Playing BLIC 2005 is dangerous for your PC?

[fanirama]

I was just about to start this topic re. starforce and found this.
I never bought BLIC and wasn't even going to, but someone offered to sell me his copy real cheap. However, I just found out that BLIC 2005 has Starforce protection on it. Now I'm not buying it.

See this - http://www.glop.org/starforce/list.php. BLIC is included.

Starforce is very very bad as it continues to create havoc on your pc even after the game its protecting is removed. Its also claimed that it destroys some optical drives by slowing its speed till the point of hw failure. I'm not against copy protection, but there has to be a limit to damaging people's PC's under the guise of copy protection. Sony's rootkit is another example of how bad/stupid/dangerous copy protection/DRM is.

Boycott Starforce and games with starforce on it. BLIC included.

 

[Kev]

I'm sorry but I just dont believe Starforce damages your drives. I cant see anyway software can cause damage to a CD/DVD drive. You should consider other things that are more likely to cause damage before blaming software.
1: Dirt and Dust. How many people actually bother to use a CD Cleaner on their drives, I'm sure anyone who has ever opened their PC case will testify as to how much dust accumilates inside a PC, so the chances are the inside of your CD Drive looks almost as bad.
2: Cheap manufacture of Drives. These days DVD burners can be purchased for around the ?30 mark, I know many more are being made and thus the cost is less but also corners are being cut in the manufacture of the drives, lets face it these are cheap plastic hi volume chinese manufactured devices, not premium engineering by a long way. I have had CD drives fail in the past (before starforce) yet my oldest drives probably still work, I only removed them as speeds increased.
3: High Spin Speed - Modern drives spin much faster than the original design for CD's intended, couple this with the fact many people stick labels onto recorded CD's and these can effect the balance of the CD (much like not having your wheels balanced on a car).

 

[fanirama]

... I cant see anyway software can cause damage to a CD/DVD drive. ...

kevmead, you're very naive. Software is what controls your hardware. Software can even cause your cpu fan's to spin faster or slower. Make it spin slower or stop and congrats ! you've just fried your cpu. ( most mobo's today have a thermal sensor with software that can adjust cpu fan speeds ) Similarly, drivers for optical drives can cause drives to spin faster or slower etc. damaging it.

This has even been reported on digg today - http://www.digg.com/software/Starforce_Can_Reboot_Your_Computer_If_You_Do_Something_It_Doesn_t_Like

Starforce is really bad. A lot of people cannot be this wrong. Even the game editor of CGW lashed out against Starforce.
I cannot believe CodeMasters used Starforce. I'm really pissed at them. Will never buy anything from them again.

Starforce operates out of Russia. Who's mad to go to Russia for a $1000 prize to prove it damages your machine. Have you seen Soprano's lately ? Go to the mafia den. yeah right.

 

[gaurav_indian]

kevmead, you're very naive. Software is what controls your hardware. Software can even cause your cpu fan's to spin faster or slower. Make it spin slower or stop and congrats ! you've just fried your cpu. ( most mobo's today have a thermal sensor with software that can adjust cpu fan speeds ) Similarly, drivers for optical drives can cause drives to spin faster or slower etc. damaging it.

This has even been reported on digg today - http://www.digg.com/software/Starforce_Can_Reboot_Your_Computer_If_You_Do_Something_It_Doesn_t_Like

Starforce is really bad. A lot of people cannot be this wrong. Even the game editor of CGW lashed out against Starforce.
I cannot believe CodeMasters used Starforce. I'm really pissed at them. Will never buy anything from them again.

Starforce operates out of Russia. Who's mad to go to Russia for a $1000 prize to prove it damages your machine. Have you seen Soprano's lately ? Go to the mafia den. yeah right.

It's still confusing who's saying right and who's saying wrong.We need the
correct answer to understand this problem.

 

[Kev]

Yes software controls hardware devices, but if a component fails it is usually because the component isnt rated correctly. Its the firmware on the circuitboard of the CD drive that controls the device interface anyway you dont send controls directly. You'll be telling me that motherboard manufacturers and intel are responsible for cpu fan failures next because they are causing the fans to spin too fast, instead of the fact that cpu fans are made for about 2p and have brass bearings instead of a decent ballrace to keep costs down.

 

[RabbleRouser]

Starforce has had no affect on my PC and I doubt it has on anybody elses computer. As was said before, it just sounds like a load of old tosh that somebody made up because starforce makes it almost impossible to copy games.

 

[fanirama]

...but if a component fails it is usually because the component isnt rated correctly...

Precisely. And from what I've been reading about Starforce, it installs some Ring 0 level device drivers that changes the normal operating ranges of optical drives eventually causing them to fail. Operating out of its rated parameters.
Hence, IMO starforce is bad and should be boycotted. Even if you uninstall the game, it still resides on your PC and causes mischief. Now this may not happen to everyone but it did happen to lots of people. The point I'm making is its not supposed to happen at all. Not to anyone.

 

[gaurav_indian]

So does it happen even after formatting the hard disk Or reinstalling the
operating system?

 

[madmick96]

my cd drive has suddenly started to *REV* in a strange way..

 

[gaurav_indian]

My friend has got BLIC 2005 and ever since he installed that game his system is not behaving normally.His system is suffering from frequent reboots and when he uninstalled it then it was behaving normally.

 

[hondeyho]

Aitzaz stop shouting - it is forbidden on these forums, look at the rules it is quite rude!

Just because it keeps on re-booting and yours doesn't, doesn't mean that it's pirated. Nobody is gonna answer you if you are THAT rude aitzaz.

you know what i think is the reason ppl hate Starfoce is that Papa Mama Boys Cant run their warez games

I can't state this enough times, we do NOT talk about Warez/Illegal Movies on this forum!

 

[aitzaz]

Sorry mate i have deleted that but its true!

MOst of the ppl hate Starforce because of that reason if talk to me personaly i can xplain better

And i have the solution of rebooting too! install service pack 2 for Xp and i tell it will never reboot!. The reboot usually happens when the game is loading on the first screen when SF is testing ur cd.I installed SP2 and it works fine>happy Mr.Hondeyho and again sorry for being rude but it is the fact

 

[Ste]

you know what i think is the reason ppl hate Starfoce is that Papa Mama Boys Cant run their warez games

I can't state this enough times, we do NOT talk about Warez/Illegal Movies on this forum!

To be fair though Aitzaz is posting against warez saying that people hate Starforce as it stops them from being able to play warez games. He is right about this and Starforce must be doing something right to be able to stop people copying games with SF protection.

 

[hondeyho]

Yes but I'm just saying that he was incredibly rude about it - anyway never mind. Let's just stop this stupid feuding.

 

[aitzaz]

Well friends i have searched various sites 2day.the thing i found was that starforce and the companies who use them like codies ubisoft have strickly stated that there is no harm of using SF games..............
If u really think using sf games is dangerous then if u like uninstall the game and use sf cleaner which is present in most of sf games like in blic dvd it is present in utilites folder.It will remove all Sf driver from ur pc.but when u run the game the drivers will be reinstalled as u need to have em to run any sf protected games


As i have mentioned in my earlier post if ur pc reboot while the cd is being analysed then for that as far as i think you need to install service pack2 for win Xp.U can get for free from Microsoft website or you can even download it from microsoft` site.I my self got it for free in the days when microsoft found bugs and they were giving SP2 cds for free