I have many games that I don’t dare to play anymore because they might silently try to install a virus like PunkBuster that forced me to reinstall Windows on a new hard drive. They admit that it is a virus in the license that they don’t want to show you. Since that is clearly illegal activity, I want my antivirus to stop the process and notify me when an installation tries to install anything like that.
I’m not sure where you got the idea that PunkBuster is a virus or a malware in any way…
Actually PunkBuster is not a virus, and not a DRM tool like Securom. It was designed to prevent cheating in online multiplayer games. It has nothing to do with malware and avast! and you can usually opt out if you don’t want to install it. A bunch of installer provide you the option to do so, and it’s not required to install it, if you don’t plan to play online. There are servers that are not PunkBuster secured, and you can join those servers without any issue if you don’t have the stuff installed. Here’s what wikipedia says about PunkBuster for you:
[i]PunkBuster is a computer program that is designed to detect software used for cheating in online games. It does this by scanning the memory contents of the local machine. A computer identified as using cheats may be banned from connecting to protected servers. The aim of the program is to isolate cheaters and prevent them from disrupting legitimate games.[/i]The DRM part you are talking about is [i]Securom[/i], and you can't do much about it. If you bough the game legally you shouldn't panic, because there are nothing to worry about. The benefit of playing legit copies of the game is that you can play online. Pirated copies doesn't allow you to do that, because those games have copy protection removed from the games and you can't even evade the server checks. If you don't have a legit product key from the game and a bogous unprotected executable you can't play the multiplayer mode.
Please pay attention to what the installer tells you, and don’t use the typical option. Sometimes it’s a checkbox and sometimes it can be a Yes/No dialog option. If PunkBuster still manages to get on your machine, just simply remove it from the Control Panel. That will take care of your problem, I guess…
It physically destroyed my computer after it was installed on my computer without my permission. The game’s installation usually have a hidden pre-checked box where you “accept” the hidden license without even clicking a button.
The license claim they they have more rights than an intelligence agency to spy on what you are doing and they call it “invasive nature”.
A smart little trick is to test any file you download at virustotal.com before you run it (max 20mb)
or at metascan-online.com (max 40mb)