EA Sports FC 25 Anti-Cheat Service Error Fix — Secure Boot Popup
EA Sports FC 25
EA Sports FC 25 Anti-Cheat Service Encountered an Error — Secure Boot Not Enabled Popup
You open the EA App, click Play on FC 25, and a popup appears before the game even loads: "EA Anti-Cheat Service Encountered an Error" with a message underneath saying Secure Boot is not enabled. The game refuses to launch. Closing the popup takes you back to the EA App. Clicking Play again produces the same window. Nothing gets you past it. This isn't a crash. It's a hard block — EA's anti-cheat (EAAC) is checking your system configuration before allowing the game process to start, and it's failing the Secure Boot check. Players on older motherboards, custom-built PCs where Secure Boot was never configured, and systems that had Secure Boot disabled at some point for Linux dual-boot or mod compatibility are the most commonly affected. The popup shows up on both FC 24 and FC 25 since EA made EAAC's Secure Boot requirement a strict enforcement in a late 2023 update. It also hits some players where Secure Boot is technically enabled in BIOS but Windows isn't recognizing it correctly — meaning the fix isn't always as simple as flipping a BIOS toggle.
Deep Dive: Why This Error Occurs
EA Anti-Cheat works at the kernel level — it loads a driver before the game starts and verifies your system's security configuration as part of its anti-tamper checks. One of those checks is Secure Boot status, because Secure Boot ensures that only trusted, signed software runs during the boot process. Without Secure Boot, it's theoretically easier to load unsigned kernel-level cheating tools before Windows even starts. EAAC queries Windows' own Secure Boot reporting API — it doesn't check your BIOS directly. That's why systems where Secure Boot is enabled in BIOS but Windows is installed in Legacy/MBR mode still fail the check. Windows can't use Secure Boot in Legacy mode because Secure Boot is a UEFI feature — it requires the entire boot chain, from firmware to OS loader, to be running in UEFI mode with GPT partitioning. EA enforced the Secure Boot requirement strictly in late 2023 after previously treating it as a warning rather than a hard block. Before that update, FC 24 would warn you but still launch. After it, both FC 24 and FC 25 refuse to start without Secure Boot confirmed as active at the Windows API level. If your system is set up correctly but EAAC still flags it, the issue is almost always the EA App's own status-reporting code misreading your configuration — which updating the app fixes.
Primary Root Causes
* **Secure Boot genuinely disabled in BIOS** — the most common cause. Secure Boot was turned off at some point — for a Linux install, a mod tool, or during a Windows reinstall — and was never re-enabled. EAAC now hard-blocks the game when it detects this. * **Secure Boot enabled in BIOS but Windows not detecting it** — on some motherboards, Secure Boot shows as active in BIOS settings but Windows reports it as off because the boot mode is set to Legacy/CSM instead of UEFI. EAAC reads the Windows-reported status, not the BIOS toggle directly. * **Windows installed in Legacy/MBR mode instead of UEFI/GPT** — if Windows was installed in Legacy mode, Secure Boot can't function even if you enable it in BIOS. The entire OS install needs to be in UEFI mode for Secure Boot to work. * **Outdated BIOS firmware** — on some older motherboards, Secure Boot implementation is buggy at the firmware level and doesn't report correctly to Windows even when toggled on. * **EA App not updated** — an outdated EA App version sometimes misreads the Secure Boot status and fires the error incorrectly on systems where Secure Boot is actually fine. * **TPM 2.0 not enabled alongside Secure Boot** — EAAC checks both Secure Boot and TPM 2.0 status. A system where Secure Boot is on but TPM is off can still trigger the anti-cheat error popup. * **Third-party boot manager (e.g. rEFInd) bypassing Secure Boot** — dual-boot setups using a third-party boot manager that isn't Secure Boot signed will cause EAAC to detect an unsigned boot chain and block the game.
How to Fix This Error (Step-by-Step)
Check your actual Secure Boot status in Windows first. Press Win + R, type msinfo32, and hit Enter. Look for Secure Boot State in the System Summary. If it says Off, that's confirmed — proceed to Step 2. If it says On and you're still getting the error, jump to Step 4.
