[dandrewk]

My kids are coming of age where the games they are playing are progressing beyond "sesame street" to more sophisticated gaming, such as Red Alert and Warcraft, etc.


Even though they can play more adult oriented games, they still treat their cd's like toys, which is to say.... roughly . We have a shelf life of about 2-3 months before the cd's get so dinged they are unusable.


Up until now, I was always able to make a copy of the cd, so they can destroy the copy and I could still make them another one. But these "adult" games have a copy protection scheme that foils my cd burner software.


I know all about backing up DVD's (DVD Decryptor, etc.), but is there similar software that allows backing up cd's? I am getting tired of having to re-buy those games just because the media gets scratched.


Any help greatly appreciated!

 

[schulzpm]

I use DiscDump to make a copy of the disc and Daemon tools to mount the ISO images from a hard drive so (I) they don't even need to go find the disc.

dameon tools - also has lots of good information on the subject
disc dump and a front end for it


**and of course the disclaimer - theese tools should only be used for games that you legitamently own***

 

[orbitzboy]

One program:


alcohol 120%

here ( http://www.google.com/url?sa=U&start...re.com/&e=7249 )


strange name, but it has the most comprehensive capabilities to create images of games with copy protection. I use this to create backups of games for my laptop. Nice easy UI to automount the images with a click.

 

[schulzpm]

orbitzboy, thanks for the post. I had never heard of Alcohol 120% and now I really like it.


...though DamonTools and DiscDump is cheaper and does get the job done...

 

[pcCinema]

You could always get a crack from gamecopyworld.com, in which most cases you no longer need a disk.


Old school, I know, but if you OWN the game why should you be tethered to the stupid cd's at all anyway.


Troy

 

[orbitzboy]

Most of the cdfree cracks make you copy the contents of the CD to your drive anyway.... Those that don't usually reduce functionality (no cut scenes / music, online servers detect "unoffical" version, etc...)


an image of the original disk on your hard drive mounted into a virtual drive I have found to be the most reliable way to play mondern games.

 

[littledeath]

CloneCD is pretty good for games backup as well.

 

[ccclapp]

Does this approach also work for backing up PS application disks, or is this yet another methodology?