how can i play dvd games with only cd drive?

i recently purchased the complete 6 game Myst collection at eBay. only Myst, Riven & URU are on cd; Myst 3, 4 & 5 are on dvd.

what do i need to play the dvd games without having to go out & buy a dvd drive and install it? i know there are software programs that will do "things" but not sure where to start/what to get.

also, legal or not to find/get no cd/dvd "cracks" for games i legally, physically "own" (yeah, i know it's "lease;" semantic garbage IMHO)? replaced several other older cd games & music (including some out of print ones) that became too scratched up to work and would like to be able to play without my cd so i don't wear them out. for the music cd's i'll probably want to burn them so i still have the original cd's in pristine condition to re-burn if needed.

need help with both of these (i know where/how to go look for the no cd/dvd thingys). i'm fine with anti-piracy laws, i just want to do what i want with stuff i paid for so i don't have to go out and pay for them again.

anyway, thanks for any info.

n.b. don't need anything that will do movies/videos; have a netflix subscription & my tv/theater system is MUCH nicer/bigger than my pc. just need help with games and music.

 

No software on the planet will allow you to read a DVD in a CD-only drive. It has nothing to do with software, it has to do with the mechanics and electronics of the drive. New DVD burners are under $35 at Newegg, and many have free shipping (here's one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129043). Since your PC sounds like it's fairly old (CD only PCs haven't been marketed in a LOOONG time), you'll probably need a DVD drive with an IDE (or PATA) interface, so make sure you get the right one. If your motherboard has SATA capability, get a SATA drive. DVD burners will read and write anything: both CDs and DVDs can be read and burned.

If you legally own the games, you are allowed to legally copy them for your own use. There is software 'out there' that will allow you to rip the disc to an ISO image, then you can use a virtual drive program to mount the ISO image file as if it were a CD drive. However, many games don't respond well to virtual drives, and typically run MUCH better from real CD/DVDs. A little bit of Googling will get you all the info you need. Check the Major Geeks Back Up downloads for programs that will rip the games to functional ISO files (most aren't free). This site has many tools that folks may find useful for running ISO images from virtual drives, and for creating the virtual drives. For mounting ISO image files as virtual drives, I personally use either MagicDisc which is freeware, or PowerISO which isn't free. PowerISO does lots more then just a virtual drive, and besides MagicDisc, there are many other free virtual drive applications.

 

Oh.... one other thing.... the DVD burner I linked to was the first one listed at Newegg that had an IDE/PATA interface and also had free shipping. I'm not necessarily recommending that particular drive. From the quick research I've done, it seems that IDE/PATA optical drives are becoming a bit scarce these days now that the SATA interface has become very much the standard for all types of drives, hard drives and optical (CD/DVD) drives....

 

You need to get a DVD drive. The software you're talking about is known as "emulators", but there are none that emulate what has become standard in all modern computers.

Or you can rip it and mount the ISO, but most modern games look for the physical DVD as a part of their DRM, so you still need the DVD in an optical drive that can handle it.

 

great info, guys.

i don't object to installing a dvd drive, i just wanted to avoid it, if possible (lazy & tired right now. LOL). will Google for a good price, then call Dell & see if i can schmooze them into giving me one for even less...worked on my external hd purchase, eyelash batting and everything.

will check out all the info on ISO's & try that, too. purchase price seems pretty reasonable so probably buy instead of use freeware, in case freeware doesn't have enough options.

thanks, again.

 

Dell marks up all upgrades compared to buying from 3rd party, I would avoid paying the extra "dell fee" if at all possible. Newegg sells great stuff and often offers free shipping, if you can find out from Dell what model you need, they are very likely to have it. If you can't find it there, you can post back here with full model numbers and details, and we'll help you find it.

DaemonTools is completely free, feature rich, and can do anything you need it to do with ISO images. I use Alcohol 52% to rip back-up copies of my movies and games, and though it can mount the ISO as well, I prefer DaemonTools for that. The pay-version of Alcohol 52% is called Alcohol 120% but I have never found a need to pay for it, the 52% version is more than sufficient.

 

any particular downsides to getting a usb DVD drive instead of installing? only want it for some dvd games.

 

If it's free, get it. If you have to pay for it, get an internal.

Note that if this is a laptop, you really want an internal drive, not an external that makes it more bulky and less portable.

 

not free (but will go for a fairly inexpensive burner); it's for a 6 year old desktop WinXP Home and just for 2 Myst games on dvd. rest of my games are on cd or download purchases.

no plans to use for anything else unless i decide to make personal iso copies of those 2 games. only non software stuff i use my pc for are youtube vids & the episodes i missed of Dancing With The Stars LOL