Insimenator.org

I haven't purchased anything for my Sims 2 past Seasons because I'm afraid of Securom. Do you think there's a valid reason I've been reading so much about how horrible Securom is to your computer?
Has anyone had personal experience?
I'd love to get BV and FT but from what I've been hearing, it wouldn't be worth it.  I just spent over $2,000. on this computer in January.  I don't want it being messed up for a $30 expansion pack game.
Please share any information you can.
Thanks in advance.

I bought a new computer this year and now I can't use my burner. I took it in several times to see if I had so virus or if something was wrong...it turns out it was BV...It stopped working after I purchased BV...I hate it. If the game crashes I'm never reinstalling it...

After the horror stories I've read about SecruRom, I'm not about to take that kind of a chance.

I almost bought an extra GIG of memory, but the temptation to expand beyond Pe(s)ts was there. I changed my mind.

There's not a company on this planet, or any planet for that matter, that can tell me what I can and cannot do on my computer.

I'm not about to let a company like EA destroy my livelyhood.

I have BV and FT and can still use my burner to make cd's and DVD's, but have a great wee program called Slysoft any DVD, it still works great with all backups I make if this helps. It cost me about $30 US

In February, this year, I lost the game owing to crashes. I also lost my backups. Long story. Recently, I bought a new computer-- Quad core CPU, 2gigs RAM, a wicked video card w. 520 ram on it, tons of hard drive space-- I reinstalled.  I have all the add-ons to Bon Voyage (BV).  I loaded everything up to Seasons & started rebuilding & populating Pleasantvew.  I found my 1000 downloads, still zipped, on another computer.  I have unzipped & installed most of them over a week. Then I installed BV w. the dreaded SecuROM.  While running with Seasons, I could shut off the game, go online & download some stuff-- not mods & hacks, mind, just stuff like eyes & clothes-- put them in the game & go back in.  After installing BV. I have to do this:  Make sure the BV disc is never in the machine unless I'm about to go into the game. Re-boot my machine everytime I download any product from the net & install it into the game.  Re-boot my machine each time, after I close the game & make sure I remove the disc from the CD drive.  If I don't take these precautions, the brand new state of the art computer jams & goes to black screen where even CntrL-alt-delete won't get me to Task Manager & I have to unplug the whole thing, reconnect & then boot up new.  If I leave the BV CD in the machine, it starts up chattering when I'm doing things totally unrelated to Sims2.  Like a rookie cop that's gotta look at everything I'm doing. It's un-nerving.  I must say the game runs well when I get it loaded & the load time after the Custom Products Screen is fast.  I assume SecuROM stops looking around then.  I have heard rumors that SecuROM writes itself to Ring0 instead of Ring3 which puts it in charge of the basic ops system (Windows) if it wants.  That's scary.  I may delete the whole game & reload up to Seasons but I really liked Vacations in the old Sims1 game & I'd like to try BV here before I make a final decision. I certainly won't be buying Free Style or the new Sims3 game when it comes out.  Happy Simming, Roger9

I forgot to mention one thing I think is important.  I asked for Windows XP on my new computer instead of Vista.  I hear the problems in Vista only complicate the problems in SecuROM.  Also, The BV CD disc, on startup, asks me frequently to use the original game disc instead of the backup disc.  I don't have a backup disc.  I just take the game disc out of the drive & reinsert it at a different angle.  SecuROM never asks twice.  I also want to tell people reading this, I hate people who steal intellectual property, that is artistic designs & writing & computer programs.  I have had furniture designs stolen from me in my design career & I know the pain.  Have a look at this site.  http://securom.sublimesims.net/smf/index.php It is a pretty scary place to visit but they seem to have a serious attitude.  Roger9

Roger-I hope you're not serious about SAS being a "scary place to visit"..we're trying to make sense of SecuRom, and not scare everyone to death. We've tried very hard to make it as friendly and inviting as possible for everyone to read our threads, join the fight and to have a little fun.
True, SecuRom is a very bad thing-but we're trying to change EA's attitude about their customers and their pain.
But you do have a point-come and visit us if you would like the "other side's " facts about this program and its issues.

to:mary-- I think what I read about SecuROM on the SAS site is 'scary' in as much as people are claiming sustained damage to their hardware & software programs after loading Sims2 Bon Voyage w. SecuROM protection. I think the SAS site is a good idea-- it's good to examine what SecuROM does to people's computers & let the general public know whether this is a real threat to the average computer's ops system by an over-zealous programmer at EA trying to protect their intellectual property from being stolen & used by other game design groups or-- you still with me?-- just a greedy program you can unload & everything in your system will be OK again.  To deelicious1920:  From what I've read, SecuROM is a piracy protection program that Electronic Arts has included w. Sims2 Bon Voyage, one of the Fashion Packs for Sims2 (I can't remember which off-hand) & every program since then including Free Style.  People have claimed that, after loading BV or Free Style, they cannot burn CD's & other programs on their computer have been altered. I suggest you visit Mary's SAS site w. web addy above to get more info. Roger9.

I would hope that I am not alone in this, but I have Vista and a brand new machine.  I had a graphics and gaming computer built and with all the EP's and SP's installed, I still have not had any issues.

