Hi all,

I just updated my gaming PC, with Windows Seven and everything, and installed Worms 4 Mayhem (original discs).

However, due to the game's copy protection, I am not able to launch the game at all. The Star-Force drivers for this game are incompatible with Windows Seven, so even updating them does not help.

I have contacted Codemasters regarding this issue, and they just told me that "the game is not supported on Windows Seven"... the problem is, it's the copy protection that prevents me from even trying to start the game at all, I can't even fiddle with the game compatibility because the Star-Force drivers are disabled in Windows Seven (due to their incompatibility).

So, I was wondering :

a) What would it take for Team17 to release a patch for a game edited by Codemasters ?
b) What is therefore the possibility that a patch may be released that either removes the Starforce copy-protection, or updates it for the newer generations of OS ? Star-Force offers free re-protection for existing software, as they mention on their site (http://www.star-force.com/support/users/windows7/).

Are there any other ways for me to get this game to work (on my new PC), or should I use my Worms 4 Mayhem disc as a frisbee ?

If you have Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, you can get Windows XP Mode from Microsoft, free, from their site:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

If you don't have either of those versions, you might have to dual-boot Windows XP or Vista somehow...

XP mode is nothing more than a copy of XP running in virtual PC, so it doesn't have a decent graphics card and probably couldn't run W4.

XP mode is nothing more than a copy of XP running in virtual PC, so it doesn't have a decent graphics card and probably couldn't run W4.

Hm, Virtual PC doesn't have hardware accelleration?

No, unfortunately it doesn't.

Do any of the built-in compatibility options work? You know, running as Windows XP, or 2000, or whatever?

These options would be helpful if the application didn't want to launch.

However, in this case, it is the StarForce drivers that are not compatible with this version of Windows. The StarForce drivers are low-level drivers that work on the core of the OS. There is some compatibility with Vista, but not with Windows Seven.

The official statement from StarForce can be seen here (http://www.star-force.com/support/users/windows7/) :

* Protection versions below 5.5 do not support Windows 7.
Users of products that protected with 3.x/4.x/5.0 versions should contact the protected program developers or publishers to obtain Windows 7 patches, or use previous Windows version to run the products.

StarForce offers FREE re-protection for all the developers and publishers of the programs that utilize version below 5.50 to release the appropriate patches. Please contact your sales manager for re-protection and further details.*

* Protection versions 5.5/5.6 partially support Windows 7.
Due to constant changes within Windows 7 during its development process some 5.5/5.6 builds may not fully support this OS. In case of failure please update the protection driver through the protect.exe utility or use a protected program developer’s patch to be able to run the protected programs in Windows 7.

StarForce offers FREE re-protection for all the developers and publishers of the programs that utilize version below 5.50 to release the appropriate patches. Please contact your sales manager for re-protection and further details.*

* Protection versions 5.7 and above are fully support Windows 7.
There is no need for any additional actions.

Windows 7 support is implemented for both 32 and 64-bit versions.


As Worms is using version 3.X, I fall under category 1.

I contacted the publisher who basically told me "We don't support Windows Seven", so I'm now turning to the developer's forum.

It pains me to see that a side-effect of copy protection software is to restrict the OS on which you may play a game you bought. Today, if I want to play my DOS games, I use DOSbox, that emulates the OS in order to let me play. Some Win9X games can also be made to run, thanks to some tweaks and fiddles.

However, Worms Mayhem is not that old (2005 game), and due to the copy-protection of the Codemasters version of the game, I am restricted from playing it...

hax


No, seriously, that might be your last resort if nothing works. If you really bought the game, there is really nothing wrong with that.

Indeed, it worked.

It feels strange to be forced to use a crack for a game you bought... anyway, the game works with Windows Seven now, so I'm happy ;)

Seems I have a similar problem, but with Vista.
Demo version worked great, the whole family mutated to happy worm-killers, so I bought the original version at ebay. It is an original DVD with key code and everything.
After installation, when trying to start play, I get the message
"Administrator rights required for installation of copyright protection drivers" (maybe not exactly like this in english, I installed the german version). I really do have administrator rights on my own PC!

Tried to find a "workaround" on the internet but it seems that I'm too inexperienced to find one. I'm not interested at all in illegal things. But it seems that the soft would do, but copyright protection is Vista-incompatible. Any suggestions what I could do?

Kitty

This here worked:
1) right mouse click on worms4 icon, "start as administrator" (change the settings in "properties" to "start as administrator" didn't work)
-> installation of copyright drivers was performed

2) shut down PC, start again, install update by executing file in "sfcdrvup.zip" (found on starForce homepage)

3) tried some setttings for screen solution, and changed to "XP SP2 compatibility mode"... sometimes the mouse doesn't work, sometimes problems with intro, but most time I can play :)

Kitty