Well look into the other folders, you will find dat files for sure.

You can use the latest cracks hosted on GCW and overwrite the files there to play also.

pretty sure dab is right, 99.9% of the time all the ea c&c games use a protected exe which simply launches a .dat file (usually of the same name)...

For C&C games I distinctly remember it being called "game.dat". The in game CD check was executed there for C&C Generals at least...