Enable Secure Boot in your BIOS. Reboot your PC and enter BIOS — usually Del, F2, or F10 on boot. Navigate to the Boot or Security section, find Secure Boot, and set it to Enabled. Save and exit. Important: only do this if Windows is installed in UEFI mode — check msinfo32 for BIOS Mode: UEFI before enabling Secure Boot.
Enable TPM 2.0 while you're in BIOS. Look for TPM, PTT (Intel), or fTPM (AMD) in your BIOS security settings and enable it. Save and exit. EAAC checks both Secure Boot and TPM — one without the other can still trigger the error.
If msinfo32 shows Secure Boot as Off but your BIOS has it On, your Windows install is in Legacy/MBR mode. Confirm by checking BIOS Mode in msinfo32 — if it says Legacy, Secure Boot can't work regardless of the BIOS setting. You'll need to convert your Windows install from MBR to GPT using Microsoft's MBR2GPT tool: open Command Prompt as administrator and run mbr2gpt /convert /allowFullOS. Reboot into BIOS after conversion and enable Secure Boot.
Update the EA App to the latest version. Open the EA App, click the three lines top-left → Help → App Recovery or check for updates under your profile icon. An outdated EA App has a known bug where it misreports Secure Boot status on certain hardware configurations.
If you're on a dual-boot system with a third-party boot manager, disable it temporarily and boot directly into Windows via your BIOS boot order. Launch FC 25 from that direct Windows boot. If it works, your boot manager is what EAAC is flagging — you'll need to configure it with a Secure Boot-signed shim.
Check for a BIOS firmware update for your motherboard. Go to your motherboard manufacturer's support site, download the latest BIOS for your model, and update it. Older BIOS versions have Secure Boot reporting bugs that make Windows see Secure Boot as off even when it isn't.
Essential Troubleshooting FAQs
My BIOS shows Secure Boot as enabled. Why is the EA App still saying it's off?
Secure Boot in BIOS being on doesn't mean Windows sees it as on. Open msinfo32 and check two things: BIOS Mode and Secure Boot State. If BIOS Mode says Legacy instead of UEFI, Secure Boot can't function — your Windows install needs to be converted to UEFI/GPT using MBR2GPT before Secure Boot will register as active.
Does this affect Steam purchases of FC 25?
FC 25 isn't available on Steam — it's EA App exclusive on PC. The fix steps above are specific to the EA App and EAAC. If you're playing FC 24 which had a brief Steam release, the same EAAC Secure Boot requirement and identical fix path applies.
I enabled Secure Boot and now Windows won't boot. What do I do?
This happens when Windows is installed in MBR mode and you enable Secure Boot without converting to GPT first. Reboot into BIOS and disable Secure Boot again to get Windows booting normally. Then run the MBR2GPT conversion (Step 4) before re-enabling Secure Boot. Don't enable Secure Boot before the conversion — that's the order that matters.
I'm getting "Secure Boot is not enabled" but also a second message about TPM. Which do I fix first?
Fix Secure Boot first — it's the primary EAAC requirement. After enabling Secure Boot and confirming it in msinfo32, check TPM separately under msinfo32 → TPM Specification Version. If it's missing or below 2.0, enable fTPM (AMD) or PTT (Intel) in BIOS. Both need to be active for EAAC to pass its full check.
How do I stop this error appearing after future EA App or FC updates?
Keep the EA App updated — EA occasionally pushes anti-cheat requirement updates through the app itself, and running an outdated version means you may hit false positives on hardware where Secure Boot is actually fine. Also don't disable Secure Boot for any other software without re-enabling it before launching FC 25 — even a temporary BIOS toggle for another purpose will bring the error back.
Summary
Check msinfo32 first — it takes 10 seconds and tells you immediately whether Windows sees Secure Boot as on or off. If it's off, enable Secure Boot in BIOS. If your BIOS Mode shows Legacy instead of UEFI, run MBR2GPT to convert before touching Secure Boot — enabling it on a Legacy install is what breaks boot. For systems where msinfo32 shows Secure Boot as on but EAAC still blocks the game, update the EA App. That's the fix for the false-positive cases where the anti-cheat's own status reader is the problem. If you're on a dual-boot system and Secure Boot is configured correctly, boot directly into Windows through your BIOS boot order and test — your third-party boot manager may be what EAAC is flagging.
