Hello,
As an avid Rome total war player more precisely Roma Surrectum player I need Roma Surrectum to work properly with Rome Total war on Windows 10. My issues stem from the fact that I have the CD version of the game that dates back to 2004 when the game was released. It is my understanding that a lot of people have this version still.
So far I have not been able to get the game to work with windows 10. I have tried all the solutions offered but none worked. At a certain point I checked my computers event logs and noticed so odd errors whenever I would load up Rome Total War.
Logs:
Event ID 7000
The SecDrv service failed to start due to the following error:
This driver has been blocked from loading
Event ID 1060
The description for Event ID 1060 from source Application Popup cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.
If the event originated on another computer, the display information had to be saved with the event.
The following information was included with the event:
\??\C:\WINDOWS\SysWow64\drivers\SECDRV.SYS
the message resource is present but the message is not found in the string/message table
Event ID 7000
The SecDrv service failed to start due to the following error:
This driver has been blocked from loading
If you look up this Secdrv.sys driver you will learn that it is present in Windows 8.1 and Windows 7 but not Windows 10. This file with another .DLL is responsible for copy protection on these CD's.
It's the fact that Windows 10 doesn't come with SECDRV.SYS driver, and the one that comes with the game is a 32-bit driver that isn't signed and won't work. This driver is part of the copy protection mechanism on games.
The driver, secdrv.sys, is used by games which use Macrovision SafeDisc. Without the driver, games with SafeDisc protection would be unable to play on Windows, so this just not just apply to Rome Total War but a lot of other games.
So as of now anyone who wants to use the CD version from 2004 will be unable to.
Steam versions is another story.
If you have the steam version of Rome Total War you can still play it because it is a digital version and it does not check any disc copy protection. But you may still have some issues.
Here are some solutions.
Problem 1: Game does not load up at all.
Solution: The preferences folder in the main Rome Total War directory is not present. Go ahead and right click and create a folder called "preferences". Then create a text file called "preferences"
Copy and paste the following text into it.
I put into the file "AA_Quality: AA_OFF so that you will not get the error "Cannot detect directx9"
Spoiler Alert, click show to read:
Problem 2: Running in compatibility mode.
Solution: From what I can tell the best mode to run is in Windows XP Service pack 2
Problem 3: Nothing works, I cannot load up Rome Total War or Roma Surrectum
Solution: Do not update to Windows 10 and stay on either Windows 7 or Windows 8.1
I took a second computer and installed Windows 8.1 on it as a alternative.
This thread will expand and hopefully provide all solutions to playing RTW and Roma Surrectum on Windows 10.
I will like to thank "MasterOfNone" for his advice
Possible Solution
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?697164-Possible-fix-to-win10-issues-with-secdrv-sys
Update 2:
Looks like Microsoft is removing SecuROM and SafeDisc support from Windows 7, Windows 8, 8.1
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3086255
I am working on some solutions
Uninstalling Windows update KB3086255 seems to fix the issue.
In addition disabling some services works as well.
Will post some steps once I fully test
Great... .
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfile.../?id=469123565
Thank You