How to Play Computer Games Without the Discs

Hauling yourself out of your comfy computer chair to fetch game discs can get tiresome after a while, especially during intense gaming sessions. However, you can play your computer games without using the original discs. If you're a competitive gamer, you might even improve your performance by using digital copies of the disc, which run faster and cleaner than the originals.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Install the game using a full installation. Completely installing some games allows you to play them without the original disc.

2. Download and install Alcohol 52%. This streamlined version of Alcohol 120% emulates optical media. It also makes images of discs and saves them to your hard drive.

3. Load your computer game into the appropriate disc drive.

4. Launch Alcohol 52% and use the Image Maker Wizard to create an image of your game disc and save it to your drive. Return the game disc to its box or jewel case.

5. Use Alcohol 52%, Daemon Tools, PowerISO or any other optical emulator to mount the image.

6. Launch and play the game just as you normally would. The program should recognize the copy of the disc and run as usual.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you've got enough space on your hard drive to hold the disc before saving it as an image. Image files are just as big as the original discs, so plan on using at least a couple gigs.

Resources

• Download Alcohol 52% from the Alcohol Software homepage here.