How to Burn a Game on a CD
Burning a copy of a computer game is a smart thing to do for a number of reasons. If you're planning on taking your game on a long trip and don't want to worry about scratching or damaging the original disc, a copy will meet your needs. Or perhaps you want to play a game simultaneously on multiple computers. Whatever the reason, burning a game onto a CD is a simple process involving a few short steps.
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Instructions
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Place the original copy of the game CD in your computer's CD-RW drive with the data side facing down. Close the drive's disc tray.
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Open up your burning software. While most burning computer programs can make direct copies of CDs with little to no problem, it is recommended that you use a program like Nero Burning ROM, which is designed to help ensure that nothing goes wrong during the copying process (see Tips).
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Select "Copy CD" from the list of options you are presented with. This will tell your burning software that you simply want to make a direct copy of the CD in your CD-RW drive. Select the "OK" button and the program will read the CD.
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Replace the original game CD with your blank CD when the program asks you to. The program has copied the files on the original game CD to your computer's hard drive and is ready to burn them to your blank CD.
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Press the "OK" button to continue with the burning process. The program will now burn the files that were on the original game CD to your new blank CD. The program will tell you when the process is finished. Remove the disc from your drive.
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Tips & Warnings
Specialized burning software like Nero Burning ROM use internal settings like a read/write buffer and speed control to ensure that data is being re-created for a copy exactly the way it was found on the original disc. The read/write buffer stores the data being copied in your computer's main memory. This leaves the program free to write the disc without having to fight for system resources. Without a read/write buffer, discs could be burned with errors, or they could be missing entire files because of an interruption by your computer.
In addition to Nero Burning ROM, there are a number of high end burning programs that make quality copies of discs. These include ImgBurn, CDBurnerXP and Brasero.
To combat piracy, certain video game developers install copy protection on their game CDs. This ensures that even if you have legally purchased a game you will not be able to make a copy for any purpose. There is no legal way to get around this copy protection; if your burning software refuses to make a copy, you are out of luck.
It is important to always label your burned CDs with a pen or magic marker. Failure to do so can result in confusion as blank CDs from the same manufacturer look identical.
