Help taken from :
fileforums.com
virtual-hideout.net
Game CD protection history:
A good read is available here:
http://www.virtual-hideout.net/articles/Copy_protection/index.shtml
What is starforce ?
Starforce is a controversial copy-protection system,which is designed to prevent the casual copying of retail CDROM applications. It installs as a hidden device driver, without the end-user’s knowledge or consent. Reports about destroyed CD ROM devices, unstable or slower-running Windows systems after installing a video game (even after it was removed!), and corrupted drivers as a possible result of Starforce, have made many computer gamers wary of this copy protection technology. There are also many reports from customers that say that Starforce-protected games refuse to work at all with various DVD/CD drives and notebooks.
Older versions of Starforce are not entirely compatible with the 64-bit variant of Windows XP. While publishers can fix this trouble by releasing updates for their games, it is done very rarely. This provides reason to believe that the next Windows generation may also clash with some Starforce versions, in which case one might not be able to play Starforce-protected games smoothly (or at all) unless updates are made available for them.
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Why is there so much controversy ?**
Starforce has received criticism for installing its own device driver onto computers. The Starforce drivers are often linked to system instability and computer crashes. If these problems occur, the end-user would be unware as to the cause of the problem, and would be helpless to solve the problem.
For example, here’s one of the common problems brought by Starforce: under Windows XP, if packets are lost during the reading or writing of a disk, XP interprets this as an error and steps the IDE speed down. Eventually it will revert to 16bit compatibility mode rendering a CD/DVD writer virtually unusable. In some circumstances certain drives cannot cope with this mode and it results in physical hardware failure (Most commonly in multiformat CD/DVD writer drives). A sure sign of this step down occurring is that the burn speeds will get slower and slower (no matter what speed you select to burn at). Starforce, on a regular basis, triggers this silent step down. Until it reaches the latter stages most people do not even realise it is happening.
Moreover, the Starforce drivers, installed on your system, grant ring 0 (system level) privileges to any code under the ring 3 (user level) privileges. Thus, any virus or trojan can get OS privileges and totally control your system. Since Windows 2000, the Windows line security and stability got enhanced by separating those privileges, but with the Starforce drivers, the old system holes and instabilities are back and any program (or virus) can reach the core of your system by using the Starforce drivers as a backdoor.
Unwilling to take chances, numerous PC enthusiasts feel that Starforce-protected games should not be supported, as they believe that the risk of undesired side-effects and dangers to one’s computer, or of the inability to play a legally purchased game, is simply too high. They face a problem, however: Because publishers don’t always state what type of copy protection they use, and because the kind of protection is rarely mentioned on the box, it is not generally transparent just which games the concerned PC gamer might wish to avoid.
Remedy ?
There is a Starforce Cleaner Utility that has worked for some.
Link1:
Link2:
http://www.glop.org/files/sfdrvrem.zip
The only purpose of this file is to remove the Starforce driver from your system in the hope to get it back to the state it was before the Starforce installation. It won’t allow you to play Starforce protected games.
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List of games using Starforce protection .**
7 Sins
Anstoss 4
Area 51
Bandits: Phoenix Rising
Bet on Soldier
Beyond Divinity
Black Mirror
Blitzkrieg 2
Blitzkrieg: Rolling Thunder
Breed
Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Chaos League
Chaos League: Sudden Death
Codename: Outbreak
Codename: Panzers - Phase One
Codename: Panzers - Phase Two
Cold War
Colin McRae Rally 2005
Cossacks II: Napoleonic Wars
Cross Racing Championship 2005
Curse: The Eye of Isis
Cycling Manager 3
Cycling Manager 3
Cycling Manager 4
D-Day
Dead to Rights
Demonic Speedway
Desert Rats vs Afrika Korps
Domination
Emergency Fire Response
Enigma: Rising Tide
Etherlords II
Fire Chief
Fire Department
Freedom Force vs The Third Reich
Gangland
Garfield
Gooka: The Mystery of Janatris
GT Legends
GTR: FIA GT Racing Game
Horse Race Manager
Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter
Keepsake
Kicker Manager 2004
Kill Switch
King Kong
Knights of the Temple 2
Korea: Forgotten Conflict
LMA Professional Manager 2005
Lock On: Modern Air Combat
Medieval Lords
Namco Museum 50th Anniversary
Neuro Hunter
Obscure
Pariah
Pax Romana
Pferdehof - Pferd und Pony
Pop Star Academy
Postal 2: Apocalypse Weekend
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones
Pro Rugby Manager
Psi-Ops
Pure Pinball
Rally Championship Xtreme
Restaurant Empire
Restricted Area
Revolution
Runaway: A Road Adventure
Scrapland
Second Sight
Silent Hunter 3
Silent Storm
Silkolene Honda Motocross GP
Singles 2: Triple Trouble
Singles: Flirt Up Your Life
Sniper Elite
Soldiers Heroes of World War 2
Sommerspiele 2004
Space Rangers 2
Splinter Cell 3: Chaos Theory
Star Wolves
Steel Saviour
Still Life
Street Racing Syndicate
Sudeki
SuperPower 2
Syberia II
The Fall: Last Days of Gaia
The Moment of Silence
The Suffering: Ties That Bind
The Westerner
TOCA 2
Track Mania
Track Mania Sunrise
Traitors Gate 2: Cypher
UFO: Aftershock
V8 Supercars 2
Virtual Skipper 3
Virtual Skipper 4
Vivisector
Wildlife Park
World War II: Frontline Command
Worms 4: Mayhem
X2: The Threat
X3: Reunion
XIII
Xpand Rally
Xuan-Yuan Sword 4
etc.
