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

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

293 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2017-11-26T23:28:16+00:00

    If Microsoft won't help me with my problems, then my only solution is to vote with my feet. If Apple doesn't support it, at this point who cares, but Microsoft lost me as a customer. I used the Windows7 workaround by deleting the offending update. Age of Empires works great now.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2017-11-26T23:18:26+00:00

    If you cannot get the game to work, get an XP disk and install that on a partition/disk with enough space for all the games you have with cd checks

    then at the back of the disk install windows 10 and dual boot

    this works with disks up to 2TB, secondary disks for XP are limited to 2TB as it does not like GPT

    steam games are fixed so no problems with windows 10

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2017-11-26T21:56:32+00:00

    With the problems ihave been having lately with Microsoft i think my next computer will be an Apple. 

    MS just doesnt care

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2017-08-28T08:57:28+00:00

    I have found a solution that works on a wide range of older games affected by this problem.

    Since the problem is with the check disk function of the games, replacing the .exe with a 'cracked' version, will skip the check disk and the game will run just fine.

    It is as simple as replacing the .exe of the game with one downloaded from game copy world https://www.gamecopyworld.com/games/index.php

    FInd the download for the relevant no CD fix, and replace the exe with the one given

    Normally this practice is used by people pirating games, but I believe there's no harm using it on games we have bough and can no longer play.

    I have not read the whole thread so apologies if this solution is already given, but I hope this quick reply is useful non the less

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments
  5. Anonymous
    2017-08-26T18:25:08+00:00

    Well the way it is shown isn't monkey proof, but you're not a monkey, right?

    There are several lines that show broken because the page is not wide enough. Just copy the whole black part every time.

    There is no line break before Recurse:

    Plus, if you already put the Windows SDK tools on your path, you can skip this command.

    A child can do the laundry.

    Was this answer helpful?

    1 person found this answer helpful.
    0 comments