My CD stays in the ROM as I am terrified of it getting scratches and I am always connected to the internet.  My husband is an IT, so if there were something going on, he would be the first to hear about it from me ... LOL.

As to the burning of DVD's, no problem there either.  I have a Light Scribe burner that burns images into the CD / DVD ... I have 2 year old twin neices and am always burning their photos (gawds there are so many) and the video's that we record of them fro mthe camcorder.

I hope that my results will help to calm some of you, I am sorry if others don't agree.  I'm not trying to tell anyone anything, except that I have no issues.  Best of wishes to all.

what is securom?

Look @ MaryH's signature.  ;)

SecuROM is a protective privacy package designed by Electronic Arts to prevent people from altering or copying parts of their programs.  It seems to affect different computers in different ways. Read up at http:\\securom.sublimesims.net\ for more detail. For those who report no changes or problems in their computer behaviour, aren't you the lucky ones?  I have to reboot my brand new computer before I put the Bon Voyage disc into the machine, every time.  It's still worth having that tropical island in my game, though.  Roger9

SecuRom never had any effect on my PC.
I wont say its harmless, because of all the bitching and moaning people do about it...there HAS to be something very evil about it...

All I do...install the game from original discs, and then get a no-cd/dvd. thats it, dont even start the game with the original installer or off the disc, and there will be no securom.

Id rather be safe than sorry... and even while no-dvd etc stuff is considered 'wrong' by some people, i dont see a point in that. see, i legally own all my games, and i believe that you have to do what you must to make your gaming experience the way you want it. If you have illegal games, thats your problem if everything stuffs up.

To Tomkat-- been away. Read your post & I think you should tell us how to get a no-cd/dvd unless it's illegal or very fattening. I also think people posting their problems & successes about SecuROM should say what hardware they have & whether they run Windows XP or Vista (or ME, or 98,etc). Then we would have better knowledge about what systems SecuROM is screwing up.  Another point to Tomkat-- You don't legally own all your games.  If you read the licence agreement that they make you sign when you download the game from web or CD, you will usually see legaleeze statements about your limited right to use the game, your total prohibition from copying it or any parts of it, & on & on.  If you own a car you can do what you like w. it-- If you own a game, there is very little you can legally do with it except play.  So I'm taking my own advice above in this post & here goes:
My computer has an Intel Core 2 quad Q6600 @2400MHz, Ram: 2x 1024DDR2-SDRAM, Nvidia GeForce 8800GT video card & a ST3320620AS 320 GB hard drive which is 10% used. I am operating w. Windows XP Home edition 5.01.2600 Service Pack 3.  This should be enough power to run anything & any game now in existance.  BUT-- It still takes me 2 or 3 tries to start up Sims Bon Voyage.  Once it's running, I have no problems w. freezes or other crap.  If the computer has been running & I had time away from the desk & it's in sleep mode, starting up I always get some error message. Either it's a dark screen w. a frozen load that won't ever respond to control-alt-delete. I have to shut the unit off manually & start again. Or, the BV CD sends messages like, "Take the backup CD out of the drive & try the original disc."  I don't have a back-up, I wouldn't know how to make one & I am using the original BV CD that came w. my purchased game.  The third error message is "Time out. Insufficient time to search for the disc. Try Again?"  You can imagine my frustration when I get all 3 of these error mesages in one attempt to play the game, one after the other. If I didn't enjoy the BV add-on so much, I would delete the whole mess (after saving my documents, of course) & reload up to  Seasons & play with that.  Does anyone know if EA plans to fix this mess or are they just moving on as usual?  Roger9

I'd say, they're just moving right along as usual.

Nothing on the horizon indicates they have any intention of making life easier for the people that own SecuRom.

Sytem:  Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition V.2002 Service Pack 3, Dell Dimension DM051, Intel(R), Pentium(R) D CPU, 2.80 GHz, 2.79 GHz, 2.00 GB of RAM, RADEON X300 SE 128MB Hyper Memory  - did I forget anything ???

I have the original Sims2 game, ALL expansion packs, and ALL stuff packs except the new Ikea Stuff (which I am not going to buy).

I have not had any known issues with my system since installing and running these games, eps, sps.  My game runs fine, I put in the disk, it loads, I play.

It doesn't crash (since I did the patch anyways).

NOW- I am not saying that suck-u-rom is good... it just hasn't been an issue for me on this particular computer.

I am almost certain that it did however have something to do with the fatal meltdown of the older pc we had before this one.  ;)

I've been leary of other games too because of all this "stuff" these companies are cramming down our throats...  IE- Portal/The Orange Box... heard of it?

Oh yes- we got all kinds of CRAP installed on our pc- it totally fried our other Dell... we ended up having to buy a new pc.  GRRRR

So- while I don't agree with the way this SecuRom is shoved on us by EA/Maxis.... they aren't the only ones that are sticking lots of un-wanted crud on the games we buy.

As far as "are they going to fix it?"

Don't hold your breath...

I have all the ep's... all of which had "issues" that I had to seek out hacks, mods, and fixes for.

I have all the sp's... all of which had "issues" that I had to seek out hacks, mods, and fixes for.

I am not buying the Ikea one because I'm tired of being the "test dummy".

Besides... what choice do companies have but to try to "secure" their property from theives?

