18-03-2003 07:56									#1
	CD copy protection... Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

I have this question:

Some of the games on my laptop exibit a certain strange behavior from time to time. More often than not, they work fine, but sometimes, when I start a game, either by directly running the executable or through the autoplay of the game's CD, it starts just fine at first, but as soon as the screen turns black, it minimizes. The game is still running, but when I try to expand it, it just minimizes again.

This first happened last fall, when I bought Syberia. It did that a couple of times, but worked perfectly thereafter, so I forgot about the glitch, dismissing it as some fluke.

Now, I've been playing WC3 a lot recently, and it has started doing that to me, too. I bought the game when it first came out, and played it a lot on my desktop. Now, I've been playing SP a lot recently, too, and it worked just fine. But yesterday, it did that - minimized right after the launch. Worked fine after a reboot. Today it did the same. Reboot didn't help.

Now, I tried playing SimCity4, and sure enough, it happened again! Only it's never happened with this game before.

So, the question is: could this be caused by the CD drive dying and not recognizing the copy protection properly, or is it something else?

Thanks for any help.

EDIT: Oh, and to answer the question you might have right away: all the games are legal. No rips or anything.

	18-03-2003 07:59									#2
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

Edited by Ming...

If the crack program is NOT authorized by the Game company, it is illegal. It's that simple.

Apolyton does not support or condone the illegal use of Game Software.

If you continue to discuss using cracks to get around copy protection the posts will be deleted, and you will get restricted.

Last edited by Ming on 18-03-2003 at 08:20

	18-03-2003 08:00									#3
	Support Apolyton, buy Alpha Centauri

Agreed.

	18-03-2003 08:01									#4
	Support Apolyton or Terrorists Win

many games (wc3 included) have issues with Laptop CDROMS (mainly CDR / DVD). Infact, when wc3 came out, it didn't run at all on [edit: certain] laptops.

	18-03-2003 08:02									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Copy protection is a royal pain in the arse. Offenders should be hung by their balls (if applicable).

	18-03-2003 08:13									#6
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

quote: Originally posted by Urban Ranger Copy protection is a royal pain in the arse. Offenders should be hung by their balls (if applicable).

and what if n/a? nipple clamps?

	18-03-2003 08:17									#7
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

well usually it is applicable as most game programmers are of male human species


Btw the problem you have seems more like a driver problem or something with a ****ed windows or so

start with defragging and cleaning up your HD, also download the latest drivers for your graphics card (because the games you mention are quite recent, btw you do have a new directx version right!!?) if that doesn't work i suggest reinstalling windows... which you should do once in a while anyway so you could take this opportunity

My personal experience tells that these kind of things have something to do with either windows or graphics card drivers, but i'm sure that there are techno nitwits here that probably know a better solution to this

	18-03-2003 08:20									#8
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

quote: Originally posted by UberKruX and what if n/a? nipple clamps?

Nah, I am lenient wrt to women I'll just blame it on her superior or subodinates, whichever is applicable.

	18-03-2003 08:21									#9
	Support Apolyton, buy Call to Power 2

It might be the graphics card, but if that is the case, I would imagine this would happen all the time, and it only happens very rarely so far.

As for cleaning up the hard drive and reinstalling windows - I am planning on doing it this summer. I am currently spending lots of time doing actual work on my laptop, so a couple of days of it being out of order due to reinstalling the OS and all the programs would be out of question. But during the summer days, I'll have plenty of time to do that, hopefully.

As for drivers, yep, they are all new.

	18-03-2003 08:35									#10
	Put an end to popups!

eh, on my computer reinstalling wonwids just takes like what 1 hour or something


also, defragging yer computer.. easy, just let it run the programme at night, and when you wake up all the work is done

And no it doesn't have to happen all the time, anyway what else could it be ffs? no idea, unless more information is given...

Perhaps a virus , I had one that crashed my programmes more and more as time passed, so after a month i could hardly start up windows , and shortly thereafter my whole computer was fooked LOL!

Funniest virus I had though was a virus that flipped my screen colours

Everything white turned into fluorescent orange , lol, pretty horrible to work on yer computer with that stuff, fortunately, I managed to get rid of the virus => reasonably softie virus


arfg timez for mbed, too jmuch beer!

	18-03-2003 08:40									#11
	Get a bigger avatar today!

quote: Originally posted by Trajanus eh, on my computer reinstalling wonwids just takes like what 1 hour or something

Well, that's if you only have to install windows... I also need:

Office
Visual Studio
MS SQL Server
Maple
and on and on. It will take a couple of days to reinstall all the crap I have to use in class.

