RibShark has released SafeDiscShim, a new compatibility tool that allows classic, physical games that are protected by the older SafeDisc copy protection program to work on modern versions of Windows. SafeDisc’s final release was in May 2008, a few months after Microsoft reported on a vulnerability relating to its key driver.
Popular games that shipped with SafeDisc include:
- Age of Empires II: The Age of Kings
- Age of Mythology
- Assassin’s Creed
- Black & White
- Blood II: The Chosen
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
- Doom 3
- Gears of War
- Quake 4
- Rainbow Six: Vegas 2
- System Shock 2
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
RibShark on SafeDiscShim:
SafeDiscShim is a compatibility tool that allows for SafeDisc protected games which utilize the insecure Macrovision Security Driver (“secdrv.sys”) to run on modern versions of Windows which have said driver blacklisted. Previous methods to restore functionality to these games relied on forcefully installing the driver, potentially opening security risks.
Installation instructions:
Simply download the latest release and run the installer. Once installed, SafeDiscShim should automatically insert itself into most SafeDisc protected games.
For a few games utilizing SafeDisc v1, SafeDiscShim may not work properly without first deleting the “drvmgt.dll” file that is located in the same folder as the game executable. If you find a game where this is the case, please write an issue report detailing the name and specific release of the game so a specific compatibility profile can be created to bypass the problem.