Is it normal for it to take 12 hours to create an image using Alcohol 120%?

[Sara2]

Some great advice, esp. the bit about running the game with Alc. in the background first. Thanks so much. Ran it when I went to bed so unsure how long it took but more questions ...

1. How do I now apply the no-cd patch to the game and burn a stand alone backup - this seems impossible because

-- the game has to be installed first as I understand
-- the .mdf image is surely not able to be manipulated
-- the .mdf file produced is 752 Mb as opposed to the game at 655 Mb- surely this will be too large when I go to burn it to CD

This would all be remedied and I would be happy if I could simply burn the patch onto the CD as well as the image so that it could be applied after installation.

2. Also, what is the little .mds file that was also produced in the same folder for?

I did look around for answers first but I think GCW could use a more thorough and updated tutorial on the method of making a backup.

Sorry for all this..would be soooo grateful for any help