This May Help you if you are having CD problems or for that matter anyother errors.

[Capto]

Go here First

http://www.cdspeed2000.com/

Get two programs

Program Version OS Filename Filesize
Nero CD-DVD Speed 4.10 Windows NeroCDSpeed_410.zip 615 KB
Nero DriveSpeed 3.00 Windows NeroDriveSpeed_300.zip 277 KB


Test the GAME CD or DVD you have using CD-DVD Speed v4.10
Todo this go over to the scan disk tab and start that test (the start button is at the top near the menu bar on the right)

If you scan at max speed you will most likely see errors on the disk. These are read errors. It means the CD/DVD or your DRIVE cannot properly read the disk. This is a normal error that has accured with other games in the past. Windows XP drivers for CD/DVD drives try to compansate for it but do a very poor job of it. (I wont get into the crappyness of Windows in this forum)

Put the speed down a notch and test again till you get a speed that shows no errors. 32X or 20X should be normal.

If you get all the way down to 4x then test a different CD that you have used in the past that you know works. If this CD/DVD fails then you have a bad DRIVE. If this CD/DVD pass then you have a bad game disk and should return the game promptly for exchange or refund as a defective product.

Assuming now you dont have to buy a new DVD/CD player you should have a decent speed in which to reinstall your game I know again for the _insert_number_of_times_here_

Uninstall X3

Reinstall X3 at a speed 20x or less.

Try playing the game again.......

If this does not work your computer will never run X3 or anyother game with STARFORCE copy protection.

Return the game as a defective product demand your money back regardless of store policy

Uninstall the game and remove the starforce drivers or back up all your other games saved files. Then reinstall windows.

Remember it pays or saves to know in advance what a piece of software is going to put on your computer.

Capto....


PS: You may want to test all the disks that came with the game anyway at about 20x or 32x CD speed.

[Capto]

I personally tested the play CD this way and found errors at max speed (40x)

I am still testing all my CD's

I have the US version of the game but this should work with DVD also.




I had the same problem with my DVD version of Sims 2 and one other game I forget what it was and had to turn down my drives speed to install them properly as data was lost during the transfer from the CD/DVD to the HDD.

Capto........

[Capto]

http://users.adelphia.net/~capto/x3/SON ... 22_18.jpeg

That was at 40X
Disk 1 of X3

Note that the first part of the disk shows as damaged... close physical examination of the disk (used a magnifying glass and a flashlight) showed no visabile damage to the disk.

http://users.adelphia.net/~capto/x3/SON ... 22_34.jpeg

now for the differance. As you can see if you compare the two pictures this one at 32x drive speed has no errors.....


You will also notice in the pictures that the disk is still being reported as 100% good. This means the error is a data transfer error and not a disk error. Its related to the drivers either hooking the drive (like STARFORCE and a few other drivers that attempt to bypass copy protection so you can copy DVD's and music CD's) or operate the drive (most drives us the windows drivers for XP but some older versions of windows use the drivers from the drives manufacturer.).

So to answer the question is STARFORCE upsetting my CD-ROM.... Yes.

Spoiler

Show

Just a foot note.. I am exploring if STARFORCE software can be constituted as a virus under US law. As it was installed buy ENLIGHT on my computer with out my knowledge or permission.

Capto.....

{Images replaced with links, please read the rules on images in posts - esd}

[BugMeister]

..thanks capto - useful bit of extra know-how there..

[XenonBuster]

if the disk reads okay at 32x speed and not at 40x speed then I think its more to do with data bus speeds and so this is just another anti starforce post

[esd]

Yes, changing your disk speed affects the way Starforce reads the disk. Please see the post from the Starforce representative so you can help solve this issue.

As it's something that's covered in the sticky, I'll lock this.