It's a no-brainer... as long as people are stealing the software... there is going to be an effort to secure it.

If a few pc's die along the way... well... that's the price we all have to pay for there being bad-apples in the world I guess. ;)

I won't be doing much whining about any of this though... because I simply cannot imagine "NOT" playing the Sims...

It's kinda like oreos and peanut m&M's...

They make me fat... I don't like being fat... but I'm not gonna stop eating them... LMAO

I feel bad for anyone whose having problems with their computers because of the SecuRom crap.  I guess I've been lucky. :)

(off to knock on wood...)

Securom sucks and EA should be punished for screwing with us. That's my take.

I don't have any problem with the Securom - I only have to restart my computer, after surfing, or updating something in any of my files. After that, all works fine, no crashes, no nothing.

Everything was fine on my laptop i had up to free time installed on my laptop and then decided to get bon voyage, installed it and played it a couple of times. I use to always leave the disk in the tray as i didn wanna go searching for it each time. Then one day i clicked on the sims desktop icon and it said please insert disk!! it was already in so i ejected it, put it back in and tryed again...got the same message so i went to my computer icon and my cd drive had dissapeared from there! After that nothing would work so i though maybe its a driver issue took the laptop to the pc repair guy who after testing said the drive itself was broke!!(it was a dvd/RW drive) I could not believe it my laptop had to be sent off for three weeks and i also got him to wipe the drive as it was running very slow. I really believe that secuRom on bon voyage did this to my laptop i now only have up to free time installed and never leave the disk in the tray and everything seems ok but im scared to purchase any new eps or even the sims3 which is a bit sad

That's not logical at all blueeyesangel, SecuRom is also on Freetime, so since you already had FT installed, there's no way SecuRom on BV could've caused your issues, because it's exactly the same as on FT.

I agree. The drive was probably damaged in transit. As a matter of course, more to protect the CD itself than the drive, I always remove the CD as soon as I am finished with it to protect both the CD and the drive. Sometimes I remove it as soon as the SIMS load screen starts, right after the EA screen. In any case, so far I've not had any problems with Securom on either my PC, an XP machine, or my laptop, a VISTA machine.

One thing I forgot. Every once in a rare while I get the please load the original disk instead of a backup message, I just remove the CD and reload it and the problem goes away, or sometimes it persists so I hold the CD by the rim and use my shirt as a buffer/cleaner and then reload the CD and it works. Sometimes we all forget that with a lot of use, the disks get dirty and need a cleaning.

I have all the games and never had any problems with it same with my friend who also owns all the games. I Run it on my laptop it loads at a decent rate and never crashes or slows down nor does it mess with anything else on the laptop.

Hi rockguitardevil-- it would help other people if you would tell us about your machine, the CPU, RAM & video card & size of hard drive when you have no problems so people buying a new machine would have some idea of what to buy when they are upgrading. roger9.

Would anyone be able to tell me if this issue is SecuRom related?  I don't remember when this started (as in, with what EP or stuff pack), but I do know that I noticed the problem first while playing the Sims 2.

It's not huge, just annoying.

Now and then, my computer starts up as if it is trying to run a disc (not sure which drive, I have both a CD and DVD drive).  It makes a lot of noise for a few minutes, then quiets down.  At first I was thinking that maybe my computer was getting overheated from playing Sims, and it was just the fan going (even though it really does sound like a disc drive).  But I try to keep my computer in a cooler area with circulation, and I don't leave it on for days and days (I know some people do that; I don't).

It mainly does this when I am playing the Sims (about every 20-30mins when the game is running).  It will continue to do it after I get out of the game.  It won't do it if I haven't played the game in a while (though once in a great great while it will do it, which is why I wasn't certain if it was related to heat and the fan).  But I am more sure that it sounds like one of my disc drives.

Other than that, I don't really have a problem burning anything (I don't have anything fancy, ACID music works okay, WMP works good).  It just irks me that when I put in a CD to burn (for a data CD), it opens up another program (that came with my computer) as a default program now to burn, which it never did before.

I have yet to install FT and AL (Just got them semi-free from trading stuff in at GameStop).  I wanted to do some research on SecuRom first.  Are these problems random, or do you have to have certain system specs to encounter them?

Also, is anyone aware if ACID music, Sonar, or Reason (all music programs) are affected any way by the addition or removal of SecuRom?

Thanks in advance!

I don't think it's SecuRom on that part.  If that happens, Zelia, you should delete the following files, then restart it to see if the game comes up:

Groups.cache
Accessory.cache
cigen.package
ContentRegistry

These are four files in the game that can be easily corrupted, and regenerate after the game runs/closes out.  ;)

Thanks Tenshii~Akari, I'll try that out!

to Zelia Theb:  My CD drive does what you describe during the Sims2 game after I loaded Bon Voyage. Previously I had everything except stuff pacs up to Seasons & I had no problems. Now, while playing the game, if I take pics & go to 'Storytelling' to label the pics, the SecuROM program thinks I'm stealing something & starts rattling the CD drive.  If I forget to take the BV CD out of the drive at the end of my game play, sometime the SecuROM program starts up if I'm downloading Sims stuff from the net.  Occasionally, the drive goes crazy when I doing things totally unrelated to the Sims. It's the SecuROM program attached to Bon Voyage & everything since then.  I'm sure of it now.  It has nothing to do w. heat or fans.  I have a brand new Quad4 CPU, tons of hard drive space & 2 gigs of RAM.  Recently, I've been experiencing many lock-ups & crashes that I never had w. Seasons.
to Tenshii Akari:  I tried deleteing the Accessory.cache & Groups.cache a couple of times lately before I read your post-- got the info from SimWatch-- & it certainly helps.  I also removed the file 'ContentRegistry' but that one does not regenerate in my game.  Those 3 files are tagged onto the File 'The Sims 2' without a sub-folder.  But-- where or where is 'cigen.package' ?  Thanks for Reading this. Roger9.

