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

"gamecopyworld is a solution, not the solution."

Cannot agree more, and it is a feasible solution for some.

"Using Security Essentials is downright stupid if you're on Windows 10"

This is your personal opinion, in reality it has proven its threat defending capabilities and they are still growing with every iteration of Windows 10. It is at least one of the few solutions where Microsoft won't compromise you to uninstall it in case of an support incident, let it be a private use or small business.

"Being an MCP doesn't mean swat really. Don't insinuate it brings any weight to what you recommend."

just a way to show I am not just a John Doe average user out there. Each of us forumer here may have plenty or few expierence in the field, this is one way to prove it. I fell into this MS drug in 1986 so can kindly expect I have done a whole lot. Though I never had the time to promote to MSCE or higher.

"Installing cracks is a major security issue"

this can be true. It depends on your system health, firewall and security awareness. It is not like I recommended it without taking any measures, Eric

"gamecopyworld is a great vehicles to test out zero days"

I doubt that one will recode a crack for a random old game just to use zero days. I admit timestamps of files can be manipulated easy, there was even a DOS tool for this.

"Dual booting is more secure, at least if you just refuse to use most if not all of your credentials on that copy of Windows and use a local account or a separate Microsoft account for the purpose of playing these games and encrypt your other disk part with BitLocker and refuse to give this copy of Windows the recovery key."

Thats the truth but at the end it is cumbersome as I've said. Setting up a dualboot and force to load an unsigned driver is like telling a noob how to flash lineage on Android to update ones devices.

"Don't complain here you weren't warned."

I have warned too, but not in your manner: "Like you are at risk for sure and a bad boy if you do".

"It's a lot of hassle for every single game you play and I usually still need to reach for the CD to install the game (again)."

I would like to disagree, I prefer ISOs or Alcohol images if there was no other way to get the stuff off my owned medias.

Being an MCP doesn't mean swat really. Don't insinuate it brings any weight to what you recommend. Using Security Essentials is downright stupid if you're on Windows 10. And you really should be on Windows 10 for a whole list of reasons, one of which is security, even if you then allow it to load SECDRV. Full stop.

gamecopyworld is a solution, not the solution. It's a lot of hassle for every single game you play and I usually still need to reach for the CD to install the game (again).

Dual booting is more secure, at least if you just refuse to use most if not all of your credentials on that copy of Windows and use a local account or a separate Microsoft account for the purpose of playing these games and encrypt your other disk part with BitLocker and refuse to give this copy of Windows the recovery key.

Installing cracks is a major security issue. Nobody vouches for these files to be secure. There is usually nobody responsible for these files, meaning the only thing you know is maybe some sort of community reputation. gamecopyworld is a great vehicles to test out zero days. Don't complain here you weren't warned.

Albeit due to moderation rules this reference might put the whole thread into a digital bin because it might be seen to encourage using of illegal cracks:

As a Microsoft Certified Professional totally support this post above and mention of gamecopyworld.com which has been a pretty reliable source for me in the past 20 years or so for numerouslegal occasions so quite a lot of time before the secdrv desaster in Windows 7 and later.

How? Because I was too lazy to get my originals out of the shelf and on top of this did not want to wear the package and discs as a collector of games.

Who thought that an orignal game disc would be technical-like even still readable 20 years later, did we?

However be CAREFUL and

• use Microsoft Essentials or any other up to date antivirus.
• use an Adblocker
• updated Flash Player if any
• use private mode in your browser.
• use an updated 7zip (there are known security holes)
• use your mind and don't fall easily into luring and blinking stuff / links.
• double check links
• abort anything if you feel unsafe

If the file gets flagged as dangerous you might still use it it is not going to be flagged as:

virus, worm, trojan. Most likely at least MSE will recognize most cracks as such, like key tools etc.

It is a shame that original owners are punished just because the orignal creator of secdrv is givng a **** to invest a little of their money to recertify the secdrv.drv with Microsoft.

Just to put it right: Microsoft did a controversional thing. But they did it right. The consequences are not bearable though.

The secdrv.sys story is comparable with as if Google would shut down any access to Playstore for any device using Android 5.x or earlier, or Whatsapp might prevent usage with an Android version like that for security reasons, which they intentionally don't because they don't care for any danger but merely for the growth of their userbase.

With this in mind, happy gaming. Make your expeirence secure yourself and forget about secdrv.sys and how to circumvent it with other nasty methods. I can just plea for the webpage named before.

Mr. Kennedy,

Thanks for keeping this thread alive AND

Thanks for the ref to gamecopyworld.com. 

