13 replies to this topic

[Jack22]

I put the cd in my d: and create an iso file. I mount the iso into the virtual drive and then run the game. No matter what game it is or how old it is, It still needs the cd. with one exception, When I run Roller coaster tycoon a dialogue box pos up saying "please insert the cd in the following drive:" then a editable box below it has "D:\" put in it so i erase it and put "h:" which is the vir drive with the iso. and the game runs fine. The difference with this game is that it let you choose which drive to look in.

When I mount the iso of any game I go to "My computer" and the drive still says "DVD Drive (G:)" or whatever letter it is. It's like my computer (my actual computer that is) doesn't even know the games are there. When I double click in the Virtual drives then It behaves like normal. I can even install. ty.

BTW, is it possible to create iso of files that are not in the cd drive, on a disk?

[zamiel]

Try not to use ISO as this image format is limited in what it can store protection wise.

You should also use Protection ID to work out which datatype inside Alcohol you should use when making a backup of a game. If you reinstall your game from the virtual drive, you may find it will look at the correct drive first instead of asking where it is.

Alcohol Xtra allows you to be able to create an image from files on your HD.

[Jack22]

Try not to use ISO as this image format is limited in what it can store protection wise.

You should also use Protection ID to work out which datatype inside Alcohol you should use when making a backup of a game. If you reinstall your game from the virtual drive, you may find it will look at the correct drive first instead of asking where it is.

I don't see why the games can't check all drives. I think that may be the problem. If you had two physical disk drives would you need to place the cd in the same drive? I think my computer is acting funny. In "My Computer" it still shows the title of a game that I made a backup of yesterday. Even though that game is not in the D: and a different game is there now. And when you double click it it show the contents of the new game. It's been weird this way for a while now. I'm just going to restart this computer and try all of this on a different computer.

[Jack22]

I installed A52% on the laptop and used the exact same iso and it worked perfectly. I installed with the iso. The running autorun from the disk works just fine. I didn't matter which drive I installed it from. When I mount an image the virtual drive goes from "DVD Drive (G:)" to "Game (G:)" on this computer it doesn't do that. I'm thinking that games look for the cd in all drives but when they see the "DVD Drive (n:)" it assumes that there is no cd in there. unless told to look there. So what could the problem be? thanks!

[zamiel]

The drive that games look for the CD in has nothing to do with Alcohol. Traditionally it is the drive that the game was installed from however more games these days will look for the disc in any drive, but not all. Many older games would look for the disc in D:\ or the first available optical drive only.

The drive letter N:\ will have nothing to do with whether the drive is checked or not, its probably has more to do with the fact you installed it from the ISO so the game knows where the virtual drive is. The Autorun unless disabled or bypassed will always start no matter which drive you originally installed from.

[Charalambos]

I don't see why the games can't check all drives. I think that may be the problem. If you had two physical disk drives would you need to place the cd in the same drive? I think my computer is acting funny. In "My Computer" it still shows the title of a game that I made a backup of yesterday. Even though that game is not in the D: and a different game is there now. And when you double click it it show the contents of the new game. It's been weird this way for a while now. I'm just going to restart this computer and try all of this on a different computer.

It seems that the AIN (Auto Insert Notification) is disabled in this computer. This is the way how to re-enable it( from the CDFreaks Club):

CODE

First of all you need to open Windows Registry Editor (regedit). To do this go to the RUN command and enter "regedit" and then press ENTER. Then browse down through the following key path.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER
Software
Microsoft
Windows
CurrentVersion
Policies
Explorer

Now look at the "NoDriveTypeAutoRun" key on the right. To enable Auto Insert Notification, right-click on that key, select Modify and change the value to 0000 95 00 00 00 and click OK. Now quit the Registry Editor and restart Windows for this to take effect.

[Jack22]

"0000 95 00 00 00" is 16 characters but in the edit box there is only room for 8. The two characters in there already are "91" Do the zeros and spaces make a difference?

Edited by Jack22, 18 July 2008 - 01:28 AM.

[Charalambos]

Just change the "91" to "95". The 0000... format is displayed when you choose the "Modify Binary Data" option. On the other hand this value is "91" in my laptop and AIN is supposed to be activated( no problems in recognizing disks). Anyway, give it a try to check if it helps.

[Charalambos]

If the above doesn't help then change back the value to "91" (just to be sure that nothing else will be infected) and try this:

CODE

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom]:

"Autorun"=dword:00000001

If anyone knows something more about AIN e.t.c. plesae help.

[zamiel]

The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom location with autorun above is correct for XP/2000.

The policies location I believe is for 95/98/ME only.

[Jack22]

Right clicking and going to "Modify Binary Data" was what I should of done. not just to "Modify"
But that didn't work so I went to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom] and AutoRun was set to 0. I changed it and now eveything is working fine now. Thanks! You guys are the best!

The only problem now is that it still requires a cd or just the correct drive for the image to be in. oh well.

Edited by Jack22, 18 July 2008 - 06:49 PM.

[Charalambos]

@zamiel

the policies key is the same for XP too

@Jack22

Good that you solved your problem.

The only problem now is that it still requires a cd or just the correct drive for the image to be in.

This is the job of Alcohol. Scan your original disks with ProtectionID- you can find it in the web- to find the copy protection and then make an image with the corresponding Alcohol's datatype and use it mounted to a virtual drive or burned in a backup (make sure that the image works first) instead of your original disk. If you have any problems e.g. with a particular game you can come back here and ask for help.

[zamiel]

According to annoyances.org the policies key is not a recognised solution for XP/2000, just for 95-ME.

[Charalambos]

Perhaps, but I was able to find this key in my laptop's Windows XP registry.