The cigen.package would be in the same place as the other files.  That's your Bodyshop's thumbnails cache, which despite it being reserved mainly for that program, can still prevent your game from running if it corrupts.  If it's not there, then it wasn't created/respawned.  The next time you ever decide to run Bodyshop, it'll create that file.  ;)

As for the ContentRegistry not restoring itself... not sure why it isn't, but it should.  It probably does when you open your Buy/Build mode catalogs.  :dontknow:

I’m running Windows XP with service pack 2, Athlon AMD processor and  ATI Radon 9250 game card. I normally just leave the disc in the drive.

I have all eps up to Apartment Life and FT, GL, H&M stuff packs. I’ve been running BV for months now and the only problem I’ve had was the dreaded blue screen which I fixed by downsizing my downloads folder.  I just put FT on and have only had hack related issues. I can still burn discs, I use Windows Media Player. I’ve never had a problem with freeze ups or task manager. I do have occasional modem issues, but that has nothing to do with SecuRom it started long before I put BV on.

Hi all~well after reading all the blogs i thought i'd throw my 2 cents in lol~ i have all the EP's except apartment life & i dont have ikea but i have 3 SP's~the only probs ive had is after i dwnload my 1st game(deluxe) i have to manually install all my other games. Ive had no issues with my Sims2(knock on wood) but that also could be due to the killer security proggy i use~if there's anything nasty on my puter it alerts me and gets rid of it asap.Im keepin my fingers crossed  that after i buy apartment life i continus error free.
Happy Simming & Insimenator Rocks for all the cool stuff for our games.

After I read the horror stories about suckurom, I literally quit buying the games after buying Pets, which I no longer have installed on my computer since CAS crashes.  Let me give you a hint to the order of which I obtained my EPs:  Nightlife, Uni, Pets,
Glamour Life/Happy Holiday, Seasons, BV.

And to date, I have no problems with the game.

While I've had absolutely no issues with SecuROM, I'm still very concerned.  
The company "Stardock' has a 'Gamer Bill of Rights' which I would totally support.  It includes things like the right to know when software is being installed on your system, the right to know what that software does, etc.
The privacy issues that SecuROM breeches make me angry with EA.  No program - that I was NOT informed was installing - should be able to affect other programs on MY personal computer.

That said, the idea of boycotting EA is a little more than I can take.  I have every single thing released for TS2 except for IKEA stuff.

Guys, the versions of SecuROM vary from EP to EP. They have gone to a harsher version with AL and I invite you to check out what people are saying over at the PRISM and Reclaim Your Game. This site hosts a button for RYG on the front page. It's not all in the imaginations of the people affected, trust me. I was one of them and I went through hell.

Update from me on SecuROM (aptly sub-titled suckurom by someone):  My game crashes regularly & if I didn't value BV so much, I'd give it away with its Prima Guide & reload the game to Seasons as the last update that is worthy.  I find these 2 files each time before I start up (Accessory.cache & Groups.cache) & delete them. The game will regenerate these files without the screwups in them-- there may be other screwups but this lightens the load.  It takes longer to start the program but I get fewer lockups & crashes.  I have no intention of buying anymore Sims2 add-ons & I certainly would not buy Sims3 & let those wild buccaneers from EA into my computer further.  Soon there will be other 3D games that don't involve recharging electronic killer blasters or driving at amazing speeds.  I don't trust the guys at EA not to write programs directly into my computer from their computers.  EA computer, writing directly to Roger's computer in Ring0: EA puter--"You will do exactly what I say." Roger's puter-- "Yes master."  Unhappy simming, Roger9.

I have all 8 EPs from Uni to Apartment Life, but no 'Stuff' packs. I installed them all in order, applying the patch to each (except Apt life of course), after each install. I also have ZERO Custom Content at the moment (waiting on InSim though:))

My game works fine for me. No problems, except the Sims 2 launcher sometimes doesn't want to start the game. It will either freeze up (where then I have to 'End Task' to unfreeze and try again), or I restart my computer and launch again and it will be fine.

Other than that one thing, everything else has been working fine so far (crosses fingers)...



**I am currently running Window XP Professional, Service Pack 3. I also have a Intel Quad Q6600 CPU, 4GB of 2x2GB OCZ Platinum XTC ram, 1000 watt SilverStone Power Supply, and 2 Galaxy GeForce 8800GT running in SLI. My motherboard is an Asus P5N32-E.

Just out of curiousity, am I safe to buy Uni, NL, Pets, and any of the SPs up to Seasons?

EA is seriously paranoid over pirates...

