installed BV as an admin.  "regsvr32 /u cmdlineext.dll" did what it should.  Rebooted, deleted that .dll.  Went to the Documents and Settings step--found no folder for SecuROM anywhere.

Here's the question(s): Is this expected behavior?  I have a few other games that use much older versions of SecuROM (KotOR and KotOR II), so is it expected that the registries would be there but the rest wouldn't be?  Is it safe to wholesale delete the SecuROM registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER?  I can haz SecuROMless computer nao?