How to play Max Payne without cd?

[chrisc]

My directory for the game is c:\programfiles\maxpayne. I replaced the original .exe file with the cracked one. I dragged the cracked exe file from the payne directory to my desktop and was getting an error message when trying to ####t the game. For some reason, the file would only run when I clicked on it in the max payne folder (directory). What I had to do was create a shortcut right in the max payne directory, then drag the shortcut to my desktop instead of just copying the cracked exe to my desktop. Did I confuse anyone? I wonder why I had to do this? Do I have brain freeze and I forgot the basics of windows? Thanks all.