I have up to OFB and no SecuROM

Known EA Games according to the Wikipedia- Pet Stories, Deluxe, H&M Fashion, and Bon Voyage

That was before.  If you're buying a newer disk of the older EPs at any retail dealer now (Seasons and below)  they have a greater chance of containing SecuRom on them, since a lot of those disks were re-produced and shipped again.  :(

Muwahahaha! I just dont use the original .exe, I dont like SecuROM crappyness.

Securom needs to be outlawed.
We buy a product, not a service.
Oxymoron there as most of these have atrocious help.
Some of this stuff I expect to still be using when EA is long dead and gone. Not unlike what they did to Origin Games. I still play Ultima Games on occasion. THe Securom and other malware on Spore, Sims 3, and beyond will steal this option from you.

I bought each CD/DVD and will use No-CD/No Secorom cracks as the game actually has run better and without the most egregious bugs since I began using them after the release of BV.

Watch your firewall the launcher likes to write home.
Launch your game the old maxis way, with the EP exe, preferrably cracked.

I'm a little confused. what is everyone talking about? what is securom?

:smile bi:  Sites linked once again in MaryH's signature:

http://www.reclaimyourgame.com/
http://www.the-prism.com/

Go there to learn more about what it can do, and why so many people despise it.  ;)

My final opinion on secuROM: Companies should realise that people are going to both buy and pirate the games that they put out, no matter how big of a booby trap you set up; however, considering that it's in The Sims franchise, the absolute majority are going to buy the game, even through the countless rants about how the games are buggy and lagging quality.  After all- once the games were released with SecuROM instead of Safedisk, the games became lower in caliber.  Also, the company clearly underestimated the ability of Scandinavian college students.  Otherwise I wouldn't have Bon Voyage today. :P

For those of you who missed it somehow, this is a link to a "Bill of Rights" for gamers released by Stardock, an independent game publisher and distributor.
http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/08/29/stardock-releases-gamer039s-bill-rights-pax

That site also has a lot of other recent news about EA and Spore and the T2 failed acquisition.

I've bought Stardock distributed games before and for what they are, they are very good. They appeal more to the gamer with a limited budget, limited time, or more interested in casual gaming. Stardock's president has the idea that people who pirate games aren't going to buy them no matter what you do, so you should target your games to the broadest audience that is likely to buy, and cultivate customer loyalty by not treating your paying customers with suspicion. Bravo! Finally! His company is surely not making as much money as EA, but they also aren't getting trashed all over Amazon by ex-customers.

Kudos, a Positech game available over at Stardock or on the Kudos site is sort of a simplified version of the Sims, by the way. It has nowhere near the complexity, but it's very satisfying on that sort of casual game level. I bought it from Stardock to reward them for their bill of gamer rights and don't regret it. It came with no copyright protection, you don't need to be online to play it, and it doesn't even phone home for free the updates unless you want it to. I don't normally play casual games, but the whole experience with both companies is so refreshing compared to what I am used to getting from game companies, I think I will try their other games, too. Kudos is very easily moddable, intentionally. It may be too simple for some of you, though. If you start feeling withdrawals and temptation over one of the newer Sims2 expansions or packs, it might ease your cravings a little bit until sanity returns.

http://www.stardock.com
http://www.positech.co.uk/kudos/index_variant_video.html
Both of those companies give modders :love4:

I will always love the Sims, but I am not going to knowingly buy anything with Securom on it because my Dell computer came with at least 3 programs it blacklists. Oooh, I must be a pirate because I paid an arm and a leg for an XPS system and don't want to wreck my hardware. Dell customers should be aware that if you have anything preinstalled on your system called Nero, Roxio, or Amapi, or you have an IDE CD/DVD device or even a digital camera or printer which came with your system, you may be at risk of permanent, irreparable hardware damage from Securom. Some users have had DVD drives replaced by Dell but Dell knows about the Securom problem, and it's no guarantee you will be able to get a replacement if even after ridding yourself of Securom(with difficult) your DVDs still do not work or you can't back up your professional work or school work to disks. One Dell customer said she got a replacement because she had inadvertantly bought software which contained Securom as part of a bundle with her computer. Would she have gotten one otherwise? It's hard to know. It's not Dell's fault or the customer's when a customer is subjected to a stealth program/possible rootkit. Forgive me if I doubt Sony's word after their previous history.

Sony's belief is you don't have the right to use Process Explorer to see what's running on your own computer because that apparently somehow violates their involuntary terms of service that you aren't allowed to try to figure out how their software works. Chances are, you never agreed to any terms of service with them and their software invisibly invaded your computer, which is actually illegal in some other places where current EA games are sold. I am not sure where they get their righteousness. If I caught a guy disabling my TV in my living room because I "might potentially" be planning to steal from a friend of his, and then he told me I had no right to check his pockets, he might be legally correct depending on where it took place because he is a person and accorded certain legal rights, but using Process Explorer on your own system for the intended uses is no crime anywhere that I know about. It's basically a troubleshooting tool. Here's what it does. Ask yourself if Sony has the right to forbid you to use it, and if there is any justifiable reason a person running it should be considered a likely pirate.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

EA, dump the Securom or you will not only lose my purchases of any Sims2 software which has it, but also my purchase of the entire Sims3 line, which I absolutely would have collected. Not that you apparently care there are thousands like me. SafeDisk made games tricky to install but it didn't cost me more hassles than one reboot into safe mode. And Sony? I've been boycotting them for years now. This hubris and mistreatment is nothing new for them.

