SECDRV.SYS Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of older games.

Anonymous
2015-08-01T20:13:40+00:00

Hello,

I have discovered an unfortunate problem with Windows 10.

Many games from the early-mid 2000's used Macrovision's SafeDisc (version 2) as a means of copy protection. At game startup, Windows loaded SECDRV.SYS to verify an original game disc was in the drive, after which the game would start.

When you try to run ANY game which uses this SafeDisc form of copy protection in Windows 10, the following happens:

 - You get an error window that tells you to log in with Administrator Privileges and to try again. This happens on any account, even those with Administrator access. The game fails to start.

 - If you then set "Run as Admin" compatibility mode on the game's startup file, the message disappears, but the game doesn't start.

 - Keeping a window open for C:\WINDOWS\SYSWOW64\DRIVERS shows SECDRV.SYS appearing at the moment you try to start the game. Based on its size, it appears to be the file that is present on the game disc (tested across several games), even though I see no disc activity and cannot find the file elsewhere on my system.

 - The Windows event log shows that SECDRV.SYS failed to load.

 - This happens both with an upgraded install (Windows 8.1 > Windows 10) and with a fresh Windows 10 install, with one of the games being installed immediately upon the fresh install completing.

 - On my Windows 64-bit 8.1 system, C:\WINDOWS\WINSXS has a folder called amd64_macrovision-protection-safedisc_31bf3856ad364e35_6.3.9600.16384_none_4e6b3758913c9240 with a SECDRV.SYS in it, presumably the one that ships with Windows. Windows 10 had such a folder in early builds, but it is missing from the release build. It appears SafeDisc support is missing entirely.

OTHER TESTING I HAVE DONE:

 - I updated one of the games to a version that no longer required the CD check, and it started immediately and ran perfectly once the check was removed. However, this is possible only with a very limited number of games, or resorting to fixes that violate the game's EULA or put the user's system security at risk.

 - I tried disabling driver signature verification and installing one of the games again; same problem.

 - Multiple compatibility modes; same problem. XP (Service Pack 3) mode and / or Run as Administrator mode make the error message go away, but the games still fail to launch.

SIGNIFICANCE:

Unless this is fixed in Windows 10, a massive catalog of older games will cease to function in Windows 10 for the simple reason that they cannot pass the SafeDisc copy protection check. I am accustomed to some games breaking with every new version of Windows as technology progresses (for example, the loss of the ability to run 16-bit programs in 64-bit Windows), but this seems to be an unnecessarily harsh change.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Gaming

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

293 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2015-09-09T23:04:52+00:00

    Hi folks,

    I'm the guy that originally started this thread. While I'm disappointed at the changes (especially yesterday's that extended the SECDRV.SYS issue to Windows 8, 7 and Vista), the security bulletin from yesterday outlines steps you can take to start and stop SECDRV.SYS in those operating systems (the driver is still blocked from loading in Windows 10 even using the method in the link below):

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255

    I have tested the elevated command prompt (a command prompt being run as Administrator) method, and it worked fine in Windows 8.

    I understand the security reasons behind disabling the driver, so to the person(s) at Microsoft that deliberately included information on how to temporarily bypass the block in 8 / 7 / Vista so we could boot up our favorite games - thank you.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2015-09-09T20:54:39+00:00

    It appears "defense-in-depth" means a newly engineered way to defeat the test signing, which also means no one could try to update SECDRV to fix "vulnerability problems" , a task which ROVI (formerly Macrovision) claims belongs to Microsoft, and which Microsoft had done before for Win 7 and Win 8.  (Ref: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/08/17/windows-10-safedisc-securom-drm/).

    So it is plainly clear that this is an "in your face" from MS to users: they think they have the power to force you to restock with new games from the MS app store with a tantalizing free or low cost OS upgrade (a very Apple-like strategy).  Further, when one finds and publishes a work-around here or on other Windows tech sites, Microsoft rushes to defeat the workaround instead of fixing the driver, AND MAKE THE FIX RETROACTIVE so you can't even revert to an older Windows version to continue to play your favorite games INCLUDING POPULAR MICROSOFT GAME TITLES.

    It now looks like "Microsoft Insecurity":

    1. "Apple is killing us in the market place - phone / wearable / tablet / software sales and stock prices"
    2. "Popular older games are killing X-box"
    3. "We aren't getting our share of the 'pay-per-play' market"

    Boo hoo, boo, hoo....

    "So lets boost sales, shore-up X-box and force all those legacy game players online so we can get more pay-per-play money by disabling all the legacy games we can with 'security updates' - yeah, that'll do it!"

    Big companies, small minds...

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2015-09-09T10:11:49+00:00

    I'm not very technical, but my son is sad about not having his former game now. I have to decide if we go back to Windows7 within the 30 days or if there is a hope.

    It is possible to have a virtuell machine with Windows7 on my Windows10 such that the secdrv.sys works? Or is the underlying Windows10 than the master for accessing the CD-drive?

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2015-09-03T12:19:17+00:00

    The old way to run those older game right now is to dual boot an older SKU of Windows

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2015-09-03T06:10:11+00:00

    Hi Adam! 

    I just got Windows 10. I was following along in your previous post, however when i try to enable test mode, and restart the computer as it suggests, nothing happens. No watermark shows up in the bottom right. I have also tried to enable driver signature in command prompt.

    I entered command "bcdedit -set testsigning on" the error i got is below. 

    "The boot configuration data store could not be opened"

    "Access is denied."

    I also tried to sign the driver "secdrv.sys" with the NG HQ program which it says it had done successfully but still no effect. 

    Look forward to hearing from you, thank you again for your time.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments