Data East Copy Protection

[Tincanalley]

Does anyone know how to remove the install counter for Data East games? I have two games (Platoon and Robocop) that I purchased back in the 80s. I never uninstalled them from my old system when it crashed now when I try to reinstall them it won't because it says I need to uninstall first. I'm hoping there is a way around this. I've searched the internet, but couldn't find anyone discussing this issue.

Thanks

[Trixter]

These kinds of schemes store decryption keys in secure locations; if you no longer have the hard drive(s) where you installed it, the key is gone and your disk is useless. Since you can prove ownership, you're legally protected to just download a cracked copy (an internet search should turn something up for download quickly).

[Tincanalley]

Thanks. I was hoping there was a fix seeing as how it has been many years and someone must have gotten around it, but I guess that's where the cracked versions come in. I'll take a look around and see if I can find them.

Thanks

[BloodyCactus]

I wonder if those games are like the Sega games (eg: Alien Syndrome). They had a byte in the boot sector that tracked number of installs and capped it at like 3 or 5 or something.

increment on install.. decrement on uninstall or something.

[Stone]

I have Universal Neverlock and it says it will work with Robocop. I don't have Robocop so I know whether that refers to the install counter or not.