Can you get VAC banned for using a trainer in a Non-Steam game?

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

I found my old copy of Sonic Heroes that I haven't played in years and I noticed a USB stick I thought I lost in the drawer with it. I wanted to see what was on the USB so I plugged it in and found out that I had downloaded a trainer for Sonic Heroes around the time I lost the USB stick. I scanned the trainer for viruses with three different anti viruses and then decided to open it to see what it did. I also scanned my PC for viruses again after closing the trainer. Sonic Heroes is not available on Steam. VAC ban worthy or not?

I don't cheat on Steam games, but I think it's fun to mess around with the code of non Steam games.

[ReBoot]

You can even ise a trainer for Steam games, as long s they're not cheat-protected.

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

I just want to mess with the code in old games. It's interesting to see what happens when you go just a little out of bounds. I have the first Harry Potter PC game on disc and I can find secret rooms and stuff by going out of bounds. I want to see if there's any hidden stuff like that in Sonic Heroes, but it doesn't have a debug mode. My Steam games are off limits for this kind of thing.

[Commander Makara]

Yes, ther SSA requires only that you not use cheats in assocaition with Steam.

It is recommended that you ensure any such traineres/cheats are closed or removed effectively prior to joining any VAC-secured servers for those Steam games which are protected.

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

Should I reboot my PC to flush the memory, too?

[Moon Warrior]

well to be safe just reformat your pc
that would be best option there

[BossGalaga]

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

I found my old copy of Sonic Heroes that I haven't played in years and I noticed a USB stick I thought I lost in the drawer with it. I wanted to see what was on the USB so I plugged it in and found out that I had downloaded a trainer for Sonic Heroes around the time I lost the USB stick. I scanned the trainer for viruses with three different anti viruses and then decided to open it to see what it did. I also scanned my PC for viruses again after closing the trainer. Sonic Heroes is not available on Steam. VAC ban worthy or not?

I don't cheat on Steam games, but I think it's fun to mess around with the code of non Steam games.

You can find information about the VAC system here:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=7849-Radz-6869

To receive a VAC ban, you must at least be running a game that is VAC protected.

It is recommended that you do not have any external cheats running at the same time as a VAC secured game.

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

I ran three different virus scans on it. I don't think it's infected me with anything, but if it has, can't I just remove any unwanted side effects from the registry manually? I've never had a virus survive being deleted from the registry. Also, I have schoolwork on this PC and don't have access to an external drive at the moment.

[Moon Warrior]

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

I ran three different virus scans on it. I don't think it's infected me with anything, but if it has, can't I just remove any unwanted side effects from the registry manually? I've never had a virus survive being deleted from the registry. Also, I have schoolwork on this PC and don't have access to an external drive at the moment.

if you want be 100% sure just reformat your pc fully

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

Originally posted by Moon Warrior:

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

I ran three different virus scans on it. I don't think it's infected me with anything, but if it has, can't I just remove any unwanted side effects from the registry manually? I've never had a virus survive being deleted from the registry. Also, I have schoolwork on this PC and don't have access to an external drive at the moment.

if you want be 100% sure just reformat your pc fully

Does the Windows 10 option where you keep your files and installed programs but at the same time reformats the PC work? I don't have a boot disc...

[Moon Warrior]

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

Originally posted by Moon Warrior:

if you want be 100% sure just reformat your pc fully

Does the Windows 10 option where you keep your files and installed programs but at the same time reformats the PC work? I don't have a boot disc...

well as i dont own a windows 10 i suggest go to forum help/tips and ask
http://steamcommunity.com/discussions/forum/1/

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

Originally posted by Moon Warrior:

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

Does the Windows 10 option where you keep your files and installed programs but at the same time reformats the PC work? I don't have a boot disc...

well as i dont own a windows 10 i suggest go to forum help/tips and ask

Thanks. If I end up VAC banned, at least I know Ill have me, myself, and I to blame.

Although a trainer for a game that's not even on Steam doesn't seem like something VAC would detect...

[Yukiko ~Snow Child~]

Originally posted by Msh King Gilgamesh:

Originally posted by Ne0s:

Vac Vac Vacation

The first Harry Potter game isn't even a vac secured game.

Neither is Sonic Heroes. I want to know if just having the trainer on my PC is enough to get a VAC ban.

[The Emperor Of Mankind]

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

Originally posted by Msh King Gilgamesh:

The first Harry Potter game isn't even a vac secured game.

Neither is Sonic Heroes. I want to know if just having the trainer on my PC is enough to get a VAC ban.

It shouldn't. I'd say follow the advice everyone else is posting. Use it , then do a reformat. Though personally , I think you should be fine. The only reason VAC could have the possibility doing somehting would be if you had it running while playing a vac secured game.

[BossGalaga]

Originally posted by LyokoGirl5000:

Originally posted by Msh King Gilgamesh:

The first Harry Potter game isn't even a vac secured game.

Neither is Sonic Heroes. I want to know if just having the trainer on my PC is enough to get a VAC ban.

Despite what you may hear people claiming in the VAC forums, you can have Cheat Engine on your computer. You can have it installed on your computer. Hell, you can even have it running while you're playing a VAC secured game, although generally I wouldn't recommend running any cheats while playing a VAC secured game.

You have to manually target a game to modify its memory or inject a trainer. That means a cheat for Sonic isn't going to somehow inject itself into CSGO.

Installing or downloading a simple trainer (often these are stand-alone, don't require an actual "install") for Sonic doesn't mean you need to reformat your entire computer. That's a *teensy* bit overboard.

That said, you need to be careful where you download such cheats from because sometimes they can contain malicious code and although it's highly unlikely IMO, it's within the realm of possibility that maybe that malicious code could trigger a VAC ban.

Here's someone who tested cheats in a non-VAC game while running CSGO at the same time. No VAC.
https://steamcommunity.com/app/730/discussions/0/364041517004037066/

I'm not saying do that yourself...but just saying.

Many people claim they were banned in CSGO or some other VAC game because they were using cheats in some other game, usually they claim it's one of those clicker games they were cheating in or Minecraft.

Pretty much all of those people are full of crap.

When you google "how to remove VAC" or something similar a youtube video with a lot of views comes up from a YTer (mattcs) who claims he was using some clicker cheat and it got him banned in CSGO. He claims Valve later unbanned him. His original Steam account STILL has multiple VAC bans. Here's how he actually got "unbanned." He just made a new Steam account. In other words, he lied and he's completely full of ♥♥♥♥.

[Xite >X< 👁️👁 🇦🇺]

Your best option for safely using trainers/cheats is to have a second hdd with it's own OS that you swap out and only install non secure games on, this is always safe. Using a virtual machine the same way is also safe, but will restrict the games you can play.

If you want to use trainers in a game with VAC and avoid being banned, it is best to set the game up for offline play and disconnect from the internet before you activate the trainer. When doing this it is recommended to NEVER play a secure online game afterwards without a full reformat of the drive used.