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    Good free virtual drive program?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by The Fire Snake, Jan 16, 2010.

  1. The Fire Snake

    The Fire Snake Notebook Virtuoso

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    I want to play a few games on my laptop and they require the CD to be in the drive to play them. Can you recommend me a good virtual drive program I can install that will allow me to play the game without the disc? I am using Windows 7 Professional x64. Thanks.
     
    The Fire Snake, Jan 16, 2010
    #1
  2. Jayayess1190

    Jayayess1190 Waiting on Intel Cannonlake

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    Jayayess1190, Jan 16, 2010
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  3. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    There is always the venerable DaemonTools.
     
    surfasb, Jan 16, 2010
    #3
  4. jackluo923

    jackluo923 Notebook Virtuoso

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    magicdisk.....
     
    jackluo923, Jan 16, 2010
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  5. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    Another good choice.
     
    surfasb, Jan 16, 2010
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  6. usapatriot

    usapatriot Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Daemon tools or MagicISO (MagicDisk) are both excellent.
     
    usapatriot, Jan 16, 2010
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  7. The Fire Snake

    The Fire Snake Notebook Virtuoso

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    Thanks for all the great recommendations so far. There are a lot of great programs on the web but I am afraid of just downloading them and using them sine I am afraid of getting spyware/virusus. So it is good to run them past you guys first to make sure that I am getting a clean program.

    So what do these virtual drive programs actually do; create an ISO from the CD, mount the ISO and allow the game to point to it? Is that the basic concept?
     
    The Fire Snake, Jan 16, 2010
    #7
  8. bmwnick

    bmwnick Notebook Consultant

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    virtualclone will mount image
     
    bmwnick, Jan 16, 2010
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  9. winkosmosis

    winkosmosis Notebook Evangelist

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    Alcohol 52% Free
     
    winkosmosis, Jan 16, 2010
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  10. MrButterBiscuits

    MrButterBiscuits ~Veritas Y Aequitas~

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    Damon tools or my personal fave Virtual clone drive.
     
    MrButterBiscuits, Jan 16, 2010
    #10
  11. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    virtual clone drive was just recently updated....
     
    newsposter, Jan 16, 2010
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  12. Kocane

    Kocane Notebook Deity

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    Virtual Clonedrive is great.. No fuss there, where as in daemontools that SPTD driver has always been a bugger to me.
     
    Kocane, Jan 16, 2010
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  13. oktoberfest

    oktoberfest Notebook Guru

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    if for some reason you want another option... I've been using PowerISO, which works well
     
    oktoberfest, Jan 16, 2010
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  14. SerratedAuto

    SerratedAuto Notebook Consultant

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    I use Alcohol 52% Free

    All you guys who say Virtual clonedrive is good - Do you know what image formats it supports?

    I'm looking for something that handles .uif and I haven't really been a fan of PowerISO or MagicISO so far.
     
    SerratedAuto, Jan 17, 2010
    #14
  15. Heiji1412

    Heiji1412 Notebook Geek

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    It supports most major formats, it doesn't support multi-tracks images, therefore has no support for cue and the like, but mounting the bin files directly will work, as is the case with mds/mdf files.

    I also got rid of Alcohol because of SPTD, I never bother with making copies of protected discs anymore, so I figured why not.
     
    Heiji1412, Jan 17, 2010
    #15
  16. AmazingGracePlayer

    AmazingGracePlayer Notebook Deity

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    I recommend Daemon tools, very simple and easy to use.
     
    AmazingGracePlayer, Jan 17, 2010
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  17. Deks

    Deks Notebook Prophet

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    I personally use Daemon Tools Lite.
    Free, light, and effective.
    :)
     
    Deks, Jan 17, 2010
    #17
  18. newsposter

    newsposter Notebook Virtuoso

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    newsposter, Jan 17, 2010
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  19. The Fire Snake

    The Fire Snake Notebook Virtuoso

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    Thanks for all the replys. I wanted to respond back. I am using VirtualClone drive and love it. It is simple and works perfectly. And as far as ISO creation I am using ISO Recorder. This is another simple and very nice program. But I am running into a problem.

    The game I am trying to use without my disc is Warcraft III. I made an ISO of it. Mounted the ISO in the virtual drive created by Virtualclone drive and all was fine. Then I clicked on the virtualdrive and installed Warcraft III from it. The game installed perfectly but when I go to start up the game I get an error message that says "Please verify that your Warcraft III disc is in your CD-ROM drive, then click retry." What do I do?
     
    The Fire Snake, Jan 18, 2010
    #19
  20. surfasb

    surfasb Titles Shmm-itles

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    You gotta get past the copy protections. Which is why I recommended DaemonTools. But anymore talk would be outside the scope of this thread. Plus, I don't want to get dragged outside and Rodney Kinged by the Mutaween.
     
    surfasb, Jan 18, 2010
    #20
  21. Kdawgca

    Kdawgca rotaredoM repudrepuS RBN

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    Thread closed. Virtual drive software are legal to use, but bypassing copy protections/security measures(like DRM-games require CDs to prevent some forms of piracy) usually violates the game publishers EULA(as well as DCMA) which is why they cannot be discussed on NBR.

    In the future, you may want to look into games that are available via digital distribution(like steam), to avoid having to use a CD.

    -Mutaween member #1337
     
    Kdawgca, Jan 18, 2010
    #21