The disc versions of Med2, Rome1, Med1 and Shogun1, that is.
When Windows 10 came out, many of us here quickly discovered that while we can successfully install Med2, Rome1, Med1 and Shogun1 on the new operating system, these games will not run. Now, with Windows update KB3086255 being rolled out this week for Windows 7 and Windows 8 users, the same problem will now affect even more people.
The problem is that a Windows XP-era third-party driver called secdrv.sys has been disabled in Windows 10 and now also 7 and 8. It is required to run
SafeDisc, an outdated and mostly ineffectual form of copyright protection. SafeDisc protection is built into hundreds of older games and is meant to check whether or not the disc you are trying to run your game from is legitimate, or pirated. With secdrv.sys disabled, SafeDisc cannot run, and therefore neither will the game as this process must be completed. The games will not run via their .exe files, shortcuts, Autorun or the Launcher -
they will not run at all.
This is the only thing stopping the four oldest Total War games from running on W10, and the issue has been present since W10's public release. There is no legitimate fix that resolves both the security vulnerabilities and the lack of SafeDisc functionality.
This week W7 and W8 users will likely be asked to install Windows update
KB3086255, which turns off secdrv.sys for the same reason.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Microsoft
"In addition to the changes that are listed for the vulnerabilities that are described in Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-097, this security bulletin addresses a defense-in-depth update for the secdrv.sys driver, a third-party driver. The update turns off the service for the secdrv.sys driver. This may affect the ability to run some older games.
To learn more about the vulnerabilities, see Microsoft Security Bulletin MS15-097."
A workaround using registry editing exists at that link, which can turn secdrv.sys back on, presumably resolving the issue, but Microsoft recommends that it be turned off again when you are done with it, which would surely be very impractical for users who run the games every day. Of course, one could theoretically turn it on and leave it on, but this would leave your PC vulnerable to infection, and would be the same as not installing the KB3086255 update at all, which certainly is not advisable. Furthermore, I am uncertain whether this method would be applicable to W10, or just to W7 and W8.
Medieval 2 escapes the issue somewhat, as it appears that while SafeDisc exists in medieval2.exe, it does not exist in the Kingdoms expansion's kingdoms.exe, which of course runs mods.
GurneyMan, who brought the KB3086255 update to my attention, can confirm that Kingdoms runs on Windows 7, whilst I have been playing and modding Kingdoms on Windows 10 for the past month without any issue. The only thing that we lose, therefore, is the ability to play the original Grand Campaign, but in fact it can be played in the form of
Gignatus'
Bare Geomod Kingdoms, which is the Grand Campaign in the form of a mod folder (used as a base for modding), so it uses the kingdoms.exe.
Microsoft has done its due diligence by fixing the security issue, thus the onus must now fall back onto game developers to restore functionality to old games, in the form of the patch which removes the need for the crude SafeDisc check to be completed. Would Creative Assembly, for example, ever do this? Or would they be quite happy to take no action and force users to either compromise the safety of their systems, or abandoned the old Total War titles in favour of new ones? Only time will tell, and I'm considering starting a petition, should this prove to be as concerning to people as it is to me.