I like this site because (at least for the games in my collection)

1. their 'hacks' appear to only work if you have the original key / SN to install the game in the first place.
2. they (at least claim) to scan the files for malware, to which my malware scanners agree.

As a retired software engineer it is important for me to feel that I am NOT SUPPORTING PIRACY.

As a retired software engineer it is important for me to support the idea that PAID LICENSES ARE HONORED as a discouragement to piracy.

Since MICROSOFT HAS NO COMPUNCTION ABOUT VIOLATING TERMS OF THEIR SOFTWARE LICENSES - witness the extreme effort they have gone through on the SECDRV.SYS issue - i.e. DENIAL OF ACCESS TO LEGITIMATELY PURCHASES SOFTWARE SUCH AS MICROSOFT COMBAT FLIGHT SIMULATOR 3 (just one example) I have no alternative in exercising my license rights than to turn to 3rd party hacked (no cd versions). 

I am thankful for references to sites that DO THE WORK MICROSOFT SHOULD BE DOING to provide workarounds for LEGAL PURCHASERS / LICENSEES TO ENJOY THE BENEFITS OF THE LICENSES THEY PAID FOR.

If only I were a "junkyard" lawyer with lots of money to burn and time on my hands before dying, I would mount a class action suite over this issue.  Microsoft is in clear violation of at least the terms of licensing of the software it sold that used SECDV.SYS and Rovi would be the ideal co-defendent as they are the producers of that software that could easily update it, provide its source code to Microsoft, or publish a public domain utility that will disable the need for SECDRV.SYS in any LEGITIMATELY PURCHASED SOFTWARE THAT PREVIOUSLY DEPENDED ON IT.

I am still running most of my disk based games from installs prior to the W7 > W10 upgrade, but I have

experimented with reinstalling a few. Was lucky to only have to do three SafeDisk  'protected' games to find one

that didn't initially want to install directly from the disk.

Don't recall what game it was, but I copied all the files from the disk to the HDD, and it installed from there, no worries

(why that works at times, I have no idea).

• Also, most of the people who start threads that query not being able to load old disk based games have successfully

installed the game from their old disk fresh on Win10 . They mostly get the bogus 'run as admin' message when

trying to launch the installed game.

• I was aware that Win10 didn't allow the secdrv.sys driver to install, but thought that because DRM Blocking was

retrofitted to Win7/8/8.1 with a security update and could be disabled/enabled with a command on Win7/8/8.1, 

that the games were also blocked during the disk check.

• Anyway, individual preferences. We do what it takes to circumvent this 'feature' MS pushed on unsuspecting

gamers. We shouldn't need to be having this discussion. MS should allow users freedom of choice and install a switch

in Services, or similar 'hidden' location, so users can disable DRM Blocking if they wish.

I still prefer using a noCD fix. I didn't start using them because of DRM Blocking  though. Been using them since migrating from console to PC in '04 . I always have hated using the disk, and find  I'm more likely to give my old  games

a spin now and then if I don't have to dig out the disk. NoCD's are helpful for quickly loading a game when troubleshooting problems on the forums as well.

A noCD also circumvents the secdrv.sys driver, when it has been installed, or not deleted, rendering it inert.

[EDIT: I response to post further down ...

• I have about 50 or so noCD's.  I've been using then for many years ( I prefer  Latest Game Fixes | MegaGames , btw ),

along with about 15 others I have downloaded and scanned for other posters on these forums since the advent

of Win10, as not having a malware.

I believe most of the warning regarding malware on a noCD comes via the industry (Fake news ?  ;)  .

• One advantage of a noCD vs installing the secdrv.sys driver, or not installing  kb3086255, on Win7/8/8.1,

is once a noCD fix has been verified as malware free there is virtually no chance of it becoming infected.

Malware writers prefer to target common files, and weaknesses in Windows or other software that are on

tens of millions of PC's .

While the secdrv.sys  driver is also yet to be infected (never heard of a malware linked to it yet), it is still open to

potential infection.

• The problem with dual booting for games, is if your system becomes infected to the point it needs reinstalling,

you still have as big a headache reinstalling everything as if you didn't dual boot.

I am also dual booting with Win7, but only because I have Nvidia 3D Vision, and 3D vision does not work with some

games on Win10. I also find, that as with using a CD/DVD, I am less inclined to play games if I have to reboot into

Win7 to run them.

• I reckon the easier way to keep it safe is to keep regular clones of your Windows. If you do get infected it's

a simple matter of reformatting the HDD and cloning your 'good' Windows back... Something I've never had to do.

You can still have an encrypted partition on a single Windows install for sensitive data as well.

.