SH4 Gold DVD questions

[StimpsonJCat]

I’m currently using the Steam version of SH4 but I just ordered an affordable copy of the physical Gold version from eBay. This way I can more easily run multi-sh to fiddle with different mods plus it’s an insurance policy just in case there is some future licensing issue between Ubisoft and Valve.

I had read somewhere on these forums (don’t ask me to find the thread again) that the DVD version doesn’t actually need the disc to run. Is that true?

Also, is it possible to copy the installation files to the SSD and run the installer from there, or is a DVD check required to do the install? If not that, how about ripping an ISO?

To be clear I am not trying to pirate the game or anything like that, just want to make sure I have the most secure backup of the DVD as possible. That being said, if this topic is off-limits on the forums I’d understand and mods can go ahead and delete if needed.