Spoof CDROM Drive Letter? 1

[JimHorton]

Hi All,
I would like to spoof programs to look to the harddrive instead of the cd rom for data files for games, etc. (there's a reg key under hklm\enum...currentdriveletter--but changing it doesn't seem to have the desired effect).

The purpose is not for anything illegal--I've purchased these CD's but I don't want to keep swapping them in and out everytime I want to do a different game. I've got 80 gig and I figure the convenience and performance gain are worth using the drive instead of a CDRom. So I've copied the cds in their entirety to my harddrive.

Yet some games (yes, some are nice and allow the full data files to be placed on the hd, but others require the CD) prompt for the CD. What, if anything, can be done to spoof these programs into looking at a harddrive instead of the CD device?
Thanks,
--Jim

 

[dakota81]

Hmmm.... you really don't see any CD changers anymore, I wonder why they died out...

 

[Jakespeare]

In answer to your question about having to insert the ORIGINAL CD-ROMS:
As I have learned, as I understand this to be, the reason you have to use the ORIGINAL is, because of COPYRIGHT Protection.
You are being asked to PROVE you have the original. You copied all the *DATA* off the installation CD-ROM, but you did NOT get the encrypted code imbedded in the CD-ROM disk itself. ( In fact, if you copy that CD-ROM with a burner, and make a copy, it won't work....... because you didn't get the embedded code.)
You will get an "error" message stating this,or something like this:
"Please insert the ORIGINAL CD-ROM," thus proving you have the original, and fulfilling the copyright protection.

 

[Rhort]

I find FAKECD quite useful. It's free, it's easy to install and uses hardly any system resources. Get it here:

http://www.math.uni-rostock.de/~nfa506/fakecddr.html

 

[JimHorton]

rHort,
Thanks very much for that, I'll try them both.

Jakespear,
Yes, I understand the purpose of the messages. Copyright protection is an issue unto itself, however most software doesn't require the original cd (imagine if everytime you opened MS Word or Excel, you had to hunt down a cd). Yes, MS has lost alot due to this, it's the nature of the beast I guess--finding a reasonable balance between protection for the vendor and convenience for the user; and also the acts of a few (or mabye not so few) hurting things for the rest of us.

I may seem old-fashioned saying this, but I actually purchased PKzip. I'd venture to guess that more people have either pirated this particular software, or 'extended' the trial period by several thousand days, than any other software out there.
--Jim

 

[braddds]

Go to

http://www.gamecopyworld.com

This site has "fixes" for people like you that own the games and want to play them from your hard drive.

Also I use a program called deamon 2.88 as a virtual cdrom drive and another program called fakecd to set up a directory to act as a cdrom drive.

Both programs can be found on the web as can other freeware/shareware that work like a charm!

good luck

 

[JimHorton]

Thanks for all the input.

I tried FakeDr, and it was DOS mode, with some extreme limitations for Windows. I tried Gamecopy, but their servers all had one error or another and I couldn't get to any of the sites where the 'downloads' were.

So I ended up at with the Paragon CD Emulater at

http://www.paragon-gmbh.com,

and spent 29.95 on their Windows based emulator, and it is EXCELENT. Best $30 I've spent in a long time.

Now my kids can play any of their numerous games without hunting for (and me having to clean) the sticky-candy-and-spilled-Kool-Aid-encrusted CD's. I installed it, ran it (no need to even reboot) and in a matter of a few minutes I had images of several games mapped to virtual CD Drives. Very smooth.
--Jim

 

[cj75s]

Windows 95/98 already has a program in it that helps you to make your own Virtual CDrom. it is called Subst and resides in C:\Windows\command. I found this great idea in a mag called PC Answers:

Firstly make a folder on your hard drive e.g. Virtual then make a subfolder the name of the CD you wish to copy. e.g. party. Then copy your party CD into the party subfolder and install it from there.

Now rightclick on the desktop and make a New Shortcut. In the Command line box type:
C:\windows\command\ subst q: c:\virtual\party where 'q' is the next available drive letter for the mapped CD. There MUST be a SPACE between q: and c: .
Name the shortcut Virtual CD Drive or something like that to help you remember what it is for. Click Next and choose an icon and then click finish and the shortcut will appear on your desktop.

Rightclick it and choose properties. Choose the Program tab and check on the Close on Exit box. Click apply and OK. Now browse to your Startup group and drage the shortcut into it.
Check it works by restarting the computer. You should see in explorer an extra drive has appeared called 'whatever your C drive was called':\(Q)

Hope this is of some help. Its free to do and may not work for some CD's but should work for most. Again all thanks should go to Joe Cassels of PC Answers mag.

 

[JimHorton]

cj,
I haven't tried this, but it doesn't look like it will do anything other than 'remapping' the cd drive. The fundamental issue (as I understand it from my admittedly brief research into this issue) with the virtual Cd is that the CD data is, at the lowest level, different than harddrive data, and the dos mscdex driver and the other windows cd drivers are what translate this. Simply remapping does nothing about this fundamental issue.

One of the other things that cd game vendors do is to put certain license info on distinct track/sector #'s of the CD. If you just copy the cd to a disk, and remapp it, this data is now on some totally unknown, random disk sector--NOT anywhere close (except possibly a one-in-100 quadrillion chance) to the track/sector that it was burned onto--and that the programs initialization checks for.

The emulator I ended up with makes an 'image' of the cd, complete with a virtual fat, using original track/sectors.

If others have tried subst sucessfully, --with a game or program that is known to absolutely require the cd to be in the tray for the program/game to work, I'd like to hear about it.
--Jim