End of :rant:

I play mine on two computers, on my fiances comp, I aint had problems with Securom. On mine, I dont know if it is caused by this or just the fact my computers getting too old. I try not to think about the fact it is on my computer, and just enjoy the games. I think its wrong to put something like this into a game and scare people out of wanting to buy the new expansions, but I wanted to get them, so I did. So far so good, although I probably just cursed myself now lol.

I have not gone past pets.  I don't  have that good of a computer but even if I did  I am undeceided.   What about the fixes they use to get rid of secure rom at E.A or do you have to go thru the whole "no cracked cd  mess??  I would  be very confused.

At the sites that Tenshii noted (and that are in my sig), you will find the removal instructions for SecuRom.
They're not easy, but then again, you're getting rid of a very invasive and destructive piece of malware that likes to settle deeply into your computer.
Do not use the instructions at EA. They're useless.
Our instructions, by the way, were developed with the help of JM Pescado, the god of the mods.
(even Squinge will agree with that statement.)
If JMP approved them, they work.

The EA "fixes" only sent people around in circles.  Once you removed SecuRom with the tool, you wouldn't be able to play your game the normal way without re-installing it on your computer... thus the "illegal" methods many have had to take in order to play the games they bought.   :?

And I'm personally happy to see that Stardock and Positech are part of the (rare) companies that still care about their consumer-base's computers.  :clap:  Hard to find some these days that are too worried about pirating and loosing profits rather than the fans.  ;)

My take on Securom?

I made it my policy not to buy any game unless there's a no CD/DVD patch out already. So these pieces of cack don't enter my drive. They're more than useless anyway, since the games are cracked within hours of them hitting the market. All these so called security tools are only there to annoy customers.

And securom especially? Well, since the sony scandal a few years back, the label sony is a major deterrent for me.

As far as i know Securom worked ok till they did a update on it wich wasn't properly tested.
This update came with Bon voyage(correct me if im wrong) and wasn't compatible with alot cd/dvd drives wich resulted in a game that wouldn't start.
Securom will Never crash your game, it simply prevents it from starting.
The exe will freeze and you have to end it with the task manager before you can have a 2nd attempt.

I suspect Securom is trying to update their product by making it compatible with all cd/dvd drives and those updates come with the EP's after Bon Voyage.
When i installed Bath and Kitchen my problems were gone while it didn't fix it for others.

Securom was already in Seasons and in the special basegame cd's(with one EP included)
Nobody ever complained about it till they made a mistake, and now we want to shoot them..........

You might consider why they invented securom, to avoid piracy and that also includes the people that borrowed EP's from eachother or installed the game on more then one computer.

How would you feel when you invent something nice and your neighbor makes 100 copy's of it and gives them away for free......

Thats how i think about it. ;)

Not the point. The point is, it doesn't do what it's supposed to do. Like with any other copy protection programms it's a laugh for those wanting to hack things and an annoyance for honest customers. And it was qualified as being a proud member of the most aggressive family of malwares some years back - namely rootkits. It doesn't matter if it's administered by a major corporation, it's still a rootkit.

In the state of California the installation of software, including copyright protection software on people's computers without knowledge and consent is now illegal but they are probably gambling there will be no class action suit like Sony had with a previous copyright protection software issue. I don't know about law in other states and other countries, but EA is based in California. Yes, piracy is a real problem for companies and I do understand that, but as many people have pointed out, the people who pirate have cracks (and because of Securom and Starforce etc. now many people who do not pirate have turned to those as well). I have elected not to use methods to break Securom, but to do that means I can't play any of the games I may buy without knowing they contain Securom. I am lucky that I know how to check for it, but most consumers don't and although EA has a warranty, not all companies do for games. People who BOUGHT the games are spending money on tech support with their computer manufacturer, on new hardware, because they do not at first realize their CD/DVD capability was disabled or destroyed by Securom. In some cases, the person's software tells them a burn was successful and there's actually nothing on the disc, their backup is empty. A lot of people have computers that are used for work/home business as well as gaming. Obviously someone could lose an awful lot if they didn't think to verify the backup. Think of the family photos, the financial records, all the things that people actually bother to back up. Most people do not back up games, if they back up anything. They back up items of value. Even then many software licenses allow you to make a single copy of the software for backup reasons, to protect your investment in the software.

