Install Bioshock, get free Rootkit.

[[AK]Squidly]

Kinda sux...

http://hylomorph.livejournal.com/35472.html

[[AK]Clay]

You have to have a Steam account? Screw it. I'll pay the cash for the game, but I hate that noise. Let me know when the cracks are out to bypass that junk.

[[AK]Squidly]

It's the other uninstallable crap that is the dealbreaker. Steam's no problem for me.

[[AK]Hylander]

Yeah, I have no problem with Steam either. Well, other than the fact they never fixed/helped the problem with HL2: Episode 1 that so many of us have that won't let us play the game we purchased. I can't see purchasing any future versions of HL2 since I can't even play Episode 1.

But otherwise, I actually like the way Steam functions and don't have a problem with it.

[Slaughter]

More reason to own a Xbox 360.

[[AK]Abaddon]

Playing Bioshock now on my system, no problems. I also had no issues with Half Life: Episode 1. I bought Bioshock over Steam.

I have found a link that tells how to remove Securom without damaging the game. I may give it a go later today.

http://forums.2kgames.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6948

[[AK]Squidly]

I'm sure that the game plays with no problems.

It's just kind of sad that 3 years from now after the game is a memory (and no longer on your system) that it's hidden authentication software will still be loading up and taking resources. (Unless of course you go to the effort to search for technical instructions for a manual removal - which 9 out of 10 customers will never do.)

This is the kind of vile crap that software companies should be castigated endlessly for.

[Katanas Blade]

Given the internets and what they are -- with their tubes and all -- I want to sort of talk about the concerns people have. We take the concerns people have very seriously. There's been some concern like, "What happens if it's three years from now, or ten years from now, when I want to play this game. And, you know, Irrational Games has been hit by a meteor?" We will unset the online activation at some point in the future -- we're not talking about when. If people have concern about that they shouldn't be worried about that. This activation is for the early period of the game when it's really hot and there are people really trying to find ways to play the game without buying it. Of course, there are a lot of people who are legitimately trying to play it. We're not trying to be Draconian, we're trying to find a balance.

-Ken Levine

via: http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/24/jo...ess-and-harve/

[[AK]Squidly]

Interesting quote. Unfortunately the software is still installed, and will be for as long as you own the system (or until you figure out how to hack it out manually.) Running every time you boot up. Running in the background, years after Bioshock is uninstalled. Imma in ur syst3mz, hoggin ur resourcez.

Nice.

And it gets installed by demo versions of the game. Why do you "need" persistant DRM on a demo?

[[AK]Squidly]

File for future reference:

* Step 1: Uninstall the Bioshock game/demo.

* Step 2: Remove the Securom registry entries.
The Securom registry entries are deliberately made non-removable by default. In order to remove them download the http://www.microsoft.com/technet/sys...egdelnull.mspx [...] RegDelNull registry editing utility from Microsoft and install it on your C partition.
Run the following two commands from a Windows command prompt: "C:\regdelnull HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SecuROM -s" and "C:\regdelnull HKEY_USERS\<Computer specific key>\Software\SecuROM -s" where "<Computer specific key>" can be determined by searching the registry for the "Securom" directory key. This "<Computer specific key>" typically has a form like "S-1-5-21-2052111302-1757341266-724545543-500". Once these two RegDelNull commands have been successfully issued the registry should be checked to confirm that these two keys have been deleted. If they are still present they will now be removeable due to the action of the RegDelNull utility.

* Step 3: Removal of the Securom service and related utilities.
Open a Windows command prompt and change directory to "c:\windows\system32". Type "uaservice7 /remove". This will stop the Securom user access service, and clean up its relevant registry entries. On the Windows command prompt type "regsvr32 /u cmdlineext.dll". Reboot and then manually delete the files "uaservice7.exe" and "cmdlineext.dll" from "c:\windows\system32". Note: Both of these files are Securom installed files which can be verified by checking their file properties (Right click - Properties).

* Step 4: Removal of Securom files under "C:\Documents and Settings".
Securom installs a hidden directory with 6 files under "C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Administrator name>\Application Data\Securom". The first 4 ordinary text files can simply be manually deleted once Windows explorer has been configured to show hidden files and folders. The two remaining malformed nominally unremoveable files require a special method to delete: Invoke a Windows command prompt with full Administrator privileges by typing the following into a Windows command prompt: "at <your current time + 1 minute> /interactive %systemroot%\system32\cmd.exe" e.g. "at 9:02pm /interactive %systemroot%\system32\cmd.exe". This will open a new Administrator command line when the time set has been attained. In this new command prompt change directory into the Securom folder e.g. "cd C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Administrator name>\Application Data\Securom". Issue the following command to show the two remaining hidden malformed files: "dir /A". To delete the two remaining hidden malformed files issue the following command: "del /F /AH *". Confirm "yes" for each of the two file deletions of the malformed files. Finally, the directory "C:\Documents and Settings\<Your Administrator name>\Application Data\Securom" can be deleted as per normal practice from within Windows explorer. "

--

So easy a caveman can do it.

[[AK]Abaddon]

I bought Bioshock over Steam, and I do not see the service running for Securom, or any of the associated files. Do these still exist in the Steam version?

[Katanas Blade]

I bought Bioshock over Steam, and I do not see the service running for Securom, or any of the associated files. Do these still exist in the Steam version?

From what i've read, yes, even the steam version still has the securerom junk. Which is just plain silly, since that's supposed to be what steam's kinda for..

[[AK]Squidly]

From what i've read, yes, even the steam version still has the securerom junk. Which is just plain silly, since that's supposed to be what steam's kinda for..

Steam is mostly about sales and distribution, IMO.

[[AK]Abaddon]

On a similar note, I reinstalled BF2 this weekend, and was disturbed to see that the latest PunkBuster services run all the time, even when I am not playing a game. They do not appear in the autostart list for Windows, and cannot be prevented from starting except by uninstalling them.

http://www.evenbalance.com/index.php?page=pbsvcfaq.php

[[AK]Nuts]

Bioshock won't work on my system... No mouse on the screen, I can't select crap. Damn, 2 days of bit torrent and I can't pirate this game. I'm going to write a letter to the maker of the ga..... oh, wait. Uh, never mind.