Thread: How To Backup PC Games

In this tutorial, I will show you how to backup a PC Game...

Ideally, you shouldn't have the game installed on your machine just yet.
The reasons as to why will become apparent later...

Let's start by downloading and installing Daemon Tools....

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/151928750/Daemon_Tools.rar

You'll also need a decent burning application if you don't already have one.

We will be creating a 1:1 copy.

The following products are capable of doing just that:

Alcohol 120%

Code:

http://rapidshare.com/files/151202802/Alcohol_120__v1.9.7__Build_6221_.rar

Clone CD

Code:

http://www.slysoft.com/en/clonecd.html

Disc Dump

Code:

http://www.geocities.com/ddumpfrontend/download.htm

Blindread and Blindwrite

Code:

http://www.blindwrite.com/

Disc Juggler

Code:

http://www.padus.com/

Game Jack 2

Code:

http://www.gamejack.org/

Now that you've got that installed, let's go ahead and set things up...

I'll be backing up my copy of Dawn Of War.
Your game may have slightly different copy protections in place, but the "dumping" process is more or less the same as Daemon Tools supports many common protections 100%...

Double-click the Daemon tools desktop icon. You should see a new icon in your system-tray (lower right-hand corner).
Right-click it. Under the "Options" menu checkmark "AutoStart" and "AutoMount". Under the "Emulation" menu, checkmark "All options ON".
(The system-tray icon should've went from "red" to "green". Now, Daemon tools will start itself when your computer boots and automount your disc image).


OK, things should now be setup to make and use your backup...

• Insert your game disc into the drive. If the game is already installed, let the game boot-up then exit completely out of the game. Otherwise, cancel the setup/install process.
• Open your burning program. (I use Alcohol 120%). Whatever you use, just make sure that it's at the default settings and setup to "SKIP READING ERRORS".
• Save your image with the same name as the original disc. In my case, the names would be "DOW_1" for disc 1, "DOW_" for disc 2 and "DOW_3" for disc 3. The output file type can be whatever your comfortable using. I use " .iso " so that's what I selected...
• Burn your image. Don't worry about the errors being logged in your burning program, they're being skipped, just let it do it's thing...
• Once complete, you should now have a perfect 1:1 copy of the game. Put the file wherever you plan on storing it...

AT THIS POINT YOU SHOULD REMOVE THE ORIGINAL GAME CD FROM IT'S DRIVE
We can now move on to using the backup we've just created...

If you already have the game installed, you may or may not run into some problems when attempting to play from the backup...


Let's try this first:

• Right-click on the Daemon Tools icon in the system-tray.
• Navigate to "Virtual CD/DVD-ROM" > "Device 0:" > and select "Mount Image". Point to wherever you stored the image you just made.
• Once the image is mounted, double-click the game icon on your desktop. The game should boot-up without any problems.

If you get an error asking for the original CD, move on and try the following:

• Click "Start" > "Run". Type " regedit " into the window that came up.
• Once in the registry, navigate to this key: " HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Game Manufacturer\Game Title "
• Look for the " CDPath " subkey (or something similar). Right-click it to modify it.
• Change this drive letter to point to your Daemon Tools Virtual drive letter. (You can double-click "My Computer" and look for the game icon. The letter next to it is the drive letter to change to)...
• Try double-clicking the game Icon on your desktop again. The game should now boot-up without any problems.

If you get an error asking for the original CD, move on and try the following:

Sometimes, a game just doesn't let the drive letter change take effect using the above method. That, or there is another file that needs the drive letter changed as well and I just haven't found it.


IF YOU HAVE ANY CONFIGS, MAPS, PROFILES, SAVES, ETC YOU WANT SAVED, NOW IS THE TIME TO BACK THEM UP TO A DIFFERENT FOLDER!

• UNINSTALL THE GAME. Make sure that you uninstall any expansion packs/add-ons (if you have them installed) BEFORE uninstalling the game.
• REBOOT your computer.
• Go in the Registry and delete any keys having to deal with game.

PAY ATTENTION TO WHAT YOUR DELETING FROM THE REGISTRY! IF YOU'RE UNSURE OF WHETHER OR NOT IT HAS TO DEAL WITH THE GAME, DO NOT DELETE IT!

• Navigate to " C:\Program Files\ ". Locate and delete the game folder.
• REBOOT your computer again and follow the directions below...

Now, we need to do a fresh install from the backups rather than the original disc(s)...

At this point, you have a choice to make:
1) You can install and run the game from the ISOs via a virtual drive.
2) You can burn the ISOs to disc, installing and running the game just as you would the originals.

If you choose 1, keep in mind that the ISOs must be stored on your hard drive and that the virtual drive's letter must stay the same. If the letter was Z: when you installed, it must be Z: when you play.
If you choose 2, the same is true. You install from D:, you must play from D:. Only now you'll need to insert the backup disc into a real drive every time you want to play the game.


If you chose 1

• Right-click the Daemon Tools system-tray icon. Navigate to " Virtual CD/DVD-ROM " > " Device 0: " > " Set device parameters ". Set the virtual drive letter to " Z: " (Or some letter that you never use).
• Mount the disc image in Daemon Tools, the installer should run automatically. If not, double-click the " My Computer " desktop icon, find the game icon and double-click it.
• Follow the prompts to install the game.
• When asked for disc2 (if your game has multiple discs), go into Daemon Tools. Navigate to " Virtual CD/DVD-ROM " > " Device 0: " and click " Eject Tray ".
• Mount the disc2 image in its place.
• Click " OK " back in the installer, the install process should continue without any problems...

If you choose 2

• Insert the backup disc into your CD drive.
• The disc should automatically boot. If not, go into " My Computer " and double-click the MW4 icon.
• Follow the prompts to install the game.
• The install process should finish without any problems...

thanks so much for this

This is an awesome tutorial, thanks for your time and input WelshDragon.

ok thanks.

ok,good tutorial,thanks dude

Wow, amazing thread, thank you very much 4 this!

thanks, clever use of the word "backup"...

good info,thx

thx sarch for this one
all the time i remove the windows i need to reinstall :\