The StarForce uninstaller (SFCLEAN.EXE) is available as part of a patch for World War II: Frontline Command.

You can find a link to the patch HERE . Look for wwii_fix_2ksp4.zip.

I discovered a few of the StarForce files in my system (and in my Registry!), ran SFCLEAN.EXE, the system rebooted and all traces of StarForce were gone.

That said, Dreamcatcher should make the uninstaller freely available. It should not be necessary to submit 14 different data points before being supplied with something that should ship with any title using StarForce as its copy protection.

Thanks, Mr. Lipid.

johnboy
Thanks for the prompt response.I did what you suggested and found 2 files prosync1.sys and prohlpo2.sys which I deleted.Hope I did the right thing!
Also I called the Adventure Company.They advised me not to delete anything in my pc but to go into the web and find a program to do it for me.In my opinion, their whole attitude seemed to be " couldn't care less".thx Jimmy

We need a smilie icon for "biting my tongue"! You are absolutely right Jim!
Rusty

Kim,
Your comment about these "copy protection" systems sure pertains to me! I've had Uru in my possession for several weeks now and have yet to be able to install it! The CD is not even recognized in my DVD/CD-RW! If you want to see what I've been going through, check my thread in Glitches.

The Adventure Company sure picked a good time (Not!) to have a free shipping promo. It runs until December 24th.
Rusty

Interesting. I've played and uninstalled Black Mirror and haven't had any problems. I even just tried my USB flash drive, no trouble at all. I don't have any objections to copy protection that isn't a major inconvenience, but I have no tolerance for ANY software that hoses up my computer. This has sparked my curiosity though.

I run both software and hardware firewalls. Norton Internet Security caught both the Black Mirror and URU demos trying to access www.ctr.microsoft.com (something like that, I should have written it down) each time the demo was played. Anyone else notice this? I didn't see this with the full version of the game. I'm beginning to wonder if there's more to "copy protection" than just copy protection.

Albert

AHuber.........

Norton didn't mention anything to me about this. Who's to say what "extras" are included in so-called "Protection" programs.

NIS only saw a problem with the demo games. I just got URU today and haven't tried it yet. The settings you have on Norton may be a factor here. Mine flags any program that attempts to access the internet that it hasn't been told to allow.

Albert

Justhow does StarForce work? Does this mean that these games cannot be traded or installed on anyother computer?

The games can be traded and installed on another computer as long as you have the code that comes with game. I guess the copy protection is checking that the game cd is valid and is not a copy. Copy protection differs from online activation, which is what Windows XP uses.

Kim

Read the White Papers, if you are interested and have time:

http://www.star-force.com/products/prof30/index.htm

I scanned them. I didn't see anything there about potential problems for the end user.

Nope, me either Jenny.
Rusty

Not being a Starforce proponent, I had found that this puts 4 drivers in my machine (XP)...I looked at Device Manager (show hidden devices) and found:
Starforce Protection Environment Driver v6
Starforce Protection Helper Driver
Starforce Protection Helper Driver v2
Starforce Protection Synchronization Driver v1
Of course, when I disabled them, I couldn't play BS3 anymore...but at least I will know where to go when I am finished with the game.
Kate

Just FYI...Someone from StarForce has posted at the TAC forums. Interesting read.
Rusty

Whenever I install a game, I usually go find a crack for it. I've had a few issues with copy protection not recognizing my CD drives and stuff, and it's much less hassle having to hunt down and insert the CD for each game (not to mention avoiding scratches on valuable originals, which more often than not belong to friends <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" /> )

Of course this wont avoid issues with the copy protection messing around with the system in the cases of starforce and other stuff thats active even when not loading games.

Of the games mentioned that have potential StarForce problems, the only one I've played so far is Runaway (MANY times!) ... Broken Sword-3 has been ordered & is on it's way! (I've also played demos only of Black Mirror & URU... but it would figure that the *demos* have NO copy protection anyhow --- but who knows???).

So far, I haven't had any unusual problems. None of the 5 files mentioned exist on my setup. I looked in my Registry & didn't see any OBVIOUS references to StarForce ... but I'm not sufficiently techie to examine my Registry properly ... so something(s) may be lurking there!?

QUESTION & HELP!
I'm using Windows'XP ONLY. Most references (maybe all ??) seem to have been by folk using one of the versions of Windows'98.

****** Can anybody say with reasonable certainty that :-
(A) You have definitely found these StarForce troubles using Windows'XP. ...... OR ALTERNATIVELY ...
(B) You have played at least a couple of these questionable games on Windows'XP, and have had NO TROUBLE WHATSOEVER (re ... post un-installation of the games).

****** ADDENDUM ******
A friend (not on the Forum) has just sent me an email. He is quite knowledgeable & reliable on such matters.
He says the problem only affects the OS, Windows-98SE.
I wonder if he's correct ????

Did all versions of Runaway use StarForce?
I remember someone in Australia required a key code. But the US version did not.

I have three of these files on my computer. They don't seem to be interfering with anything. If I highlight them and click on delete, will this cause any major problems or should I just leave them there? I really hate anything left on the computer after I've uninstalled a game. When I highlight these files I get a message saying:
These files are used by various programs. Editing them could damage your system.

Hi LenG,

I don't know what OS everyone else is using, but I have these files left on my computer and I have Win ME.

I had the files and I am using XP. They were left by Black Mirror.
Rusty

I found the patch at filefron.com. While it is slightly off topic I recently read a posting about hidden files being placed in temp internet files. We probably all clean the visible ones up regularly but if you go to the folder and do a wild card search (where file name is *.*) you may turn up a whole bunch of stuff you didn't know was there. I found 14,000 files. It took five minutes to delete them. Don't send them to the recycle bin or they will be hidden again and you will have to go to unhide files to delete them. Of course maybe everybody but me knew this, but, oh well. All other factors aside I am really enjoying Black Mirror.
Bob

Just a quick PS on removing the Starforce garbage. After I used the sfclean I looked at device manager, and the four "devices" were still listed. I had to manually uninstall each one. Probably makes no difference to my machine, but it made me feel better. <img border="0" title="" alt="[Razz]" src="tongue.gif" />

Kate

I have just finished playing The Black Mirror. My intention is to un-install the game. Should I just leave the StarForce files there for the time being?