Windows 7 September update kills M2TW on Win7-64 Home Premium

**caddison** · September 12, 2015, 10:52 AM

I have the Collector's Edition installed on a Win7 - 64-bit Home Premium system that worked fine until Microsoft's September updates security patches for Windows 7.

After the patches, I got access denied when I tried to start M2TW. Running as administrator got rid of the error message, but the game wouldn't start. Went through all of the standard compatibility options. Upgraded the graphics driver. Reinstalled the game (took a copy of the save folders first!) NO JOY!

Uninstalled the Windows 7 updates, still no joy. Uninstalled all of the September security updates, rebooted and "Hey Presto" game starts fine without having to run as administrator.

Needless to say, I was not pleased and seeing as how many hassles these updates gave me, thought that I would share the problem with everyone else, just in case others see the same thing.

Now I have to go through the patches and see which was the real cause of the problem.

**♔atthias♔** · September 12, 2015, 02:25 PM

here is the problem described the problem applies from vista to windows 10
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ith-secdrv-sys
greetings atthias

**caddison** · September 12, 2015, 02:56 PM

Originally Posted by atthias

here is the problem described the problem applies from vista to windows 10
http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showt...ith-secdrv-sys
greetings atthias

ARG!! That is nasty of Microsoft and sounds like a huge pain. At least it gives me something to search for to understand the situation better.

Thanks,
caddison

**Frunk** · September 12, 2015, 10:10 PM

It is KB3086255.

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.

Straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.

Please read this post and the ones following it. The problem has to do with a recent Windows 7 and Windows 8 update (also present on Windows 10) that disabled a driver needed for the game to run its built-in copyright protection check.

A solution is available at that link I provided, but only for users who own Kingdoms.

If you don't own Kingdoms, you could convert your game to use Steam, but that won't suit everyone.

Read my thread as this link for more info. There is a solution which allows you to turn on the driver in question as required, but you would need to turn it on and off every time you boot the game. Leaving it on would leave your system vulnerable to infection by viruses.

**caddison** · September 13, 2015, 03:05 AM

Thanks very much. I missed the thread you directed me to. I had seen discussions on moving over to Steam and joined the forum so I could download the PDF from Gigantus about doing this. That seems the most sane route at the moment, particularly as I would like to upgrade to Win10 at some point. Might also be able to buy a copy of Kingdoms.

**Frunk** · September 13, 2015, 05:03 AM

Originally Posted by caddison

Thanks very much. I missed the thread you directed me to. I had seen discussions on moving over to Steam and joined the forum so I could download the PDF from Gigantus about doing this. That seems the most sane route at the moment, particularly as I would like to upgrade to Win10 at some point. Might also be able to buy a copy of Kingdoms.

No problem at all. I've never tried converting to Steam personally, but by all accounts it's simple-enough if you follow Gigantus' guide, and I believe there's no noticeable difference between it and the original discs, to the regular user.

I do strongly recommend Kingdoms, though.

Good luck with it and let us know if you need any more help.

**Gigantus** · September 13, 2015, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by caddison

Thanks very much. I missed the thread you directed me to. I had seen discussions on moving over to Steam and joined the forum so I could download the PDF from Gigantus about doing this. That seems the most sane route at the moment, particularly as I would like to upgrade to Win10 at some point. Might also be able to buy a copy of Kingdoms.

Kingdoms comes as a free DLC once you convert to Steam, see the PDF for the procedure.