The EVIL winfixer! (And starforce)

ManicMatt · Sat 18/03/2006 23:07:20

Not a new sci-fi game, but a hidden driver that could be on YOUR computer!

I've been reading PC Gamer... and it's all in there about this anti-piracy driver that could potentially be an access port for those evil hacker types! (Although not proven.. very confusing) it also could possibly ruin your disc drive.. so I hear.

I went to my device manager and clicked on view, and list the hidden devices... looked under plug and play, and there it is!

It comes with many games and secretly installs onto your PC.

There is a program that'll remove it for you if you want!

http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55

Read what it says, and make your own minds up. Or if you know more about it, please enlighten me!

Pet Terry · Sun 19/03/2006 08:27:47

Yeah, I remember playing Star Force a lot as a kid as it was one of the few games that I got with my NES. It's a so very simple game, yet so challenging. I think I managed to get past the epsilon boss once, though I'm not sure. That itself required hell lot of playing.

Damn, I need to find that cartridge now.

TheYak · Mon 20/03/2006 01:42:12

I'm surprised you haven't come across news of this sooner. It's an anti-piracy bit of software that has shown some malicious behavior towards hardware devices. The bugs (including killing optical drivers or crashing direct-x applications) have been griped about on the 'net for awhile.

The company, based in Moscow, was offering cash to whoever could come to their offices and demonstrate StarForce's flaws. If I remember correctly, the prize was $3,000, but the catches of having to pay your own way to Moscow, and recreating a fluke scenario with unfamiliar equipment made it unsurprising that nobody took them up on this. They treated this as a victory, declaring that it was proven that StarForce had no ill effects. Of course, that had nothing to do with the fact that it'd cost someone (from the US, say) nearly that much in travel, lodging and taking time off of work to demonstrate something that doesn't happen with regularity.

The company recently was found to be using bullying tactics, posting a torrent for Galactic Civ. 2 to demonstrate that this wouldn't have happened if the company had been using their Star Force protection.

Whether rumors of it breaking your system are true or not, the stealth-ware installation that doesn't uninstall when its parent application does as well as their reaction towards both players and developers makes them pretty contemptible regardless.

InCreator · Mon 20/03/2006 06:28:14

As a fearless pirate, we've had all-night-long battles, StarForce and I.

It's quite solid and indestructible piece of copy protection nightmare with only one weakness: CD/DVD drive(s) with IDE cable(s) removed. Then StarForce collapses and lets virtual drive emulation programs run wild. And pirates too.

Games protected with SF have often - if not always - SF injected directly into EXE files, so removing SF drivers is quite pointless - you'll get it back as soon as you play any SF game.

But there's no need to fear StarForce. There's lot simpler ways to get something that opens ports for hackers. Or ruins HDD. And SF won't ruin your hard disk, though, newer versions (SF4+) will ruin emulation programs, like Daemon Tools and Alchohol. Ruin so bad that you can't make them run NOR uninstall them. Never again.

Yes, it acts like a virus. But I'm sure that it's in my machine even now, and won't care much. It doesn't do anything unless irritated.

The NES game by same name rocked hardcore.

tygerbug · Mon 20/03/2006 06:42:43

Star Force: Fugitive Alien 2?

ManicMatt · Mon 20/03/2006 17:52:57

Hmm insightful.

You know, a while back my DVD drive wouldn't work for no apparent reason....

(And then I got my money back and bought a better drive)

Hmm I've got daemon tools, would that have been affected by the starforce thing then?
I'm guessing not?

EDIT:

Anyone know why occasionally, maybe in just myspace surfing, I get this url instead?

http://www.winfixer.com/download/2006/index.php?aid=ms2_uk_en&lid=eu&ax=1&ex=1&ed=2

(Looks dodgy click at your own risk!)

DOUBLE EDIT:

MY GOD! Why was my Zone alarm firewall switched off? It had changed it's own settings to not come on via windows start up! ARGH!

dasjoe · Mon 20/03/2006 19:57:22

http://castlecops.com/p721480-Winfixer_Spyware_Appreciate_any_help_on_this.html

pwned

ManicMatt · Mon 20/03/2006 21:36:32

Woah! Thanks I had no idea!

I believe it's gone now. (After a war of epic computer proportions)

Turns out my Spy bot killer was sleeping too... Got a new spy dog to join forces.

