Possible to run games that require a CD w/o the CD?

Vinny

Vinny

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I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT BOOTLEG GAMES!! THIS IS FOR LEGIT, LEGAL COPIES OF PC GAMES.

Most PC games require the user to have the CD in the CD drive in order to play. Since I don't want to bother dragging discs around to college and back, is there a way to install a game, and then copy the disc to a HD somehow to play the game without having to have the CD in the optical drive?

Also, is there a way to have all games show up on Steam Client even if they weren't meant for Steam? It is nice to have one quick place for all your games rather than a ton of shortcuts.
 
If you really wanted to do it legally, you could make an image of the disc and save it on the hard drive and mount it whenever you wanted to play. But if it's a big game, it could take up like 3 gigs.

About your second question, it's an interesting though, but I do not know if it's possible. Try searching google.
 
Son-

At a certain age, nay, a certain level of maturity- the gamer begins to understand the superiority of the PC platform- though it is frought with additional complexity that the "put the disc in and mash controler buttons till you win" population will never understand- you have taken the first step into understanding why the PC is a superior platform.

Son- we are not console gamers. We are PC gamers- sure we buy and play console games, but deep inside our souls- we know that there is a better way to play- a way that not only allows you to keep your physical media- but play games without switching discs like the poor, sad, might I say- pathetic console gamers.

I would like to present to you three tools which will serve as the begining of your education- it has provided millions with joy and freedom for the past 5+ years. You will need to use all three-

1. http://www.alcohol-soft.com/

This is your first step- it will cost you money- you can run it only on one computer- but it is worth every penny. They update it every few months or so.

2. http://www.gamecopyworld.com

This is your second step- beware and use your anti-virus, but it will help you thwart things that #1 cannot

3. http://www.daemon-tools.cc

This is your third step- it can only mount images that Alcohol makes- but it updated on a very regular basis and is free- make sure you don't install the optional spyware (it asks you if you want to install the spyware- but you have to not be a dumbass and tell it "no")

Welcome to the world of PC gaming- and the reason why I prefer it- don't have to switch the damn discs.
 
[quote name='Vinny']I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT BOOTLEG GAMES!! THIS IS FOR LEGIT, LEGAL COPIES OF PC GAMES.


Also, is there a way to have all games show up on Steam Client even if they weren't meant for Steam? It is nice to have one quick place for all your games rather than a ton of shortcuts.[/QUOTE]


Idea- create a folder on the desktop called "Games"- then drag all game related shortcuts there. It works for me- there probably is a more elaborate way to do that or what you are looking for- but I'm not at "that level" yet- if you find something cool- let me know- I'd be interested.
 
I don't know if PC gaming is better... but it's definitely more expensive though, something a college student without a job can't keep up with too much.:p

That's a good idea sticking them in a folder, then I can move that folder to my taskbar and make it into a toolbar.:)
 
I dont think you can make non-steam games to show up in the steam menu. But the shortcut idea is good and that's pretty much how I manage my game icons. Except now my main PC has a much bigger desktop real estate, I can afford to put all 8 of my PC game icons on the desktop without clogging :)

With older games, you can just download patched EXE files and replace it over your original EXE file (after you back it up of course). The site www.gamecopyworld.com given to you by friedram is a very good source for those "No-CD/DVD Fixed EXE Patch" files. I dl'ed one for FEAR because I also don't like swapping that Disc 5 just to play the game. With newer games like Prey and Titan Quest, I read that you'll need a few programs (such as Daemon Tool and some user made blacklisting app) to make them work without the disc, pretty complicated for me so I just suck it up and swap discs for those 2 games.
 
No, no, no. Do not use fixed EXEs. They only lead to issues when you try to play online or patch the game. And more. I used to use them becuase I did not know any better. Then I found Game Jackal.

http://www.gamejackal.com/home.asp

It works great. It basically makes an image for each game and, unlike a fixed EXE, does not cause any compatability issues. The main issue is that online many patches show up as a different version and many games insist on having the same files. Also patches will often not recognize the file and will refuse to patch.

This works for nearly all games. Except some old games and certain Starforce games. I personally have had it run nearly every game. And if you can't get it to work there is usually a way and in the case that it does not work, I use a fixed EXE. But seriously this program rocks. I personally was going to buy but then they jacked the price up to double what it used to be so I got the program by less legit methods.

