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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.
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.
You own the game legally, why should you buy it again?
I was in the same situation myself. I installed the no-CD option for my game. This also solved the issue for my Win 10 tablet, which of course has no physical CD at all.
I have bought Civ 5 from Steam rather than replace Civ 4.
It is still ridiculous for MS to simply block this copy protection check from all PC's and break people's software.
It is not reasonable for people to have to re-buy their old games.
Very late in the day have just discovered this problem. I put off upgrading to Win 10 as long as possible and haven't played games for a long time, so didn't discover it before. But tried to fire up Civ IV again, to find it no longer works.
And the Steam-key-replacement option for that title stopped exactly a week prior to my finding the problem! At least GoG had a working version at a cheap sale price. I suppose a silver-lining is a lot of affected titles might by now be available cheaply though Steam or GoG sales.
Is there a list anywhere of titles that are affected by this?
None of these workarounds function any longer (at least since "Creator's Update").
Using dseo13 leads to a BSOD on reboot (after you disable your virus / firewall software because it will, if created by a "Microsoft Partner" block/quarantine/remove dseo as soon as you try to put it anywhere on your system.
The "bcdedit /set {bootmgr} displaybootmenu yes" method fails if you have a USB keyboard because the boot menu appears before the USB driver is loaded, and the keyboard input is thus not enabled. Beat that F8 key all you want. The boot menu times out and you get a normal boot. At least this is try on UEFI systems. I havn't dug out an old PS2 keyboard to see if that makes a difference.
However, I believe that MS saw these workarounds and pushed updates to defeat them, a practice they seemed to initiate when the initial suggestion was to revert to WIndows 8 or 7 (whereupon they pushed updates down to ALL supported previous windows OS's to block any workarounds whatsoever.)
As I mentioned ages ago, as soon as a workaround is posted, MS will push an update to defeat it. You are going to buy that g@& d@#^ X-box if you ever want to play a "windows game" ever again! At least that is the message MS is trying to send you.
Please post this thread in the Feedback hub AND share the link to this entry in the feedback hub
appropriate category apps and games > all other apps
Thanks
or comment and upvote on my submission:
A workaround like this should not be required to play games that are legally purchased, and would otherwise work perfectly fine.
In the Windows 10 Feedback Hub, I've posted about this. Title of the feedback is "Windows x64, SafeDisc/SecuROM Copy-protection (SecDrv.sys), and older games" without quotes. It also has a comment with a link that points to this post.
If we all provide feedback in the hub on that same thread, maybe we can convince them that this is actually important to a lot of people.
EDIT: Here's a link to the one I setup in feedback hub.
I set it up in security, because Microsoft says it's a security concern.