Actually, beforehand EA had Safedisc (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SafeDisc) as their anti-piracy software, and it only caused a few known hiccups (i.e. a few interferences in installing the game in normal Windows mode).  SecuRom didn't come into the picture until H&M and BV were released, and thereon after.  Trust me, if Seasons had SecuRom on it when I first bought it, I would've found it by now.  Even did the searching just in case when the news came out about it, but everything came out clean.  ;)

ETA:  And now that I have a clearer head after a good night's rest, I do agree with you on a few things, BlooM.  :angel:  They did try to protect their hard work and investments... but I guess my "sharing" mentality kinda takes over when I don't see a lot of software pirates as a major setback to the company as a whole.  I could see if they were trying to prevent people from pirating and selling the game at any price, though.  That's where there'd be a real problem.  But seeing as EA has over 100 million copies of Sims games sold, plus the fact that they're a prominent corporation in the console gaming genre (just about every RL-based sports game is made by them), should they really be that worried over it?  They have(/had) the customer loyalty and support, and as long as they keep making good games, people will buy them, despite the "free" copies roaming around.  (not condoning software pirating... people that work hard to create the games we play do deserve the profits)

My only gripe is that they have very little faith in consumers... a lot of people saw the true worth in actually buying the game up until the whole train wreck of problems they had with the new software.  Heck, a lot of people still do see the worth in spite of that fact, just not as many as before.  Now after reading up on what it can do to your computer, some people just don't want to take the risk to even try.  I'm still not willing myself, and I'm not going to take the "other" route because I personally don't think it's worth it.  Just me, of course.  Can't speak for everyone else, though.  :lol:

The fact of the matter is that Securom does  not prevent piracy, or does it enhance your gaming experience.
It is full of malware, and it has a lousy track record of disabling emulation drivers, such as CD or DVD burners. It is invasive and installs itself to your inner-most computer workings. It takes forever to remove it.
In other words, it is spyware of the worst kind and it is not for your benefit. It is for EA's.

Yea I didn't really know about securom until Freetime... however I always got no-cd cracks for my games so I think/hope it was never installed on my PC. In my great weakness... I got AL to finish the series. :slap:

I know many people would frown at me for giving EA money after knowing about securom... Actually my sister was pretty mad at me when I told her what I did, she's been anti-securom for some time already (she plays sims as well).  The Freetime version of Securom actually messed with her computer pretty bad so I can understand.

So what is my take on Securom: I hate Sony/Securom, I am totally disgusted with EA and I vow never to buy anything ever again after this in the hopes that one day they will get their heads out of their butts and remove Securom from all their future releases

That'll be the day when the Easter bunny and father christmas make a personal appearance to shake hands.

I really want to look into the heads of these corporate suits. It has been proven again and again, that no copy protection whatsoever prevents piracy. And what do they do? They treat you to a first class rootkit, one of the most aggressive pieces of spyware on the market which also happens to fiddle with your drives and - god forbid - virtual drives.

Yes, I know, they have to introduce some kind of protection to be legally on the safe side should they happen to stumble over a pirate, but any piece of protection would do that kind of job. No need for rolling out the nukes.

But make no mistake about it. People will keep on buying. Kids pestering their parents and mummy or daddy, who haven't got a clue about securom will stare in silent wonder at their rigs and ask themselves why all over sudden their rigs don't do what they should do anymore.

I have no problem with Securom and never did. If any of you have been playing games (other than the Sims) over the past 15 years, then you knew about Securom long ago.

I have 10 year old games still on my pc that use securom protection. I would classify it as being less invasive than Starforce.

Like or not, I think around 50% of all games that come out these days have Securom. So are you going to quit playing games just because they have a copy protection? You just insert the disc and play. It's no big deal.

And no, Securom does not destroy computers or fry your dvd drive. Anyone who says stuff like that (especially on the official ea Sims 2 forums) is probably making up stories to get attention or else they don't know much about computers and are mistaken.

So, Securom is fine by me. The developer can do whatever they want to protect their game. I guess if you don't like it then don't buy the Sims 2 or 50% of the other games that came out last month either :smt120

I would like to respectfully disagree with every single statement you made.
SecuRom has disabled entire drives, DVD players, CD players and destroyed entire systems. There are hundreds, if not thousands of gamers who have had to replace parts of or their entire computer for what it does to it.
It is not a figment of our imagination that it is spyware, or harmful.
SecuRom has not been out for more than 5 years. Before it was used, EA used another type of DRM which was quite less onerous.
About 75%  of games now being made are using SecuRom.
If you would like more information about the reality of what it does, please visit the website in my sig.
I think you would learn a lot about this issue.

Here's my take on SecuROM:

*I used my factory installed disc drive to back up my personal information once a week.

*After installing BV, I could no longer use my disc drive.

*After researching and following every instruction from my computer manufacturer, EA and burner manufacturer, I still couldn't use my disc drive.  Then I heard about SecuROM, and the issues listed on EA's very own site were identical to my own.

*After using the removal tools EA provided, I still couldn't use my burner.

*After finding and using the SecuROM removal tools at SAS/RYG, I found SecuROM still on my system in spite of using the removal tools.

*I removed SecuROM and now I can once again burn cd/dvd's.

I don't pirate; I personally don't want to or agree with it.  I believe that game manufacturers' have the right to protect their products.  I don't, however, believe that they have the right to interfere with the legitimate operation of my computer, nor do I believe they have the right to lie to me about the products used.  In my experience, EA did all of those things.

The answer are no DVD/CD patches. That's what I am doing. They may be in the grey zone, but being an IT journalist for quite some time now, I make it my policy not to install something on my computer, that has close relations to malware and have at least the potential of the "ET phones home" syndrome.

The mentioned starforce of course is another one of these goodies.

Just because some people don't have problems with SecuROM, doesn't mean that others haven't. I'm one of the unfortunates that have and let me tell you, I'd love to take that DRM and ram it down the throat of whoever invented it and see how well they function after the removal. Check out the PRISM if you want to take off the blinders and actually find out what it's all about.

