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

Did you ever try to run your game in compatibility mode ? In my case it worked and SecDrv driver (old version 4.06, 150 kb) was installed with no need to issue the "sc config secdrv" command.

Install your game on the hard drive.

Find the executable(s) (.exe) of it (on the hard drive, not on the DVD or the CD).

Right click on it.

Select "Properties".

In the popup Windows "Properties of : ..." click on the "Compatibility" tag.

Check "Execute this program in compatibility mode for : " checkbox.

Click on the arrow underneath and select "Windows XP (Service Pack 3)".

Click on OK.

Try it with the CD or DVD inserted.

As I said in my case it worked (an AMD Athlon  64 X2 4600+ running a Windows 10 32 bits). I am not sure if it will work in every other configuration but it's worth a try, isn't it ?

You should use the x64 version of Windows for a number of reasons

https://hardcore-games.azurewebsites.net/wp/game-64.php

the 64-bit version of Windows can play x86 games with excellent compatibility

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

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....

MICROSOFT HAS NO INTENTION OF EVER FIXING THIS AND EVERY INTENTION OF PREVENTING ANYONE ELSE FROM EVER FIXING THIS!

Simply put, Microsoft is using this as a corporate cudgel to thrash Rovi (Macrovision's parent company) in the current media platform wars.  Rovi is the current de facto leader in media management / delivery  for cable, Internet and satellite platforms in Europe and the US for the likes of Cox, DishTV, Facebook, AT&T Uverse, Charter, etc.  By "excluding" Macrovision (i.e. Rovi) security software from Windows on "gross insecurity" grounds and creating industry-wide nervousness vis-a-vis Rovi's technical and security competence, Microsoft can march into those mega-users' offices and "provide" the Microsoft Silverlight / X-Box platforms as the "secure alternative".

Rovi could easily "fix" any identified "security problems" SECDRV - something that Microsoft, as 'custodian' of SECDRV.SYS has done at least two times in the past - but Microsoft would still, contrary to their public statements, prevent any SECDRV fix from installing on any supported Windows system (Vista - WIndows 10) as a corporate / marketing "FU<|< YOU" to Rovi (Macrovision).  Due to Microsoft's monopolistic control of Windows and those drivers it ALLOWS to run on Windows, Rovi can do nothing to alleviate the situation.

We, as users, are collateral damage that neither Microsoft nor Rovi care about.  In an area where company X is has been granted the sole cable / OTT / satellite / TV franchise, you are most likely stuck with a Rovi platform (a fact Microsoft would LOVE to change).

Individual / 'family' computer user?  "Well, fu<|< you!" (Microsoft's position).  "Go to another platform - who cares - you are an insignificant piece of sh!+  compared to our Corporate users and avid gamers.  If you want to be a 'cool gamer', go to our X-Box platform. Otherwise, fu<|< you!  No way in HELL are you going to play any legacy disk-based game on a Windows computer even if it is Microsoft branded or 'Windows Certified'!" 

SO GET THE GOD-DAM^ MESSAGE!  MICROSOFT HAS NO USE FOR YOU, WILL NEVER "FIX" THIS ISSUE AND WANTS YOU TO EITHER GO AWAY PERMANENTLY (HAPPIEST IF YOU DIE) OR SUCCUMB / SUBSCRIBE TO THE X-BOX PLATFORM FOR ALL YOUR GAMING 'NEEDS'!

Go into your windows updates. Uninstall KB3086255. This will allow you to play your games again. Each time you shut down your computer and then start again (if you intend to play a game) you will need to uninstall the update as it is continually resent. Once the update is uninstalled you will be prompted to restart. You need to do this in order to complete the uninstall. Then you will be in good shape. Hope this helps. It should. It is the update (I discovered here on this site) which prevents playing the games. My "Age of Empires" works just perfect now.

Steve Barter