Windows 10: Questions about sc secdrv and older gaming problems.

DiamondSaab · May 4, 2025 at 1:12 PM

So I tried to play older games and I "touched" the sc secrdv and after that I gave up, because of security reasons so I'm asking when is it the safest on my computer: when sc secdrv is turned off, on manual or on automatic or disabled? Also I'm wondering is there a safe way to play older kinds of games?

:)

daynacromwell · May 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM

After updating the KB3086255 i am unable to play my older games

i did try this but not sure which one of these to use to run the games

To disable the driver's service, type the following command:

sc config secdrv start= disabled
Click to expand...

To set the driver's service to manual, type the following command:

sc config secdrv start= demand
Click to expand...

To enable the driver's service (and to set it to automatic), type the following command:

sc config secdrv start=auto
Click to expand...

To manually start the driver's service, type the following command:

sc start secdrv
Click to expand...

To manually stop the driver's service, type the following command:

sc stop secdrv
Click to expand...

dcdk · May 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM

Secdrv causes BSOD?

If there is no generic solution (like updating the driver, changing a setting or something like that), do you have a suggestion on how to figure out which app/game that makes the calls to secdrv that lead to BSOD? All I can see in the Event logger is that something is trying to call secdrv and that crashed the machine. If I knew what, I could try to deactivate or even uninstall that software.

lexluther_509 · May 4, 2025 at 1:15 PM

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

Microsoft does provide a way to re-enable SECDRV.

Install a game that brings (a recent version of) SECDRV.sys.

Install the Windows 10 SDK from
Get the standalone Windows 10 SDK. Just install all components, cuz who cares.

Start PowerShell as Administrator.

Find makecat.exe, makecert.exe and signtool.exe and add the path to your PATH:

dir -Directory
-Path
'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\'
-Recurse
|
where BaseName
-eq
"x86" |

where {
(dir $_.FullName
-Filter
makecert.exe)
-ne
$null } |
where {
(dir $_.FullName
-Filter
makecat.exe)
-ne
$null } |
where {
(dir $_.FullName
-Filter
signtool.exe)
-ne
$null } |
select -First
1 |
foreach {
$envath
= "$envath;$($_.FullName)"
}

The ones in a x86 subfolder are always OK on all Intel architecture chips. No need to match the hardware or the OS bitness.

Create a new folder, copy SECDRV.sys in it. If it's an old version, use this one

here. Its from September 2006.

mkdir "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\SECDRV"
| Out-Null

cd "$env:USERPROFILE\Downloads\SECDRV"

If it's an old version, use this one
here. Its from September 2006.

curl -UseBasicParsing
-Uri
"https://github.com/ericwj/PsSecDrv/raw/master/tools/SECDRV/SECDRV.sys"
-OutFile
"SECDRV.sys"

Enable test signing boot mode.

bcdedit /set
"{current}" testsigning on

Pick a subject for the certificate.

$Subject
= "SECDRV.sys signing for
$env:USERDOMAIN\$env:USERNAME on
$("{0:dd-MMM-yy HH:mm}"
-f [datetime]::Now)"

Create a root certificate.

makecert -r
-sr LocalMachine
-ss My
-n "CN=$Subject"

Open Local Machine Certificates.

certlm.msc

Go to Personal, Certificates and select the certificate created, there usually is only one, or match the subject, right click Copy.

Go to Trusted Root Certification Authorities, Certificates. Paste.

Go to Trusted Publishers, Certificates. Paste.

Make a text file called SECDRV.cdf in the folder and put this in it.

[CatalogHeader]
Name=SECDRV.cat
PublicVersion=0x1
EncodingType=0x00010001
CATATTR1=0x10010001:OSAttr:2:6.0
[CatalogFiles]
<hash>SECDRV=SECDRV.sys

Make a driver catalog file in the folder.

makecat -o SECDRV.txt
-r SECDRV.cdf

Sign the driver. Use the thumbprint as shown in certlm for the certificate created, just double click it and look around, without spaces. Or get it in PowerShell with dir:

$Cert
= dir Cert:\LocalMachine
-Recurse
| where Subject
-Match
([regex]::Escape($Subject))
| select
-First 1

$Thumbprint
= $Cert.Thumbprint

signtool sign /sm
/s Root
/sha1 "$Thumbprint"
/t "http://timestamp.verisign.com/scripts/timstamp.dll" secdrv.cat

Install the driver.

signtool catdb /u secdrv.cat

Reboot.

Test if it works.

sc.exe start secdrv

If it doesn't work,

one reason is the SECDRV.sys on your system is too old. Then the driver doesn't start.

Another reason is Secure Boot is enabled. Run bcdedit again after disabling it.

Another reason is you didn't reboot. You will have to reboot.

On 64-bit systems, SECDRV might still report 'This driver is blocked from loading' if it is configured with
C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers\SECDRV.sys as the binary path. To 1) verify and fix this, 2) copy SECDRV.sys and 3) change the binary path of the driver service:

sc.exe qc secdrv

copy C:\Windows\SysWOW64\drivers\SECDRV.sys C:\Windows\System32\drivers

sc.exe config secdrv binpath= C:\Windows\System32\drivers\SECDRV.sys

In PowerShell, don't omit the ".exe." in sc.exe. Nothing will appear to happen, but you will have ended up with a file called "start", "qc" or "config" that contains the text "secdrv" because sc is short for Set-Content...

Now play games.
Click to expand...

Thanks, this enabled me to install and run the Sims Deluxe and it's various expansion packs without the need for a NoCD. Certain it will work with other games that require SECDRV.sys.

It's not perfect but this is the only way to restore full functionality with old discs. I wonder how severe the security vulnerability is though once this is enabled?

I don't doubt this will work but if i have to do all this I really don't want to take a chance it will cause a problem with my computer.

Windows 10: Questions about sc secdrv and older gaming problems.

Questions about sc secdrv and older gaming problems.

Questions about sc secdrv and older gaming problems.

Questions about sc secdrv and older gaming problems.

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