How to get rid of SecuRom, NOW

[jolrei]

The explination that was first given is probably very helpful. But seeing as how i have no idea what its talking about its of no help to me. I dont mean to sound dumb but i have no idea how to access my registry, i dont even know what a DOS is. I've never had a need to know any of these things before. If there is anyone that can help me and walk me through this to get my sims up and running again i'd really appreciate it.

Let me start by saying that I am not trying to be mean or unhelpful here, but I will be straightforward and perhaps somewhat blunt.  The explanation given in this thread is, in fact, helpful.  However, it presupposes that you have to know some basic things about your computer and how it runs.  It seems you do not know these things.  DOS, for example, is an older operating system, parts of which are still incorporated into current operating systems (i.e. XP).  It also means you need to know a basic bit about how command lines in DOS work and how to use them.  This appears to be tricky for you.  I would suggest you learn a bit about DOS before trying the steps in the first posts of the thread.  The first posts of the thread are quite detailed and if you follow them exactly they should work for you.  If you mess it up, and bork your registry, you could damage your computer's operation.  For this reason, I would suggest that you might just want to leave securom removal for now, or have a friend who knows more about computers help you out on this.

I tried uninstalling things and reinstalling not knowing the situation and now NOTHING works. Help.

Unfortunately, your system may not be completely clear of old versions of the game or perhaps some old registry entries, which could be why you can't reinstall.  You might want to search for "manually uninstalling game" or other such keywords, to find a tutorial on how to get rid of any residual stuff.  Then install your game again.  Again, since some of this might involve some more technical steps, you may want to have a computer savvy friend help you with this.

We can probably not provide you with more help than this at present, since you have not really told us exactly what problems your game was/is having - you say nothing works and imply you tried to uninstall.  You need to get your game reinstalled cleanly.

[morriganrant]

I would also suggest finding a friend or relative that knows a bit more about PCs then you are displaying. Those directions at the beginning of the thread is the exact walk through needed and tells you every step. Without basic knowledge on the more technical bits of your pc, you could easily mess something up poking around in your registry. Where as it is possible to back up the registry for use if you mess up, it is not recommended that you depend upon this because it is possible the muck up the registry so badly that you can not get the pc to open up to a point where you can use the back up.

[lauriej]

Why yes, it did, including the worst problems with Freetime. This is currently the set-up that I (and many others) are using. You can still get it here. Remember to download the corresponding 1.1 NO-CD crack.
[/quote]

so you are using the old patch not the one that was just released may 22nd?  the version 1.1 no cd was made for that patch, and is the one i am currently using with the older patch.  i am waiting for the no cd crack for the patch released may 22nd

[Tchan]

I wonder if I truly don't have SecuROM.
I bought both of the games online from Amazon.co.uk. I wonder if they don't sell games that come with SecuROM? Because we've fixed my Norton and I still can't find SecuROM, which makes me think maybe you're right and I really don't have it.
I think I should be pleased...

[Kazzandra]

I guess I was a little hasty saying that SecuROM wasn't on my system. There I was cruising along waiting for the Sims 2 to load (no-cd crack mind you) and it froze. Not a big deal, I say to myself, I will just turn it off then re-start. Yeah it wouldn't re-start. I did a scan and found out that my ID hard drive is fried. I think, ok, get the data off then reformat (Dell said they would bring me a new hard drive on Monday. I try to load from the disk and end up finding out that my disk drive is also fucked. SecuROM? Who knows. All I know is one minute my computer seemed fine and the next two drives were fucked beyond repair.

  This is really lame. I don't know what happened, but it could be that your power supply fried your drives. I would do some research and see if this is the case. But then again, it could be SecuRom-- I've learned not to say never. 

[Kazzandra]

Thank you! That worked pretty smoothly.  Will it work for the newest version of SecuROM?\
If I install the Free Time patch, will the same steps remove SecuROM from my system again?

Sure! But you'll get it again-- EVERY TIME YOU PLAY. That's why such an emphasis is placed on a No-CD crack.

[Kazzandra]

Go ahead. Install that latest patch. Knock yourself out.


Might I mention that every other post in this thread has been complaining about the lack of a new No-CD crack for said patch?

[morriganrant]

Might I mention that every other post in this thread has been complaining about the lack of a new No-CD crack for said patch?

Of course you can. It will save me the trouble of reading a 25-page thread.

