SafeDiscScanner 0.16

SafeDiscScanner is a tiny free tool from the early 2000s that checks a CD, or files on your hard disk, for SafeDisc copy protection.

It answers one question - is this disc protected - and nothing has been released for it since December 2004.

If you are here because an old game disc will not start on a modern PC, the scanner will not fix that, and the reason is explained below.

What SafeDiscScanner Actually Does

SafeDisc was a copy protection system used on many PC game CDs from the late 1990s to the late 2000s. It needed a small driver installed in Windows to check the disc when the game started.

SafeDiscScanner looks at a CD in your drive, or at files on your hard disk, and tells you whether that SafeDisc protection is present. It does not remove the protection, copy the disc or change anything on your PC.

That made it handy for collectors and support forums back in the day, when knowing whether a game used SafeDisc explained a lot of strange start-up errors.

Why Your Old SafeDisc Game Will Not Start

The SafeDisc driver is called secdrv.sys. Windows 10 shipped without support for it, and in September 2015 Microsoft also switched it off on Windows Vista, 7 and 8.1.

That change came with security update KB3086255, part of bulletin MS15-097. Microsoft says the update turns off the service and may affect the ability to run some older games.

The reason was security. A driver like this runs with deep access to Windows, and an old one with known weaknesses is an open door for malware.

So the disc is usually fine and the game is usually fine. What is missing is the old driver, and it is gone on purpose.

Your Honest Options for an Old SafeDisc Game

• Buy the re-release. Many classic games are sold again on GOG, which sells its games DRM-free and patched for modern Windows, and some are on Steam too.
• Use an older PC. A machine that still runs Windows XP can play the original disc as it was meant to, ideally kept offline.
• Use a virtual machine. VMware Workstation Pro is free and can run an older copy of Windows inside a window, though 3D games often run poorly in a virtual machine.
• Check the publisher. Some publishers released official patches that removed the disc check years ago, so the game's own support page is worth a look.

Turning the old driver back on by hand is possible, but Microsoft does not recommend it because it reopens the security hole. We do not recommend it either, and we do not link to cracks or no-CD patches.

Which File to Download From This Page

There is one file, SafeDiscScanner-Setup.zip, version 0.16. It is a 64KB archive, so unpack it first with a tool such as 7-Zip or the zip support built into Windows.

It was written for the Windows 98 and XP era. It may still start on a newer PC, but it is unsupported there, and a positive result only confirms what the paragraphs above already explain.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

If your game disc shows an error about a missing or disabled security driver on Windows 10 or 11, skip the scanner. You already have your answer, and the options above are the way forward.

If the problem is a scratched or unreadable disc rather than protection, the tools in the next section are a better fit.

Tools for Old Discs That Still Help

Checking and rescuing old discs:

• CDCheck tests CDs and DVDs for read errors and recovers damaged files.
• IsoPuzzle and Bad Reader pull data off scratched discs.
• dvdisaster stores repair data so a disc that degrades later can still be recovered.

Knowing your drive:

• CD/DVD Capabilities Viewer shows what your optical drive can read and write.
• Nero InfoTool reports details about your drives and the disc inside.

Images and backups of your own unprotected discs:

• ImgBurn reads a disc into an ISO file and burns it back, and our guide on burning an ISO to DVD with ImgBurn walks through it.
• Virtual CloneDrive and Daemon Tools Lite open ISO files as if they were discs in a drive.

A mounted image of a SafeDisc game still needs the missing driver, so these will not make a protected game start.

Quick questions

More disc tools are in the Media Utilities section, and burning software is in Burning Tools.

Download SafeDiscScanner 0.16 if you still need it, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.