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Read how to get rid of SecuROM here
Hello,
I know many people are or have been faced with the horrible SecuROM DRM, and here I provide a simple method to delete it. You do not need to install any software, you only need the system command prompt.
This is a typical situation: you have a folder, usually in your AppData\Roaming folders, called SecuROM, containing another folder named UserData, which is seemingly empty. It is not, and if you try to delete it you'll get a confusing error message telling you the folder doesn't exist. If you enable display of system and hidden files, you'll find a number of files with strange names lurking inside the folder. You want to get rid of these.
How to do it (don't include the quotes in the system commands):
1. open your command prompt, by typing "cmd" inside the start menu search box.
2. type "cd C:\" (you can replace C with whatever your main partition is, usually C)
3. navigate to the UserData folder of interest. For instance if you want to go to C:\Users\JohnDoe\AppData\Roaming\SecuROM\UserData\", you'll type "cd "Users\JohnDoe\AppData\Roaming\SecuROM\UserData\"" (or cd Users followed by cd JohnDoe etc...). Do not forget the quotes outside the path, if there are spaces they are needed.
4. type "dir /A:SH" - this command will display files within the UserData directory. The /A:SH flag specifies you want to display hidden and system files. This step is not necessary but is just for you to see what is in that folder.
5. type "del *.* /A:SH /F" - this command will delete the files enumerated by the previous command. The /F flag forces the system to delete the files regardless of their status (the Windows interface doesn't use this flag by default, hence the "doesn't exist" message).
6. the files have now been erased, but you still cannot delete the folders manually - still because of that read-only protection. You can delete the folders using the "rmdir" command. You have to delete the folders one by one, by using the "cd .." command to go to the previous folder. So you'll type "rmdir UserData" followed by "cd .." followed by "rmdir SecuROM" etc... until you reach a folder you don't wish to delete.
7. you are done - the files are gone. Screw SecuROM and their annoying files.
I hope I've been helpful to all the people out there who've been struggling (and might still be) with those files. This also shows how someone can really feel in control of his computer with a little knowledge - the command line is a powerful tool and it's not just for the elite, you can use it too!
WARNING: do not, under any circumstances, apply step 5 without applying step 3 - the del command as described above will delete any and every file in the current folder, so you really want to be in the SecuROM\UserData folder and nowhere else. You've been warned.
PS: I suggest stickying this or keeping it in view of users somehow because quite a lot of people need help for this particular problem and usually end up wasting time formatting their primary hard drive
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