Some very strange things occured though during my fight... like when i downloaded 'highjackthis' and tried to run it for the first time, sony erricson sound manager tried to intialise itself with my PC Gamer DVD. Uh yeah. Then no matter how many times I pressed quit it kept coming back. Then this window popped up that looked a bit like the device manager but it wasn't and it loaded up a list of devices or something, I dunno it was like SOMEONE was doing all of this! So I shut down my PC. Second attempt the highjack program installed okay and it shows no sign of any winfixer.

*Breathes*

lo_res_man · Mon 20/03/2006 21:43:43

BEware, beware! This is but the silence before the storm, Hold the line, and prepare for incoming rounds!

blueskirt · Tue 21/03/2006 23:14:35

It apparently mess around when you're burning CDs or DVDs, if not ruining your burner completly, additionally to slow down your computer. Games like Broken Sword 3, Ankh, Still Life and Runaway are using it.

If you're looking for info, Wikipedia lists all the fiasco related to it, and Boycott Starforce lists all the games using it and how to remove it.

hedgefield · Wed 22/03/2006 16:14:33

Yes I'm not exactly happy with Starforce either. I finished Broken Sword 3, and I deinstalled it. A while later I wanted to play again, but it wouldn't install anymore. I blamed it on Starforce when no other cause could be found, and emailed them for the remover thing, which was then not (clearly) listed on their site. Turned out it was actually a faulty registry entry, but still it introduced me to the inherent evil of this software.

When I saw this thread I thought it would be about the whole Starforce pimping warez issue that was going on recently.

Daemon tools uses ring 0 of the Starforce driver, aswell as several firewalls like Zonealarm. Games use ring 3. Apparently.

BOYD1981 · Wed 22/03/2006 21:13:11

i think if all this negativity towards StarForce continues it's going to damage it's reputation and make developers/publishers more reluctant to use it as it could damage sales.
i think these companies need to stop wasting so much money on copy protection that inevitably ends up being cracked anyway and realise that the people cracking the software are smarter than those making it...
plus consumers need piracy to keep the cost of games DOWN. yes, i said down. one of the excuses a publisher might spit in your face when faced with a question such as "what's up with these dang expensive games, yo?" is that it's down to the mafia's piracy department trying to undermine the man by spreading free or really very cheap games to all the kids so that they have enough money to keep buying drugs from the mafia.
but anyone who knows how to get to four can see that excuse is a load of old rubbish and it's actually because publishers along with certain retail outlets (such as your PC World's and Woolworths) are very greedy and want all your money. well my fellow fellows, i can get to 5 and let you know that the reason games aren't even more expensive than they are is due to piracy forcing publishers not to overcharge us.
examine the evidence if you will: Xbox 360 comes out, it's a brand new system and as such is completely secure as regards to copy protection, you just can not run pirate games on that mother. you can however buy nice shiny new games for Â£10 to Â£20 more than PS2 and Xbox games, both systems are moddable to allow you to run pirate games. once the details are released and/or some clever person comes up with a modchip for the 360 the prices will start to fall...

biothlebop · Wed 22/03/2006 23:53:58

The mafia and cracker group connection is indeed far fetched but not mafia and pirated software. The mafia would just not give it for free but have people pay money for illegal copies. Then again, there is no reason why individuals outside a mafia couldn't do that.

Hakujin · Thu 23/03/2006 00:06:18

Yeah, I've heard about this. Still, you think any company would fear for its reputation associating with companies like this. The people it really hurts are those who legitimately by the games - and in the long run, the companies that produce it. I think.

LimpingFish · Thu 23/03/2006 00:17:16

As far as I know, Starforce doesn't actually harm windows. Its not spyware, and it doesn't collect or transmit information to anyone.

It simply is a badly designed piece of software.

Its not readily visible to the user, it stays on your system after a game has been uninstalled, has no automatic update function, and is generally a bit difficult to uninstall.

A significant number of complaints about it are by users trying to use an ISO image of a game in a Virtual Drive. Which Starforce doesn't allow.

Seeing as cracked games can be downloaded as ISOs, its understandable that such a procedure would be written into a copy-protection and anti-piracy program.

I've installed a number of Starforce games and never had a problem with it. Its never tried to access the internet covertly, or changed any system settings.

Starforce protected games should clearly state what Starforce actually is and why its being installed. They should also provide a simple way to uninstall it.

Other than that...

ManicMatt · Mon 03/04/2006 23:10:47

Hmm interesting! If you read above I was seemingly stuck with winfixer on my PC. But alas! Look here:

http://www.wormblog.com/2005/12/_new_myspace_xs.html

It's not on my PC after all, it's on myspace!

*Breathes a big sigh of relief*