Try out the trial, it works great. All you do is put the CD in once, start the game, exit it and that is really all it takes for most games. Some will require a bit more time but trust me it is worth it.
 
[quote name='dtarasev']No, no, no. Do not use fixed EXEs. They only lead to issues when you try to play online or patch the game. And more. I used to use them becuase I did not know any better. Then I found Game Jackal.

http://www.gamejackal.com/home.asp

It works great. It basically makes an image for each game and, unlike a fixed EXE, does not cause any compatability issues. The main issue is that online many patches show up as a different version and many games insist on having the same files. Also patches will often not recognize the file and will refuse to patch.

This works for nearly all games. Except some old games and certain Starforce games. I personally have had it run nearly every game. And if you can't get it to work there is usually a way and in the case that it does not work, I use a fixed EXE. But seriously this program rocks. I personally was going to buy but then they jacked the price up to double what it used to be so I got the program by less legit methods.

Try out the trial, it works great. All you do is put the CD in once, start the game, exit it and that is really all it takes for most games. Some will require a bit more time but trust me it is worth it.[/QUOTE]

Oh, yeah. I think I remember reading about that in PC Gamer a while back. So it creates an image of the CD, so it still takes up a lot of space, or am I wrong?
 
Well, if it makes an image of a CD version of a game then it shouldn't take more than 700MB since they only require that you have the first disc in the drive normally. But for DVD versions of games, I'm guessing it'll have to make an image of the whole DVD which could be a few gigs.

But I got a empty 300GB HD, so space isn't an issue. I can always get rid of the image of the games I'm already done with if needed.:)
 
[quote name='Vinny']Also, is there a way to have all games show up on Steam Client even if they weren't meant for Steam? It is nice to have one quick place for all your games rather than a ton of shortcuts.[/QUOTE]

Just do what I did: Download ObjectDock (google it!), and use it to hold the shortcuts for all of your games:

dockjh6.jpg
 
[quote name='Technique']Oh, yeah. I think I remember reading about that in PC Gamer a while back. So it creates an image of the CD, so it still takes up a lot of space, or am I wrong?[/quote]
Not really, it only takes what it needs. Ever seen those images that are only 5MB and all they are good for is booting the game and they realy only have one or two files? Well this is sort of like this. I have about 30 games in Game Jackal and about 8 are DVD and the image files or whatever they are take up only 700Mb in total.
 
[quote name='HumanSnatcher']I know there are a few games that later on released actual patches that allow you to not need the CD. I believe UT2K4 did that.[/quote]

Not many other games have this. This is one of the reasons that UT2K4 is one of my favorite games. The fact that they did this is totally awesome and all other developers/publishers should follow thier lead.

Also people were talking about having all your games in one place, well I used Game Jackal for that too. All you would do is make a profile but not give it a disc and it keeps the shortcut there. I put Steam in there as well. So now I have all my games in one shortcut.
 
I'll try the free methods first, if that stuff doesn't work I'll get Alcohol120. I actually have other uses for that software too so it's more reason for me to buy it.
 
GameCopyWorld.com is where I go for ALL of my no-cd cracked executables. It is an excellent resource IF you know how to navigate its jungle of ads, pop-ups and what not.

I only do it for games I own. Any warezed ISO worth its salt has the crack on it anyway.
 
I use Xfire to have a list of games that can be launched from that single application.

It takes into account Steam games and many others.
 
Two different ways of doing this (I'm summing up what everone's said).

1) www.gameburnworld.com OR www.gamecopyworld.com to download fixed *.exe files, but usally leads to problems when installing official patches or playing online.

2) Get a program such as PowerISO or Alcohol 120% (if you wanna be cheap just download it off of a w4rez site). Copy the image file onto your computer. For CDs, it should take up around 600-700mb. DVDs should take 3-4GB. Many DVDs have anti-copying protection, though, so it may not work. Just run the image files onto a virtual drive, created by the same program.

Baseline:
1) Pro: Good for people that have a low understanding of operating a computer, and takes up a small amount of space.

Con: Usually doesn't let you patch or play online.


2) Pro: Easy way to play games. Acts as a back-up of a CD. Gives full functionality of game.

Con: Takes up a lot of space (at least, they way I know how to do it does). External hard drive reccomended to hold all of the image files.
 
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