Well he can also burn a backup image with RPMS emulation and keep his originals safe that way. I don't know why so many people seem to want to avoid mini or full images, it's the only thing I use for my games these days. When I buy a new game (like Battlefield 2), first thing I do is check for a mini image on GCW, and if it's not there I will make my own full image. Sure it costs extra hard drive space but it allows me all the advantages of a crack (except the faster load times) and at the same time I can easily install any patches.
In the meantime I see lots of people over in the Civ 4 1.61 thread wailing about the fact that they can't get a working crack. And they won't even try a mini image. Some people are set in their ways I guess.
Yeah, yeah, so am I but my ways are superior 