Member Avatar for Cyber 14

Hi all,

Just some questions about Macrovision's SafeDisc. I found it on my Windows 7 OS non plug and play driver list and was curious about it, due to stories I've heard about other copy protection software brands causing problems. What's the program's reputation with regards to system stability. I've heard that it has come bundled on all OSs since XP, so I assume that there are few problems, if any. There was a security issue a few years ago that was patched, but aside from that, are there any other problems? I'm assuming it is more well-written and secure than horror stories such as StarForce, which I've had bad experiences with in the past (not through stealing movies, but due to its legendarily badly-written and security-vulnerable code). For Microsoft to package it as part of their OS, it must be a reasonably well-designed piece of software, especially coming from a well-respected giant such as Macrovision.

I assume it works through its driver detecting corresponding software on the cd and blocking or scrambling any attempts to rip it. Therefore it wouldn't interfere in other programs or hardware, such as a cd burner burning pictures or documents to a CD. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Thank you for all your help.

Peace out and God bless.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

never heard of it ,its not on my win7,nor was it ever on my winxp machines .
doing google searches on it most links i click on the stories are about 10 yrs old .

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Member Avatar for Cyber 14

It's called secdrv.sys. It might not be only for SafeDisc, as the driver is called, in properties, simply "Macrovision Security Driver", with valid copyrights and signatures. It is mentioned here in a story about the bug fix that I mentioned above. http://pcworld.about.com/od/applicationbugs/Microsoft-s-December-Patches-S.htm

Here is the microsoft bulletin resolving the issue: http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS07-067.mspx

I do have several games installed on my machine. It could have come with one of them. Regardless, has anyone known of any other problems like I discussed in my first post?

Member Avatar for caperjack


I do have several games installed on my machine. It could have come with one of them. Regardless, has anyone known of any other problems like I discussed in my first post?

yeah it comes with the games .its a Macrovision driver, sp3 has the fix in it so only an issue if you are using sp2 not patched

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