Hi all,
I just wanted to see if anyone here could clear up a few questions about DRM, notably SecuROM, in games and its effects on one's system stability. I've read many conflicting reports and information on this subject, and several things have come to light. Many people say that SecuROM and others cause system instability and crashes, while others say that these programs are technically incapable of doing so. Usually (from what I've seen, although not definitively) those who say it causes issues are those who oppose DRM in general, and those who say it doesn't usually have a more measured view of the matter (and don't type in hyperventilating allcaps with a complete lack of vowels or spelling, not stereotyping, just reporting what I've seen, no offense meant and there are both types on both sides) The latter bring up a few issues with compatibility and the concurrent running of other programs while running a SecuROM protected game, but in general deny the system destabilizing, hardware crashing, BSOD-causing claims of the former group.
There are a few legitimate issues with SecuROM, however. These are:
It sometimes fails to recognize a valid disc in the drive. Opening and closing the drive to re-recognize the CD fixes these problems.
It has been stated to run in Ring 0, ostensibly to detect devices such as Daemon Tools, which also operate there. This has never been proven, however, and the fact is that many other third-party software titles operate there, generally without any issues, security or otherwise. (and it hasn't been proven that SecuROM has any security issues even if it does run there, such things usually being quickly put down once discovered. I.E. SafeDisc's escalation of privilege issue back in '07, which was patched within a week of discovery. The security site Secunia.com doesn‘t list any vulnerabilities for SecuROM, while listing the patched SafeDisc one and many others as possible past or present threats.)
It doesn't like certain brands of optical drive, although there are workarounds.
It will not work if virtual drives such as Daemon Tools or Alcohol120 are running, shutting down these proccesses usually fixes the issue.
It can conflict with certain background programs, most notable SysInternal's Process Explorer, although I've heard this was patched, and shutting down the program will, in any case, solve the problem, although I've heard that sometimes a reboot is needed to clear it from memory completely, although this is unverified.
It can be flagged on certain rootkit scanners, as it uses hidden registry entries (can't recall why off the top of my head, but it was a perfectly logical and non-malicious reason)
It installs itself without the users direct consent and does not remove itself completely when the game is removed, a trait applied to many common programs running sub-programs. A tool is available from SecuROM's website to remove it fully.
Although annoying, these problems are generally not all that serious. However, some people claim that it causes optical drives to crash, stop being recognized, or fail to burn cds, and a slew of other system destabilizing effects. (these, as those in the horror stories section of ReclaimYourGame.com state, usually happen immediately after install, although I have my doubts of the validity of these accounts. Here they are if anyone cares to look through them http://reclaimyourgame.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=15&Itemid=47) Others counter that the program is, by design, incapable of doing these things. I tend to believe the latter as the people saying this tend to have examined the code themselves. (I can dig out sources if anyone wants them.)
Anyone here have any experience with this program? I'm inclined to think it is relatively harmless, aside from the relatively minor issues mentioned. However I’d like the opinion of the experts here, as you guys tend to have more technical experience than the average gaming forum-goer. I’ve personally never had any problems at all, except for the disc occasionally not being recognized, as per issue number 1, and I’ve been using SecuROM since the days of the original Rainbow Six, and SecuROM 7 (the hated one) since the days of Unreal Tournament 2004. I just don’t want to have to think of my favorite games as malware ready to screw up my system.
Thank you for your thoughts.
P.S. Anyone know of any issues, other than the security hole, with SafeDisc?
Peace out and God bless.