EDIT: Oh, and as far as defragging goes... I have a 40GB harddrive. For the windows defragger to work, it needs 15% of free space, which is... 6GB or something. I don't have nearly that much free space.

	18-03-2003 08:51									#12
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

Edited by Ming...

"."

Last edited by Ming on 18-03-2003 at 08:59

	18-03-2003 08:55									#13
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by vovansim Well, that's if you only have to install windows... I also need: Office Visual Studio MS SQL Server Maple and on and on. It will take a couple of days to reinstall all the crap I have to use in class.

Ghost a fresh installation. Saves lots of time.

	18-03-2003 09:00									#14
	Browse Apolyton AD-FREE

What program would you recommend for a ghost? I am currently in kind of a tight financial situation, so I wouldn't want to buy something very expensive...

	18-03-2003 09:09									#15
	Remove this text

I have only used Norton Ghost (surprise! ) because it does everything I need. You don't need it often (hopefully), but it is a great time-saver when you do.

	18-03-2003 09:11									#16
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

Yeah... $70 Hmm... I might get it from my college for less though, being a compSci major, and everything.

	18-03-2003 09:23									#17
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

$70 isn't bad, even though $40 is a more reasonable price. Per user, that is.

	18-03-2003 09:24									#18
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations

quote: Originally posted by Tassadar5000 Edited by Ming... "."

	18-03-2003 09:27									#19
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

I thought you would appreciate that...

	18-03-2003 09:56									#20
	Inflate your Upload Space

quote: Originally posted by Asher Edited by Ming... If the crack program is NOT authorized by the Game company, it is illegal. It's that simple. Apolyton does not support or condone the illegal use of Game Software. If you continue to discuss using cracks to get around copy protection the posts will be deleted, and you will get restricted.

Even though actually cracking it is only illegal, the crack itself is not, under the DMCA...

Why do you think those sites have been around for so long? It's for backup purposes, it's completely and totally legal.

	18-03-2003 10:02									#21
	Avatar Enlargement: We've got the solution

Only if authorized by the Software company...

So bring it up again only if you want to get suspended...

	18-03-2003 22:58									#22
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

^^ Not true in jurisdictions like Australia and Europe, where making backups is explicitly allowed by their laws; the company can't prevent you from doing it, no matter what their draconian EULAs may state. (Not sure what Canada's laws are on the subject) So in those areas, downloading a crack -- for the purpose of making a backup -- is simply a means to exercise your rights under the law.

Now obviously the USA lawyers are the ones who'll hit you the hardest, so I can understand your reluctance to even air the subject on the site.

	18-03-2003 23:00									#23
	Support Apolyton buy from Amazon

quote: Originally posted by optimus2861 Now obviously the USA lawyers are the ones who'll hit you the hardest, so I can understand your reluctance to even air the subject on the site.

Just making sure this site stays up and running.
There are many other sites where you can go discuss illegal use of software... this isn't one of them

	18-03-2003 23:04									#24
	Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

We need to do like the Debian project: Start distributing two versions of Apolyton, one for the US and one for the outside world .

	18-03-2003 23:33									#25
	Put an end to popups!

Now, now, folks, this is the OT forum, and all, but I was wondering more about whether my problem was caused by copy protection or something else, not how many version of 'Poly there should be.

	19-03-2003 01:55									#26
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

Ming why do you remove and close all my topics about CD-protections and do not close this one? I think that it's kind of antisemitism.

Advice: do not read copyright notice even if you own legal disc with legal version. It make you sick.

	19-03-2003 07:58									#27
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

quote: Originally posted by optimus2861 So in those areas, downloading a crack -- for the purpose of making a backup -- is simply a means to exercise your rights under the law.

In the US, a crack is a violation of the draconian DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) because it forbids circumvention of devices that enforce copyrights. Check out the case of DeCSS for details.

	19-03-2003 08:08									#28
	Increase the size of your Attachments

quote: Originally posted by muxec Ming why do you remove and close all my topics about CD-protections and do not close this one? I think that it's kind of antisemitism.

Yeah... right...

This is a problem about loading a game... discussions on illegal activity have been deleted... so stuff it

	19-03-2003 09:13									#29
	Increase Your PM Length

quote: Originally posted by muxec I think that it's kind of antisemitism.

	19-03-2003 10:47									#30
	Suffering from ads?

Edited by Ming...

If you want to discuss illegal ways of solving problems... take it somewhere else...

If you want to discuss legal ways to solve the problem...
Fine...

And if the illegal stuff continues, this thread will be toast.

Last edited by Ming on 19-03-2003 at 10:58