Not 25 pages, just the last 3, not even, if you would have looked even a few posts before yours you would have seen people commenting about the lack of a no-cd for the new patch. Personally, I would have at least looked to see what the current topic was.

[Lullabelle]

Hey guys, I gotta question?
If I completely reformat my computer, will that remove SecuROM?
Because I reformatted my HP  back to it's original state, from the backup of vista home premium on my D drive.

[J. M. Pescado]

If you're formatting an HP back to its ORIGINAL state, you have far bigger spyware issues than SecuROM to deal with. Reformat CLEAN, destroying all previous state, WITHOUT using anything HP provided.

[morriganrant]

Dear, your PC in it's shipped state is filled with so much useless crap and programs that it's not even funny, or maybe it is funny, for the ones with the pointy sticks, but you certainly shouldn't find it funny.

[Lullabelle]

If you're formatting an HP back to its ORIGINAL state, you have far bigger spyware issues than SecuROM to deal with. Reformat CLEAN, destroying all previous state, WITHOUT using anything HP provided.

I had everything removed from it. all the "useless crap" as you say. it has just vista home premium, and windows media player, word, my computer, etc. but that's it I found no trace of SecuROM anywhere. so Is it safe to reinstall my sims2 games?

[Tsarina]

Okay, I have tried everything said in this thread, but I can't find SecuRom. Is there a remote chance that I have never had it? Someone mentioned that SecuRom wasn't on all versions of the game. Does anyone have a list of the versions that didn't have SecuRom?
I case I means anything, I use Vista.

[bowrain]

All the games that released after April 2007 has SecuROM (H&M and newer)

[ElfPuddle]

so Is it safe to reinstall my sims2 games?

Sure. And installing anything newer than Seasons will put SecuRom on your computer.

[Tsarina]

I was referring to this post:

There are a random few countries that do not have them because Securom would be illegal there. There are however many many more countries where it hasn't been covered. Make all of your folders visible and look for the securom files, you will not see them otherwise.

I wondered if anybody knew exactly in which countries SecuRom was not included in the game's .exe.
It could of course also be that I fail at finding hidden malware on my computer.

[Tchan]

Well, Tsarina, I don't appear to have it and I have BV & FT (ordered from Amazon Jersey), so I'd say that it's a possibility that buying anything from Amazon Jersey means you don't get SecuROM.
Shame you don't live in Jersey. XD

[Tsarina]

Thank you. I will go and look for it again, and if I can't find it, I guess I don't have it.

[PlayBoyRobbie]

Simprograms has posted a tool to remove everything SecuROM installs which came from SecuROM them self.
Its here towards the middle of the page-
http://www.simprograms.com/?page_id=39

[xoferew]

I am guessing that if I buy a recently reprinted older ep such as uni, there may well be securom on it?  I suppose there's no way to tell from looking at the box.

[PlayBoyRobbie]

I am guessing that if I buy a recently reprinted older ep such as uni, there may well be securom on it?  I suppose there's no way to tell from looking at the box.

Thats a good question I wouldnt be surpsied if it did have it, and no were on the box does it tell you if it would be in there.
The game manuals dont even tell you its going to be installed

[bowrain]

Simprograms has posted a tool to remove everything SecuROM installs which came from SecuROM them self.
Its here towards the middle of the page-
http://www.simprograms.com/?page_id=39

I wonder if it's the same thing as the one Sam posted back then.

[sirnh]

Simprograms has posted a tool to remove everything SecuROM installs which came from SecuROM them self.
Its here towards the middle of the page-
http://www.simprograms.com/?page_id=39

I wonder if it's the same thing as the one Sam posted back then.

I don't think so since The above link has 1 remove tool to do all the work. EAgames has a tool for each single sims2 EP/SP...
(see: http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=341)
I Don't know what the difference could be, though....

EDIT: Am I blind or Is freetime not in that list?

[jsalemi]

Am I missing something or is taking longer than usual for a FixedEXE to appear fot the newly patched Freetime?

Not really "longer than usual', I don't think.  I remember one of the earlier no-cd.exes took a while to come out after the patch (I think it was the first BV patch) -- maybe 2-3 weeks.

[Carrigon]

Simprograms has posted a tool to remove everything SecuROM installs which came from SecuROM them self.
Its here towards the middle of the page-
http://www.simprograms.com/?page_id=39

I tried this thing and it ate my soundcard's controls.  I ended up doing a System Restore because I didn't trust what else it ate.  It doesn't give a log of what it does.  If you use it, make sure you have a good System Restore in place first.