Please log in with administrator privileges and try again

[poshbakerloo 186]

"Please log in with administrator privileges and try again"

I have been playing SC4 Deluxe on my laptop since I got it in 2008. I've had no problems but suddenly today, out the blue it won't load. At all!

I use SC4 Launcher which has the autosave built it and with that nothing happens. If I use the default launcher is get this message:

"Please log in with administrator privileges and try again"

I am an administrator, nothing has changed and I have no idea why this is suddenly happening!

I have Windows 7 Pro 64bit, some updates did install today, maybe thats it?

Has anyone else had this problem, and know a way to fix it?

 

I have tried the following:

- Started it as an admin

- Tried Windows XP compatibility mode

- Reinstalled it

- Restarted my laptop

Note: To keep discussion contained, subsequent posts have been merged with this topic.

[rsc204 21,866]

This sounds spookily similar to the problems Win10 users are facing where the disk won't run, perhaps MS have decided to infect Win7/8 users with an update that kills off support for CD-Based DRM systems too, since it's so insecure and all!

You could try using Windows Restore to roll the system back to a working state, if that does solve it, look very carefully at any updates Windows is offering you before installing them.

[poshbakerloo 186]

Thans,

 

Yeah I'm uninstalling some of the updates that came today. It worked perfectly yesterday!

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Hmm, looks like this might be the culprit, just released yesterday:

Security update for the graphics component in Windows (KB3086255)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3086255 (47 KB)
 

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.

So looks like it's something which just disables the service, rather than removing secdrv.sys completely (like Windows 10). Under the "Known issues" section in the article above, there's instructions to enable the service on demand. But obviously uninstalling the update should allow the CD game to start again, without the need for workarounds.

Guess this is info the community should be aware of... spread the word everyone!

[poshbakerloo 186]

Hmm, looks like this might be the culprit, just released yesterday:

Security update for the graphics component in Windows (KB3086255)
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/3086255 (47 KB)
 

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.

So looks like it's something which just disables the service, rather than removing secdrv.sys completely (like Windows 10). Under the "Known issues" section in the article above, there's instructions to enable the service on demand. But obviously uninstalling the update should allow the CD game to start again, without the need for workarounds.

Guess this is info the community should be aware of... spread the word everyone!

Thanks, this ***worked***!

Thank you so much. This is actually very very important. Surly 1000s of people using Windows 7 will need to know this.

Update KB3086255 IS BAD (for SC4)

[rsc204 21,866]

And a couple thousand other games, I read up on MS's reasoning and it seems they think it would provide a back door for vulnerabilities in Windows. So much like half of Windows itself including IE, I just can't help but think there is some other motivation at play here. I assume then this now affects Win7, 8 and worst of all cause it'll never be supported 10 users. Once more the evils of DRM pop up even when it's easy going DRM your games become ticking time bombs waiting to stop working one day :(.

[Lost Realist 762]

Ran into the same trouble today and happened to notice that a Windows update was the likely cause. Thanks Cyclone for the link to the article containing the workarounds, I'm sure quite a few people are going to need it soon.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

They do this without any kind of prominent notice to the naive user.

This is a dog in the manger attitude.  It is typical of a "father knows best" attitude that Microsoft has had all along.  Maybe they should change their name to Microcephalus.

If this is a security problem, why haven't they done anything about it in over 13 years?  There is a hidden agenda at work here, and they are prevaricators.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Glad to hear it's reversible at least.

Indeed, it seems this is a common trend. It's getting to a point where you have to manually research each update, and make your own judgement whether to install or not. Just look at the update listing info:

All generic titles, and it requires the user to click "More information" to open the full info. Very easy to miss what each update does. There's even some updates which are still unclear, so basically just complete guesswork...

Anyway, I've posted a news item and a discussion topic here:
https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/68930-windows-update-kb3086255-blocks-sc4-from-starting/

At least they've not removed the secdrv.sys file, so it's fairly easy to restore the functionality.
 

Note: To keep discussion contained, subsequent posts have been merged with this topic.

  Edited September 10, 2015 by Cyclone Boom  
Posts merged, topic closed.