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
    2015-11-22T17:19:12+00:00

    Well I think that the simplest solution for most games will be to bypass the secdrv.syss check on the DVD.

    This has the added benefit of making games easier to run on machines that might not even have an internal DVD drive any more.

    I recommend this site for getting your modified exe files.

    http://gamecopyworld.com/games/pc\_civilization\_4.shtml?nf=1#Civilization%20IV%20Game%20Updates

    It is ludicrously stupid that to improve 'security' Microsoft will force us to download and install cracked games exe files.

    Way to go MS!

    Anyway I 1) installed from my DVD, 2) updated to the 1.61 version from the 2kgames site and then 3) installed the cracked exe file that bypasses the secdrv.sys check.  A OK after this.   I appreciate not having the DVD around in my internal drive where it could get damaged during travel.

    http://www.2kgames.com/civ4/downloads.htm

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-11-16T14:04:53+00:00

    This same workaround was presented earlier in this thread, and worked until Microsoft saw it and introduced an update to "fix" (defeat) it early in September, 2015.

    So for any Windows 10 installation that has had any updates applied since 01 Sep 2015, the workaround does not work.  After going through all the hoops, with the current up-to-date (auto update enabled) version of Windows 10, you may be able to open certain SECDRV dependent games and play them for about 3.5 minutes, but then your system will reboot in response to a Microsoft security scanner alert.  (Tested with Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3.)

    Other SECDRV games will encounter an IDriver.exe exception ("installation failed") after the entire install regime appears to run to completion as shown by progress bars - in some cases for many minutes across many discs - and cannot even be started.

    The referenced youtube video references a gaming forum post that was made on 22 Aug 2015, a time when Windows 10 was "susceptible" to the documented fix.  Since 01 Sep 2015, Microsoft has implemented "updates" to defeat any and all publicly disclosed workarounds. It appears Microsoft has web crawler / monitor resources dedicated to defeating all workarounds that allow SECDRV dependent games from executing on all currently supported versions of Windows.

    Based on the facts that the 'holiday sales season' is upon us, that Microsoft is feeling its butt-kicking by Sony Playstation, that Microsoft needs to "kill it" in the game market to keep shareholders happy (though shares of all its competitors have also fallen of late, shareholders expect more of Microsoft because of the monopolistic hegemony it has been able to maintain through the aid of its hip-pocket, wholly owned politicians). In such calculations, existing license holders are of no consideration since they are not contributing to the "holiday sales" bottom line.   Only those who become new users / purchasers of XBox platform online usage plans, offline hardware, games and accessories matter. You (longtime faithful Windows users) matter not one iota.

    Because the anti-trust actions against Microsoft in the 1980-90s failed to break up the Microsoft Monopoly, and require that the platform developer be separate from the application developer, Microsoft now has reached a point where it feels confident in narrowing the capability of its "general purpose computing" platform (i.e. its operating system) to accommodate only Microsoft products (or those from whom they can extract controlling interests or hefty 'royalties').  An early target of this shrinking "accommodation" appears to be applications (including those sold under the Microsoft label) that required drivers, add-ins, or supplemental software for the base OS / kernel to operate (e.g. SECDRV.sys) for which Microsoft might have to pay a license / royalty to a third party, especially those third parties that now bump heads with Microsoft in the media distribution, management and security markets (i.e. cable box, satellite receiver, DVRs, "smart TV" platform software providers).

    Little known fact: in the late 1980s Microsoft began buying up the rights to image libraries, both artistic and scans of 'literature'.  As a full partner in Dreamworks, it got entry into the "moving picture" media world.  So, with governments world-wide in its pocket, it is not too much of a stretch to see a day when your internet connection, phone, and TV will not allow you to access / play any media not wholly owned by Microsoft.  You won't even be able to play your favorite "legacy" movies from Blu-ray disc that were produced by Sony Pictures...

    Something to think about when choosing a phone, DVR, whole-home media sharing network....

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-11-13T02:21:10+00:00

    Found a potential workaround for this. Haven't tried it yet. Fingers crossed.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time\_continue=1&v=UfFhcDbIVx4

    This sounds interesting but hard to follow the links on youtube video. Is there a link to written instructions?

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-11-12T14:30:06+00:00

    Hi Guys

    I rolled my computer back to win 7 so I could use the command prompt to enable secdrv.

    My computer has just installed the latest update and guess what?, Microsoft appear to have updated secdrv and it is now working again on win 7 without having to enter "sc start secdrv" into command prompt, possibly they will enable it on windows 10?, we will wait and see.

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  5. Anonymous
    2015-11-12T07:59:30+00:00

    Found a potential workaround for this. Haven't tried it yet. Fingers crossed.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?time\_continue=1&v=UfFhcDbIVx4

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