Running OFB without the CD

[angelyne]

Has anyone achieved this?  My freaking DVD reader sounds like a jet engine taking off, every time I boot the computer and/or access the drive.  It's driving me batty.

From my small foray into the matter, it seems that a lot of people are saying the old hat trick of loading a mini-backup into Daemon tools no longer works.  You need to load the entire freaking 700 MB image and run some other program that hides the presence of the Daemon tool.  I'm not too keen on that.  And I'm not interested in a crack exe either.  I stay away from stuff like that.

[J. M. Pescado]

If you want to be Chinese, you have to eat nasty food.

[liegenschonheit]

I don't use a CD. You need to grab a little ap called sd4hide.exe or SafeDisk4 Hider. Other than that, I don't know if a little mini-backup would work once you use sd4hide, I have the full blown iso because I "aquired" it that way.

And I like chinese food! Yum.

[jrd]

Theoretically there might exist sites with names like gamecopyworld.com which may or may not have working "no CD" patches for all Sims expansion packs.

I use a mini-image and an anti-spyware (Safedisc hider) myself.

[Theo]

[...]You need to load the entire freaking 700 MB image and run some other program that hides the presence of the Daemon tool.  I'm not too keen on that.  And I'm not interested in a crack exe either.  I stay away from stuff like that.

Hiding the daemon tools just requires the deletion of this registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE\DEVICEMAP\Scsi.

That's what most dubious exe's do; others may also do additional tasks

Of course you still need to load the entire image as well.

PS: Don't forget to restore that registry key.

[liegenschonheit]

Thats why you use sd4hide. It hides/restores that key for you.

[angelyne]

I found a simple script that does that for you (deletes and restores the SCSI key).  Didn't work for me, but then I wasn't using the full image either.

I might have to resort to that. 

Anyone made it work with the mini-backup image?

[cyperangel]

I use the sd4hide and the mini image. works well for me

[Indiasong]

I use game jackal. It's pay though. Well, sort of.

[KellyQ]

I use Game Jackal as well. I haven't paid for it yet, still using the "trial" version.

[Ambular]

I also use GameJackal.  It's ten bucks for the full version, last time I checked, and it took me a couple of tries to figure out how to set up a profile properly, but it's worked without a hitch since.  And it'll work with most other games that require a CD, as long as you have the original to set it up with, so it's not a bad deal.

[Liss]

My OFB cd started acting wierd yesterday (like telling me to insert the disc, when it was already in). So I went to umm....crap something like gamecopyworld or gameburnworld, something like that.  I found a nocd patch there.  works fine.  There should really be an option in these games to copy the executable to your hard drive so you don't have to use the disc.  I know how much *I, personally* play, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people that do the same.  That's got to be a lot of abuse on a disc.

[Jysudo]

If you want to be Chinese, you have to eat nasty food.

What rubbish. You must have been eating crap chinese foods like those greasy cheap takeaways.

You probably haven't tasteed REAL TASTY Chinese food! 

[RainbowTigress]

The thing is, the game doesn't actually NEED the CD once you've installed it.  It only wants to see if you actually have a legitimate copy.

Liss, the probelm with NoCD patches is that you have to remember to replace the original exe file if Maxis releases a patch or you install a new EP, or it won't install.  You also then have to find a new NoCD patch to that works with the Maxis patch.  I used them in Sims 1, but it was a pain, and I've steered clear of them with Sims 2.

[webwench]

So I'm loving GameJackal, but here's the rub...

I run on a laptop that's an ultra-light (3lbs), and thus, has no drive attached.  I have to use an external.  Even with GJ, it requires that I have the drive attached, which... is a pain in the rear end, because if I have to move locations or something, I have to juggle a laptop, a drive, and usually a notebook.

Does anyone know if there's a way to run OFB WITHOUT attaching the drive?

[BlueSoup]

Well, Daemon tools is only a virtual drive.

[webwench]

And, Daemon conflicts with GJ.  So.

I did some searching, and the answer, for those of you like me, is to d/l the Original CD Emulator and run it simultaneously with GJ. 

It even speeds up my game.  It's rather nice.

[yetyak]

Would that help eliminate the conflict between Game Jackal and the Roxio DVD burner software?  Even with those programs in different partitions, GJ won't run OFB.  It doesn't have a problem with Nero. 
Does anyone know if having the Roxio stuff on a different hard drive would work, or is it the registry entries that mess everything up?

[neriana]

My OFB cd started acting wierd yesterday (like telling me to insert the disc, when it was already in). So I went to umm....crap something like gamecopyworld or gameburnworld, something like that.  I found a nocd patch there.  works fine.  There should really be an option in these games to copy the executable to your hard drive so you don't have to use the disc.  I know how much *I, personally* play, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people that do the same.  That's got to be a lot of abuse on a disc.

It's a lot of abuse on the CD drive too. Copy protection stinks.

[J. M. Pescado]

It's also worth noting that CDs constantly used in such a manner, especially cheaply manufactured ones like those used by certain companies (cough EA cough), will develop stress fractures and eventually explode. Depending on the way your CD drive is formed, you may be injured and/or killed by the resulting shrapnel.

[liegenschonheit]

Ooh. That sounds like fun. I would want my eulogy to be "She died an unnecessary and painful death due to explody CD. Her bereaved family will be suing the pants off of EA and living like rap stars off of the proceeds, in dedication to her memory and according to her (presumed) final wishes."

[webwench]

MythBusters actually tested this myth and declared it, in fact, a myth.  Your CD would have to spin faster than an industrial electric drill to explode hard enough to shoot THROUGH the case of the computer and cause damage to a person.

But anyway.  The CDs do explode Stress fractures ROCK.

[witch]

I have heard of people putting labels on their CDs too, that makes a good implode. (Tales from my techmate's work).

[J. M. Pescado]

MythBusters actually tested this myth and declared it, in fact, a myth.  Your CD would have to spin faster than an industrial electric drill to explode hard enough to shoot THROUGH the case of the computer and cause damage to a person.

Depending on your computer, it may not be necessary to actually physically penetrate the computer case. Some CD drives have only a flimsy piece of plastic that stands between you and high-velocity plastic shrapnel puncturing your face. I have, in fact, seen CDs explode with sufficient fragment velocity to cause injury or death.

[jrd]

I have never seen a CD-indused human fatality, but I have had CD drives completely fail because of CD shattering.
In one instance I received nasty cuts on my hands after opening the drive even.