Rock, Paper, Shotgun! reports that Windows 10 will flat-out refuse to run any game protected with the ancient SafeDisc CD copy protection scheme:

This issue was touched upon by Microsoft’s Boris Schneider-Johne at this year’s Gamescom. The video is in German, but in the segment at the timestamp linked above he says:

“Everything that ran in Windows 7 should also run in Windows 10. There are just two silly exceptions: antivirus software and stuff that’s deeply embedded into the system needs updating – but the developers are on it already – and then there are old games on CD-Rom that have DRM. This DRM stuff is also deeply embedded in your system, and that’s where Windows 10 says “sorry, we cannot allow that, because that would be a possible loophole for computer viruses.” That’s why there are a couple of games from 2003-2008 with Securom, etc. that simply don’t run without a no-CD patch or some such. We can just not support that if it’s a possible danger for our users. There are a couple of patches from developers already, and there is stuff like GOG where you’ll find versions of those games that work.”

There are also specific reports of users encountering this problem. For example, according to user Gamboleer on the Microsoft support forum, the SafeDisc issue relates to the file SECDRV.SYS. This file is present on older versions of Windows but isn’t in Windows 10 and attempts to run the file, or the games that depend on it, fail.

For the most part, this isn’t really a bad thing: SafeDisc was a decrepit piece of junk back when it was one of the most commonly-used copy protection methods, and it hasn’t improved with age. In the modern age, it’s worse than a dinosaur; it’s a gaping security hole in the program execution model. So in some respects, it’s not a thing we should mourn or be sorry to see go.

But…a goodly number of games from yesterdecade use SafeDisc, including Ultima 9, and this means that if you attempt to install those games from their original discs, Windows 10 will refuse to run them. Now, this shouldn’t be that big of a deal, because most SafeDisc-protected games have No-CD cracks available.

In the specific case of Ultima 9, you can either install the 1.19f patch to take care of the issue (I’ll get that download restored this evening), or you can just grab the GOG version of the game, which either has a No-CD crack installed or else uses some other means to sidestep the SafeDisc check.