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SafeDisc 3.15, 3.20 and beyond are getting harder & harder to beat.
Quite often, with Alcohol 120%, I can make the image files (MDF/MDS or ISO
files) successfully and when I mount the image files to virtual drive,
I can install & play the games without problems. This gives me an
impression that I have got perfect image files. So, I go ahead and burn
the image files to backup CDs. With the backup CDs, the installation
runs smoothly. But, the games installed from the backup CDs refuse
to run. Its is a conundrum to me why the image files work but the
backup CDs do not. Well, maybe my CD-RW drive is not good enough
(Sony CD-RW CRX215E5). Are there any other reasons? Could some experts
out there please shed some lights?
If the image files work, can I simply burn the image files as data files
to backup CDs and then, mount the image files from the backup CDs to
virtual drive? Will that ever work?
Let me use an example to illustrate the problem. Say I just bought a game
named "foo" (the game contents are not important for this discussion).
It has three CDs. The first CD is carrying SafeDisc 3.20 protection.
My goal is to backup the game so that I can save the original CDs and
just use the backup CDs to install & play.
I launch Alcohol 120% to make three image files in my hard disk ---
foo_1.mdf/mds, foo_2.mdf/mds and foo_3.mdf/mds, all with "SafeDisc 2/3"
profile. I save three original CDs to somewhere as I am not going to
use them any more.
Next, I want to verify the image files. I mount foo_1.mdf/mds to the
virtual drive. Run setup.exe/autorun.exe/launch.exe or whatever from
the virtual drive to start game installation. Naturally, during
installation, when I am prompted to insert disc 2, I simply unmount
foo_1.mdf/mds and mount foo_2.mdf/mds to the virtual drive. When I am
prompted to insert disc 3, I simply unmount foo_2.mdf/mds and mount
foo_3.mdf/mds to the virtual drive. When the installation is about to
terminate, I am prompted to insert disc 1 again and I simply unmount
foo_3.mdf/mds and mount foo_1.mdf/mds to the virtual drive. The
installation ends successfully. I am able to launch the game from the
virtual drive and play the game without any problems.
Next, I want to burn the backup CDs. I unmount foo_1.mdf/mds from the
virtual drive and uninstall the game. Then, I launch Alcohol 120%
to burn three image files to three backup CDs. Then, I use three
backup CDs to re-install the game. the installation ends successfully.
But, when I try run the game, it refuses to run. I don't know why.
Next, I am thinking, since the image files work, maybe I can just save
them as data files to backup CDs. So, I launch Alcohol 120% to remake
three image files --- foo_1.ico, foo_2.ico and foo_3.ico. This time,
they are in ICO format instead of MDF/MDS format because one MDF/MDS
file typically does not fit into a single CD but one ICO file does.
Then, I launch regular CD burning software (RecordNow! which was
pre-installed when I bought the PC) to burn foo_[1|2|3].ico into
three separate CDs. Note that, here, foo_[1|2|3].ico are simply
treated as data files.
Next, I want to try backup CDs burned this way. I first put the
CD containing foo_1.ico file into my CD-ROM drive (say, E drive).
Then, I mount E:foo_1.ico to the virtual drive (say, L drive).
From L drive, I now can see everything in the original CD 1. So,
from L drive, I run setup.exe/autorun.exe/launch.exe or whatever
to re-install the game. But, the installation does not go well.
When I am prompted to insert disc 2, I meant to unmount E:foo_1.ico,
insert the CD containing foo_2.ico and mount E:foo_2.ico to the
virtual drive. But, I was unable to do. My PC somehow hands up.
Am I doing something stupid here? I was wondering, will backup CDs
burned this way, i.e. treating foo_[1|2|3].ico as data files,
ever work? If this approach can be made to work somehow, what it
means to us is that, to beat SafeDisc 3.15, 3.20 and beyond, we
do not need heavy-duty burner (the image burning part of
Alcohol 120%). We just need good-quality image maker (the image
making part of Alcohol 120%).
Your comments and suggestions are highly appreciated.
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