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

My understanding is Windows DRM Blocking checks for the secdrv.sys file that is on the games disk

while the game is doing the copy protection disk check when you launch the game.

If this is accurate you still need a noCD fix to circumvent DRM Blocking, so installing the secdrv.sys file is

not necessary, or desirable.  When using a noCD fix the secdrv.sys file is never accessed/read/opened, so any

malware that were to install to that driver ( which I have never heard of happening yet ) could not be launched.

• For me the real issue is - freedom of choice... You know, that wonderful right that is supposed to come

by living in 'free' and democratic nations.  MS should make it possible to disable DRM Blocking. People will

do it one way or another. If made possible by MS it would theoretically be safer than having to use hacker methods.

Or are noCD hacks actually the safest option ?

.

It works just the same on any release build such as Creators Update. And if you dual boot that, both will activate and you have 2x Windows just the same.

I recommend against doing what doesn't suit you.

My experience is that this isn't quite how it works. You have to install a game which installs SECDRV.sys on your system - it is not included in Windows and there is no other way of installing it afaik.

So you do that first, then you can obtain the newest version of the driver file and overwrite it on your system if necessary and you sign that driver with a certificate you created and enable TEST SIGNING boot mode, which requires Secure Boot to be disabled and install the certificate in the Trusted Publishers certificate store.

After that you can just reboot and start/stop the SECDRV driver service at will and run games. No cracks needed.

There is reference to a script that does all that for you, though I haven't tested that script lately.

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.

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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.