Read CD on HD?

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gecko - 27 Jul 2008 14:37 GMT

I have the content of a CD (data) on an external hard drive in a
folder, say 'CDCOPY'. I also have a program that expects CDs that it
reads to be on a disk in a disk drive. That is, selecting the
program's 'read CD' option causes the program to read from a disk
drive directly with no intervening options as to the target.

Is there any way in XP PRO SP2 that I can associate (my word) the hard
drive folder CDDOPY with the disk drive letter to fake out the program
to access the hard drive folder instead?

Just wondering and hoping..............

-GECKO

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John McGaw - 27 Jul 2008 15:37 GMT

> I have the content of a CD (data) on an external hard drive in a
> folder, say 'CDCOPY'. I also have a program that expects CDs that it
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> -GECKO

Do a google search for "mount CD image" (without the quotes) for your
answer. This was a common dodge for people seeking to use bootleg copies of
games (or just to get around the requirement that a game CD be present in
the drive even if it wasn't being used for anything) and soon thereafter
the game makers started protecting against it by various means. So that
means that one may easily make an ISO file look like a real CD drive to the
operating system it may not prove acceptable the any programs one tries to
run from that virtual drive.

Signature

John McGaw
[Knoxville, TN, USA]
http://johnmcgaw.com

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gecko - 27 Jul 2008 16:41 GMT

>Do a google search for "mount CD image" (without the quotes) for your
>answer. This was a common dodge for people seeking to use bootleg copies of
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>operating system it may not prove acceptable the any programs one tries to
>run from that virtual drive.

I did. It appears to me that I will have to make an ISO or UIF image
of my hard drive folder's contents in order to make things work? I
can't seem to mount the folder otherwise. Right?

Thanks
-GECKO

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kony - 27 Jul 2008 17:59 GMT

>>Do a google search for "mount CD image" (without the quotes) for your
>>answer. This was a common dodge for people seeking to use bootleg copies of
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>Thanks
>-GECKO

Yes, AFAIK you need to re-rip the original CD to a CD image,
then mount it with something like Daemon Tools. Otherwise
there's no way to virtualize the CD, though I suppose you
could try to make an ISO and put the files into it with a
3rd party application but then it may not fool the
application that wants the CD, as it may not be looking only
for a CD with files.

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gecko - 27 Jul 2008 18:18 GMT

>Yes, AFAIK you need to re-rip the original CD to a CD image,
>then mount it with something like Daemon Tools. Otherwise
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>application that wants the CD, as it may not be looking only
>for a CD with files.

Thanks for info

-GECKO

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Grinder - 27 Jul 2008 18:19 GMT

>> Do a google search for "mount CD image" (without the quotes) for your
>> answer. This was a common dodge for people seeking to use bootleg copies of
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> of my hard drive folder's contents in order to make things work? I
> can't seem to mount the folder otherwise. Right?

You can use the subst command to create a virtual drive out of a
folder's contents. That might not fool your application, though, is it
might only look through removable drives. (I'm not sure what drive type
is created by subst.)

Fairly often a program that uses a CD will store the path to that CD in
the registry or in a configuration file. I would probably try to find
that setting and jimmy it to point to your HD folder.

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Joel - 28 Jul 2008 13:56 GMT

> >Do a google search for "mount CD image" (without the quotes) for your
> >answer. This was a common dodge for people seeking to use bootleg copies of
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> Thanks
> -GECKO

*If* you can make an ISO of just about anything you wish, and mount it
using VirtualCD then it should work pretty much exactly how it works on real
HD. I say "pretty much" because some software may require information from
Registry or the Configuration requires a specific drive letter etc..

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kony - 28 Jul 2008 21:53 GMT

>> >Do a google search for "mount CD image" (without the quotes) for your
>> >answer. This was a common dodge for people seeking to use bootleg copies of
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>using VirtualCD then it should work pretty much exactly how it works on real
>HD.

Sure, but the point was that it doesn't work (as files
alone) on a real HDD, that many applications/games/etc
require the actual disc in a drive which is a bit of an
annoyance at the very least or impossible if you can't find
the disc anymore.

> I say "pretty much" because some software may require information from
>Registry or the Configuration requires a specific drive letter etc..

Either way, most of these softwares will have had an
installation routine that wrote files that can reside on
HDD, to the HDD. These days it's mostly large sets of data
that stay on a disc or nothing at all, it's just an
anti-piracy or more accurately put, user access control
mechanism.

Ultimately, IMO any important software ought to be ripped
from the disc originally as an ISO, then installed from that
ISO to verify it will work as intended... leaving the
original disc safely in it's jeweled case on a storage rack.

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Joel - 27 Jul 2008 18:11 GMT

> I have the content of a CD (data) on an external hard drive in a
> folder, say 'CDCOPY'. I also have a program that expects CDs that it
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> -GECKO

I have no idea what the Message-Body says, but the Subject sounds like you
are looking for VirtualCD

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Ken Maltby - 27 Jul 2008 19:44 GMT

>I have the content of a CD (data) on an external hard drive in a
> folder, say 'CDCOPY'. I also have a program that expects CDs that it
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
>
> -GECKO

You could get a more useful response if you stop trying to
generalize or be mysterious about what you are doing.

You have a folder with what Kind of files? Their file
extensions?

This "program" has a name? Its purpose, is?

Even if we can't figure out how to make it work with that
program we might be able to suggest another way to
accomplish your objective, if you are willing to let us in on
it.

Luck;
Ken

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gecko - 27 Jul 2008 21:31 GMT

> You could get a more useful response if you stop trying to
>generalize or be mysterious about what you are doing.
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>Luck;
> Ken

Have gotten some useful replies, but you are right. I wasn't trying
to be mysterious.
-GECKO

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