My new situation w. Bon Voyage & Securom.  First let me say I don't copy games for any reason & I take the copyright agreement with manufacturers seriously.  I find most software designers reasonable & respectful of their customers.  EA, packaging SecuROM for the first time w. their Bon Voyage add-on to the Sims, are not respecful of anyone's computer software or hardware.  I have posted my problems earlier in this thread-- the lock-ups, the crashes, the need to take the original game disc out of the drive everytime before I shut down & endure frequent error messages that were just plain silly when I tried to load Sims@ again.  After reading the whole site 'reclaimyourgame' and several other related sites, I took the chance of wrecking my ops system by going into my regedit, sys32 in Windows, several other places including my Docs file-- and deleting all the files related to SecuROM.  I followed instructions carefully.  I found & downloaded a 'no CD patch' from a site called GameCopyWorld.  I can joyously report that it's fun to play the game again.  At start up, it loads to neighborhood in less than 2 minutes.  I have 80% fewer crashes & no stupid error messages  like 'use the original game disc' etc.  I can close the game to do other things w. my computer & open again in much less than 2 minutes.  I cannot buy any additional Sims add-ons because those discs would load SecuROM all over again.  I don't want to go thru' the nerve-wrack of doing this again.  I caution anyone planning to go this route of the dangers.  Before following the removal instructions, back up all important files everywhere in your computer & don't do this when you're tired-- you're risking screwing yourself back to a reformatting of your hard drive. Be aware that the back ups you just made are probably infected w. SecuROM so, if your computer ops system is not diminished by your scrubbing out SecuROM, you should delete the backups afterwards.   There are now game review sites that will tell you if new games coming out for sale have SecuROM on them for security.  I respect EA's desire to protect their intellectual property but, at this time, they are only screwing their customers w. SecuROM cause-- according to the web sites I've reviewed-- it only takes between one day & a week to crack the security codes in Sim games & then the barbarians are copying the discs & selling them over the net.  I'm happy when my computer is happy.  I knew I had a general problem when, one day, I had forgotten the Sims Bon Voyage disc in the drive & it started chattering furiously when I went on-line.  I hadn't played the Sims for 24 hrs. What was SecuROM doing?  Reporting to headquarters?  Roger9.

Backups aren't infected with Securom. Securom is rooted deep within your system, not your neighbourhoods or any other given stuff on the surface. It's, like I ave said many times before, basically a root kit with the potential to bring harm.

Mind the word potential!

For me though, any potential to change the setup of my rig without my knowledge, is intolerable. Most users probably won't face any difficulties unless they run virtual drives or use software like Alcohol or daemon tools. In this case securom might demand the removal of said software and drives.

As despicable as SecuRom may be, it is not a virus, as abaris has said.  Your backups will still be safe to use.  To clarify on what a rootkit really does:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootkit

SecuRom is along those lines by disallowing certain parts of your machine to function correctly whenever it sees a "potential" threat of pirating, though not in direct control of another hidden "user", but of bad coding itself.  People have gotten lucky, like nobody7382 and others, but there are still others who have come across problems because SecuRom doesn't like their hardware or software installed, even legal software.  As invasive as that is, I don't blame people for being angry about it... heck, I was quite angry about it when I first found out it does that, but I've since calmed down over the issue, seeing as it won't do me any good to be yet another "unaffected rager" about it.  :lol:  And yes, the potential of people making up stories about it on the BBS and other sites is there... but honestly we can't rule out the possibility of said stories being true, right?  (...well, the "outlandish" ones are most likely unbelievable, but those along the lines of the normal symptoms that everyone has experienced should be considered.)

I must not have problems with SecuRom, because I don't even know what it is. I have Bon Voyage and Freetime, and I don't remember ever having problems with them when I installed them, or anything after they were installed. O_o

I hear that someone (or a certain company) is getting sued (http://www.gamepolitics.com/2008/09/24/ea-faces-class-action-lawsuit-over-spore-drm).  :twisted:

Interesting, though... wonder how this whole case will turn out.  I'll definitely be keeping an eye out on the news matter.  :lol:

Ther'a another class action suit over their Sports Games too.

Yeah, that's why I always say, that this piece of crap doesn't get an invitation to my hard drive. It's just another step of corporate suits adressing the consumer as the enemy. You're very welcome to deliver your money, but don't mind if we're taking over your computer.

I certainly hope they pay dearly - more than a whole legion of pirates would cost them.

Maybe if enough of us sent e-mails to our favorite game review sites, they would start by testing the security programs that the game designers were using & report whether the new games were safe to use when they were released.  It's not just EA that is buying SecuROM from Sony to prevent piracy. Roger 9.

I read that in school today. Maybe SecuROM will be gone as a result...


Oh, and I found http://www.courthousenews.com/2008/09/23/Spore.pdf

I can't wait to see what happens to the Spore DRM lawsuit!

Yeah, that's the major issue. Disk protection - each and everyone - is useless and only there to annoy those, who are actually willing to pay. That's corporate wisdom at its finest. Annoy those who're still paying for your crap and maybe you can generate a whole new generation of pirates by pissing off your customers.