How can I clone a DVD
 

Rest assured this isn't about illegally making a copy of a game disc. I'm wanting to re-install SH4 + UBM but for some reason the drive on my desktop is unable to read the SH4 DVD, although the UBM DVD read fine. I've also popped the SH4 DVD into a laptop and that read the disc fine. So somehow it's this particular DVD on this particular drive that is not compatible.
I will try cleaning the DVD as some have suggested, but I'm exploring other means of getting my game installed without having to buy a new copy.

Link to my thread in SH4 forums: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=229748

If cleaning the DVD doesn't work, I'm wondering if there's a way of cloning the DVD which I could then use to install. I'm not sure if the laptop has a write function, so would it be possible to:

(a) Transfer the contents of the SH4 DVD to say a thumbdrive using the laptop;
(b) Use the thumbdrive to install the game; or alternatively use the thumbdrive to burn a new SH4 installation DVD.

Thanks for any help. Other suggestions to get me back on my sub and sailing the Pacific again are also welcome. :salute:

I use Daemon tools to store disc images of games on my HDD. If there's a small rotation of games that require the disc in the drive to play, I'll keep the images in a directory, and mount each one as a separate logical optical drive.

While this can easily be used for illegal copies of dvd's/cd's, I'm not referring to that at all. I own all the discs, I just don't feel like taking them in and out of the drive all the time. Don't want them to wear out ;).

But before you try anything else. Try loading from a networked dvd drive. Share the DVD drive on the laptop, map it to a drive letter on the desktop, and see if that works.

Thank you. How do I map the laptop drive to my PC? It sounds a bit arcane to me.

I've used this many times "back in the day". Usually when I built a new PC and didn't have a spare CD/DVD drive for the old one....


First, which Windows are you using?

I was typing out a short "step by step", but then I got to a certain point, and I don't remember what the option is... as I don't have a Windows machine any more to check on...
I did a quick google search for:

how to map a network drive

Simply include which Windows version that you have, and you should get several links on how to do it.
It's been too long since I had to do it, I don't remember exactly how. Although, if I was sitting in front of a Windows PC, I wouldn't even think twice about it.:haha:

Maybe I'm getting old?

Barracuda

If the computers are on the same network.

Have the good computer share it's dvd player on the network.

Then you can open that drive from the other computer.

If you need it to be a logical drive on the 'bad' computer, then you can right click it, and map the drive.

You can do this with any folder too. You could map one computer's documents folder, for example, to be a drive on another.