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

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  1. Anonymous
    2016-11-24T13:17:09+00:00

    I created this .BAT file but the game still don't run.

    Can you explain a little more how this file is supposed to work?

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  2. Anonymous
    2016-11-24T13:13:25+00:00

    Yes, this is the solution given by most of the people who have solved the problem.

    But the problem is that this is very difficult to understand.

    Where is the famous x86 Free Build Environment?

    I have installed Visual Studio yet but I don't find this.

    I think Microsoft should solve this...

    ... or (if the game is signed by Microsoft, as Age Of Mithology) give us freely the digital copy of the game for those who have the original cd game.

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  3. Anonymous
    2016-11-05T15:37:23+00:00

    I have found a solution that may work for some of you.  It appears to be due to the problem that the system file SECDRV.SYS is not loading in Windows 10.  If you create a text file with the following contents, and save it to your Desktop, you can execute it when you are about to run one of the older CD-based games that require SECDRV.SYS to be active.

    @echo off

    sc config secdrv start= demand

    sc start secdrv

    echo SECDRV is active!

    echo on

    pause

    You can name the file SECDRV.BAT to remind you what it is.  You might need to right-click the file and adjust some of its properties in order for it to do the job it was intended to do.

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  4. Anonymous
    2016-09-02T13:12:37+00:00

    I also use win 10 pro

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  5. Anonymous
    2016-09-02T13:11:26+00:00

    I tried this process......but didn't worked for me

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