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

Anonymous

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.

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293 answers

Anonymous

2015-11-05T06:22:06+00:00

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
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Anonymous

2015-11-05T03:24:20+00:00

Same thing with me. I bought a new Windows 8.1. system, loaded a few of my older games and initially they worked fine. Then they stopped working. I can only presume that an auto Windows update broke it. I've since updated to Windows 10 but, of course, the problem continues.

you might try restoring to factory settings Win 8.1 then disable all updates so the updates which disables secdrv isn't installed. Otherwise your stuck like the rest of us.

There is a way to temporarily enable secdrv in Win 7/8 it is posted else ware in forum
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Anonymous

2015-11-05T03:15:40+00:00

Same thing with me. I bought a new Windows 8.1. system, loaded a few of my older games and initially they worked fine. Then they stopped working. I can only presume that an auto Windows update broke it. I've since updated to Windows 10 but, of course, the problem continues.
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Anonymous

2015-11-05T03:06:59+00:00

I'm having the same problem but with a twist.

A few months ago I bought a new Dell XPS8700 that came with Windows 8.1. I loaded a couple of my older games (Doom3, Call of Duty) and initially they worked fine. Until they didn't. They suddenly stopped working and I was getting the error message that I needed to log in with Administrator Privileges, even though I was already logged on as Administrator. I've since upgraded to Windows 10 but, of course, the problem continues.

Looking at Event Viewer in my Windows 10 installation, I can see that the problem is with SecDrv.

Aaargh.
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Anonymous

2015-11-02T02:12:49+00:00

You are right - there is no justifiable "vulnerability level / index" for complete and retroactive removal of this driver from Windows. It is "hardball- all-out-war" marketing. It turns out Rovi (latest gen Macrovision, original creator of SECDRV.SYS) is also the media platform for Cox Cable. (Be interesting to see whose logo appears on the settings page of Time-Warner and Comcast cable boxes). That means Rovi has a huge chunk of all the automated media delivery, business info and user-info collection and processing business in non-OTA media delivery in the USA and Europe (probably Canada as well).

I'm 99% sure is just one small skirmish in Microsoft's attempt to bump Rovi out of the marketplace and make Windows and Silverlight the dominant content delivery / media management / business and customer management platform for cable, wi-fi, OTT, cell-phone and Satellite distribution systems and move gamers to X-Box. To paraphrase a line from the movie, "Sneakers", its not the one who controls money who has the power - its the one who controls information. What better way to control information than to be the dominant / sole platform for any and all distribution channels, means and methods?

Those of us who enjoy playing disc-based games from our legally purchased software collections are collateral damage who mean less to Microsoft than the dump Steve Balmer flushed away this morning. They have no intention of providing an 'acceptable risk' version of SECDRV.SYS (as they have done on two previous occasions) and every intention of watching for, and defeating every attempt at a work-around.

Once Microsoft discovered users knew which individual KB / fix removed secdrv compatibility from their systems, and uninstalled just that fix, they started burying it in cumulative updates that were mandatory to install in order to receive any further updates. So your only real choice is to revive an old Windows XP system for those games.

If you have no interest in being dictated to like an Apple customer ("You vill take das updates ven ve vant you to undt you vill like it!") it may be time to go to linux for your computing needs and perhaps Playstation or some non-Microsoft platform for gaming.

The current actions by Microsoft seem to clearly indicated that they are too big for individual private users of general-purpose computing and media consumption devices. Only large corporate users and competitors matter. So it is time for us "little guys / gals" to head for friendlier pastures.
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