GameBurnWorld

CD GAME COPY PROTECTIONS

StarForce

StarForce Professional 3.0 is the first system that offers a multi-level and fully-functional protection, which encrypts not only the executable files, but also non-executable files included in the application. StarForce protected games exe files are protected in many ways making reverse code engineering difficult.

Most of the other copy protection (SafeDisc 2 SecuRom *New* etc.) incorporate various uncopyable "digital signatures" or other marks, which are applied on the CD's surface utilizing special mastering equipment. When such a CD is copied using CD Burning software, these "digital signatures" don’t transfer to the copy, thus making it difficult to burn. Yet, there are many problems associated with copy protections of this kind. The main problem is the fact that the glass master can be made only at the replication facilities that possess special mastering equipment. Also, these days there are many sophisticated CD burning programs widely available (such as CloneCD, Alcohol 120%, Blindwrite etc.) that can make copies in RAW mode and recreate the original disc sector-by-sector, ignoring the "digital signatures" all together. Finally, altering the physical structure of the CD by applying the "digital signatures" can lead to compatibility problems of the protected discs with CD/DVD-ROM drives that consumers use. StarForce protection systems do not require the use of any "digital signatures" on the CD's surface. The protection reads and evaluates the native physical parameters of the genuine CD's. These physical parameters cannot be copied from CD to CD because they depend on the complex unique structure of the glass master. The CD's containing the same product but manufactured from different glass masters have distinct physical parameters. The StarForce protection allows the extraction of a 24-byte alpha-numeric key, using only one of the genuine CD's and an ordinary CD-ROM drive. This key contains information about the physical parameters of the CD's of a particular batch. The key is used by the protection module, embedded in the executable file of the games application, as a replica for identification of the genuine CD's. It allows the launching the protected games application only if the CD is identified as genuine, that is, its physical parameters correspond/match to this particular key, and it is located in the CD/DVD-ROM drive. If you want to learn more about the official release of StarForce click here.

Detection Of The Protection

You can use one of the many protection detection tools from our Game Copy Protection Identifying Tools page to identify whether the protection is being used on your game.

Burning/Backup Solution

There are several different methods you can use to successfully burn/backup your game, as follows:

StarForce Professional v3.0 has been released recently and there is no known way to successfully backup games protected with this version. Previous versions can be copied with the following methods:

You can use CloneCD to successfully burn the game. Use ClonyXXL to scan the game, it will then tell you what protection is being used on the game (StarForce) and the correct settings to use in CloneCD to successfully backup the game. You can also use Alcoholer protection scanner and Alcohol 120% burning software. Use Alcoholer to scan the game, it will then tell you what protection is being used on the game (StarForce) and the correct settings to use in Alcohol 120% to successfully backup the game. BlindWrite can also successfully burn a game with this protection on it. You can also use Daemon Tools to emulate the game and the protection. *Remember, if you experience problems with burning the game at high speeds, (2 speed +) (both the read and write process), then burn the game at lower speeds such as 2 speed and under (both read and write process). A lot of the time burning the game at slow speeds will solve problems of the install not working, or the burner not bypassing the CD's protection.

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