If it was a real virus, it wouldn't have to open a cmd window to do its thing.
this post was submitted on 12 May 2026
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me_irl
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Like the ones that come with the commercial version.
Doesn't make it not a malicious thing though
Could be, could also be that there was some additional malware independently from that shell window.
Personally, I would never run pirated software on the same computer I use for important files or logins.
This is the way. Secure Linux PC for important shit. Dumpster fire Windows PC for playing pirated games.
If the game PC is ever compromised, all they could possibly get is a list of what other pirated games I have. And then I'd just have to wipe and reinstall it again. But it's fucking Windows -- wiping and reinstalling is basically a regular maintenance item that you have to do from time to time anyway.
Yeah you're right about all this. It is one of the major reasons I typically get my games from steam. Too much risk and hassle to pirate games now. That was for 20 year old me, who had no money and had plenty of time to fix a busted machine.
That could just be a patch routine to apply a crack, right?
Yes. A virus wouldn't pop a cmd, it has way better methods to gain privilege.
Sounds like something a batch virus writer would say
Damn you got me :(
You just need to use trusted sources for your piracy and this will never happen. The rentry megathread is one of the best, but there's also fmhy. Both will tell you of the best sites to find your games.
I also recommend Fitgirl.
I didn't mention fitgirl directly because she's one of the top sites recommended in the rentry megathread so I thought it was already covered but yeah, she's the best. I'm only sad that disqus removed their comment section from her website.
What is the "rentry megathread" and where can I find it?
It's at rentry dot org slash megathread. Good all purpose list, it's maintained by the subreddit
rentry dot co, not dot org
Quit spoiling the phish
This is why you use https://virustotal.com/ to check the EXEs and DLLs before you launch the game.
Is that legit?
I disagree. Even 10 years ago you could pay 15$ and people would repack their exe for you and virus total would not pick it up.
Do you have a better idea?
Yes, using trusted sources instead of shitty ones.
The site is legit, but it only matches against AV provider databases. In other words it only detects known viruses and malicious URLs
I think some of the engines use heuristic detection methods as well but of course it's mostly a tool to detect known viruses using pretty much all the scanners available on the market.
I had to help a buddy pick up the pieces after he ran a pirated game which had, unbeknown to him, been bundled with an infostealer.
He saw a momentary CMD window too.
A couple of minutes after he ran the game, the infostealer had vacuumed up all his credentials saved in his web browser including the session token for Microsoft.
The actor behind it took control of his MS account and removed the account recovery settings he’d set (since with the session token, they didn’t even need to authenticate). Lost his email, cloud backups, Xbox everything, etc.
Microsoft weren’t much help but they did transfer his Xbox profile. Everything else, they wouldn’t help with.
Don’t run software you don’t trust, kids. At the very least run it in a sandbox or something and scan the files it unpacks with a security product or three.
I bet if he ran NetBSD he wouldnt have lost the information /joke
Funnily enough, given the payloads were .PS1 and .EXE, he probably wouldn’t have.
A windows session key would be a bit harder to extract though
Hey! My assigned win 11 work PC does that all the time!
Mine does too. Apparently it needs to remap the shared network drive on every boot. No idea why.
It may be a shitty virus...
shitty virus
w11
Is this always a virus? I used to have it a lot on my old computer 😅😅😅
No, it's not necessarily malicious.
THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW HAD STANDARDS THEY WOULD NEVER HOW DARE YOU.