Need to Backup my Games

[+JHBrown Subscriber¹]

Folks,

I am one of those gamers who still likes to buy physical games. I do not like to install programs like origin and steam on my computer just to run a game. So, I am looking for a way to make and exact copy of the DVD's into an ISO. That way when I need to install a game, I can just mount the ISO to do the install, which is much faster than my DVD drive reading the disk. What programs can make an exact copy to ISO? What do you all recommend! Thanks!

[farmeunit]

I used to use Alcohol 120% (http://www.alcohol-soft.com/), but I haven't backed up my games in a long time since I use Steam mostly.

I used http://www.myce.com/ back when it was CDFreaks to get info on backing up games. It depends a lot on the type of drive you have. I would recommend starting there.

Blindwrite was useful in some cases, but Alcohol was by far the most used by me. I like doing 1:1 copies. You can install from just about any burnt disc, but if it requires reading the disc to check if it's legit, then that requires using something else.

[xendrome]

Folks,

I am one of those gamers who still likes to buy physical games. I do not like to install programs like origin and steam on my computer just to run a game. So, I am looking for a way to make and exact copy of the DVD's into an ISO. That way when I need to install a game, I can just mount the ISO to do the install, which is much faster than my DVD drive reading the disk. What programs can make an exact copy to ISO? What do you all recommend! Thanks!

Try BurnAware Free to burn disc to image. Then use WinCDEMU to mount.

But honestly, Stream/Origin are small installs and unobtrusive, they also provide other functions besides just "running a game" like keeping the game updated, achievements, multiplayer networking/friends, etc.

Everyone has such a hissy fit over Steam/Origin but from what I've seen people just do it cause it's "cool" to hate on it. I do understand if you have physical copies of the games and don't want to re-purchase the same thing.

Good luck.

[+JHBrown Subscriber¹]

Thanks for the link.

Try BurnAware Free to burn disc to image. Then use WinCDEMU to mount.

But honestly, Stream/Origin are small installs and unobtrusive, they also provide other functions besides just "running a game" like keeping the game updated, achievements, multiplayer networking/friends, etc.

Everyone has such a hissy fit over Steam/Origin but from what I've seen people just do it cause it's "cool" to hate on it. I do understand if you have physical copies of the games and don't want to re-purchase the same thing.

Good luck.

Thanks. Yes I understand some of the benefits but I really don't care about things such as social networking and achievements. I just play a game to enjoy by myself when the real world allows me to. Good info though, and thanks again.

I have a complete format and install of Windows 7 coming up, and the biggest time waster is installing games. So I thought just installing from an ISO would be the quickest way to get games back on. Installing all my games can take almost 2-3 hours. Oh the horror!

[+JHBrown Subscriber¹]

Question then about Steam. Never used it before. Can I put in the cd keys for my current physical games and download the game when I need to through them?

[fusi0n]

Some games you can actually enter your CD into steam.. I know BF2 works like that.. For others.. I used Alcohol 120%

[+BudMan MVC]

"I have a complete format and install of Windows 7 coming up,"

And why is that? Are you getting a new computer? Are you getting a new disk and don't know how to move your install?

Are you moving form vista or xp to 7? How would you know you have a format and install coming up?

[Noir Angel]

I keep my Steam folder on another hard drive. Then it's a simple matter of loading the application up again and letting it update itself. Completely negates the need for me to ever reinstall games on Steam (Origin however isn't so good on that front yet, I still have to reinstall Mass Effect 3 every time I do a clean install)

[Chasethebase Reporter]

Question then about Steam. Never used it before. Can I put in the cd keys for my current physical games and download the game when I need to through them?

Firstly, you don't necessarily have to enable the community feature of Steam, you can just keep your profile private, and you can choose to accept or reject any friend requests you receive. I have a few friends who do this.

Secondly, it depends on the game mostly, some games do support the ability to input CD keys, while some do not. It's worth checking before you format and reinstall Windows.

[articuno1au]

I have my steam profile private, I have a ton of friends (I run a gaming service) but I stay out of the "social" stuff.

I use steam because if I lose my games, I can just download them.

Personally I would register all my games with Steam that I can, give you a double backup just in case. Not to mention that buying through steam is AWESOME.

I used to hate Steam some 6 years ago, now I don't buy games except through Steam :)

Regarding backups, I'm a big fan of Alcohol 120%, it has a proprietary standard you can use to rip disks (.mdf) which will include securewrite et all tags so that you can still use protected disks.

I'd prefer to stick with ISO's though. They work with everything and can be natively mounted in 8, and there's an Microsoft pack to add Explorer based disk mounting in 7 :)

In all.. Steam is your friend. It's great for just gaming :)

[Noir Angel]

Also... the convenience of being able to preload some big releases and just wait for them to unlock is great. No more waiting in store lines at ridiculous hours (not that it's something I personally ever did anyway)