Oct 06, 2010 Freelancer doesn't start ever since upgrading to Windows 10 My Windows 7 PC worked fine, I had Freelancer set to compatibility mode (Windows XP SP2) and it was totally great. But now that I've got Windows 10 (same PC), opening the executable just makes. Nothing happen.
Hey,
I have looked into the problem of the horizontal stretch, and have found it to be even more perplexing. I took some screenshots so I could post them, but when I looked at them, they were normal. I have the same video driver that I have been using since this laptop came out (2006), and have seen no other aberrations with anything else. As a side note, there are also strange jumps in the screen, like when something produces a static interference. In one screen, I was able to see that the screen itself was doing something like a phase shift. I tried to use the fix for the MS15-097 update, which suggests turn on the service for the secdrv.sys driver. That had no effect. Not surprising though, it is mainly for if the game will not run. I had the problem with Age Of Mythology, which I still sometimes play. Because all of this is new, I am suspecting it might still be related to an update breaking something. I have kept the Windows 10 updates from installing, as they do not update anything except make your computer vulnerable to being invaded by Windows 10. I am thinking of just doing a flat install of Vista and keeping the computer segregated from the internet. As always, Pascal05 How To Run Freelancer Game On Windows 10Running Microsoft Freelancer on Windows 7
Freelancer worked best on Windows XP SP3. It did not work at all onVista. But it does work on Windows 7, and on Windows 8, and Windows 8.1. Just install itnormally from the CDROM and play it as normal. However, there is a tweak that has recently become necessary.
Starting secdrv.sys on Win7, or Win8.1
In September 2015, Microsoft security update KB3086255 prevented Freelancer from running. When you double-click on the icon, instead of running, you get a dialog box with 'Access denied' and 'Please login with administrator privileges and try again'.
What the update did was to stop a service that the game relies on. It 'basically disables secdrv.sys which is an anti-piracy copy protection that is used by many games developers and some other software companies. The driver, secdrv.sys, is used by games which use Macrovision SafeDisc. Without the driver, games with SafeDisc protection would be unable to play on Windows.' Seethis link for details. The driver was basically a security hole, and so Microsoft have acted to stop it running.
Microsoft provide a workaround. Secdrv.sys is still there, so you can manually start and stop it. Here is the Microsoft Support note for KB3086255.
To run Freelancer:
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Probably rebooting will reset this.
Running Freelancer on Win10
The SECDRV.SYS problem affects Windows 10 as well. Unfortunately Secdrv.sys is not supplied with Windows 10 at all. Supposedly it isn't possible even to run it. However there seems to be some question about this. This link suggests that if you use the secdrv.sys from Windows 8.1, and sign it, then it will run. (Note that I have not tested any of the following)
A workaround is to copy secdrv.sys from a windows 8 / 8.1 machine, self sign the driver, and enter into testsigning boot mode. You can do this manually or use 3rd party programs to do it.
First copy secdrv.sys from a windows 8 machine to c:windowssystem32drivers. You can also download it here. Same file as the one I got from a vanilla windows 8.1 install v 4.3.86.0 md5 3ea8a16169c26afbeb544e0e48421186
How To Get Freelancer To Run On Windows 10
Then self sign the driver. You can use a program Driver Signature Enforcement Overrider to do this: http://www.ngohq.com/?page=dseo
Or read about doing it yourself here. You will also need to make the certificate.
Then enable TESTSIGNING boot mode by opening an admin command prompt and typing: bcdedit -set testsigning on
Now safedisc games should work.
You will get an annoying watermark in testsigning mode. You can remove it using this program. Or read about removing it manually here.
I tested secdrv.sys and the above programs in Windows 10 Pro x64 and confirms that it does work.
It sounds rather flaky to me. Just another reason not to update to Windows 10.
Freelancer Mod Manager
It is possible to install the Freelancer Mod Manager, but requires a bit ofingenuity. You will quickly find, if you just try to install, that itinstalls, but none of the mods will activate. They all give an error inFMM if you try. Worse, you will find that when you start Freelancer, yourmain menu screen is missing a lot of its bitmaps; if you proceed to a savedgame, that the navmap is blank, and that if you try to leave the station yousaved at, Freelancer crashes.
![]() Installing flmminstaller_v1.31.exe
Get the download from the web. Then right-click on it, and selectProperties. Click the Compatibility tab. Then:
Then you can double-click the flmminstaller_v1.31.exe file, andinstall it.
Running Freelancer Mod Manager
Don't even think about running this except with the same settings as above.
So, find the actual executable -- not a shortcut -- on the Start | AllPrograms | Freelancer Mod Manager and right click the Freelancer Mod Managericon.
Then do the same as for the installer:
Then, and only then, run Freelancer Mod Manager. It should workfine. I turned on the 'battleship encounters'.
Changing permissions
I found that I had to change permissions to 'full control' for allusers on the following directories:
Right click on the directory in Explorer, choose Properties, then theSecurity tab. Look at 'Authenticated users' and hit'Edit' if necessary to give it 'Full control' over thedirectory. Likewise with 'Users (<yourpc>Users)'.
If you do all this, and you're in the New York system near Planet Manhattan,you should run into battleship and cruiser patrols almost straightaway.
Trouble
I got into a lot of trouble with this. Even uninstalling Freelancer andreinstalling it did not fix it. I ended up deinstalling FLMM and FL,removing all nasty-looking references to 'freelancer' from theregistry, doing a search on the hard disk and ditto, rebooting, and finallyinstalling FL to a new directory. It works fine from c:freelancer.
What about your saved games? These are all in c:users<yourusername>My DocumentsMy GamesFreelancerAcctsSinglePlayer as*.fl. Keep a copy of the directory before you fiddle, I suggest. Copying the contents back on a new install gave me back my old saved games.
Constructive feedback is welcomed to RogerPearse.
Written 29th October 2011.
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