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

Sara2 · #1 15-01-2004, 08:20

This is the first time I have tried to create an image from an original PC game and at the rate Alcohol120% starts out with it will take approx 12 hours so I cancelled after 30 mins. Details:

Location: Australia (all stuff purchased here)
Drive: Pioneer DVR-106D
Max read speed: 32x
Max write speed: 16x
Game: Battlecruiser Millenium (orig. not Gold edition)
Platform: PC
Size: 655 Mb
Protection: Safedisk v2 (according to this site)

I set Alcohol to 'Safedisk 2' and read at maximum speed which on this drive is 32x but surely it can't be this excrutiating to backup a disk...what's the deal???

Was also wondering what "ALCOHOLER" is, what it's used for and if it's worth having??

Thanks guys

GLH · #2 15-01-2004, 08:29

It seems your reader isn't able to do "Fast-Error-Skip" !
Safedisc2 protected cds have up to ~12000 Bad Sectors at the beginning of the cd. After that the cd will read in faster.

RincewindTheWiz · #3 15-01-2004, 09:29

Yes, and if you just let Alcohol continue, it will get past those 12000 error sectors and start reading at normal speed. Most people finish in one hour, some several, but it won't take more than that. Furthermore there's a trick that can help you read even faster. First, start the game with the original cd and without any crack. When you're in the game, quit. Now immediately start Alcohol120% and make the image. If all goes well, everything should work at normal speed, the error sectors will be simply skipped and you will have your image in 5 minutes.

Eagle · #4 15-01-2004, 10:42

i have a DVR-106D, too!

It's really a great DVD-burner, but it sucks at reading SD-protected discs. It definately has no fast-error-skip

and rincewind: your advice wouldn't work. you have to have alcohol running minized and then start the game with the original cd. now exit your game and maximize alcohol and do your image. alcohol has 'noted' all the bad sectors and will automatically insert them into the image.

Benzebut · #5 15-01-2004, 11:08

Alcoholer isnt part of alcohol 120...
it is a spyware (adware) trust me you dont want that...to get rid of it use a program like ad-aware , spy sweeper or other similar programs
i recommend u this one : http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/

RincewindTheWiz · #6 15-01-2004, 13:04

Eagle, I have Alcohol running constantly in the background, so when I was talking about starting it I meant bringing it to the foreground by clicking on it's system tray icon. Yes, I could have phrased that better

Eagle · #7 15-01-2004, 13:43

indeed, you could really phrased that _a lot_ better

RincewindTheWiz · #8 15-01-2004, 14:14

Ssssssssssh !

Sara2 · #9 15-01-2004, 15:26

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

Eagle · #10 16-01-2004, 02:43

-- the game has to be installed first as I understand
correct

-- the .mdf image is surely not able to be manipulated
correct (mds cannot, but bin/cue/ccd can)

-- 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
totally normal. when burning back it will be 655mb again

-- 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.
then use Nero instead of Alcohol. Simply drag all the files from the original disc into your new compilation. Name the compilition like the original name. Then you can create a new folder named 'crack' or anything you want and copy the cracked .exe into that folder.

2. Also, what is the little .mds file that was also produced in the same folder for?
the mds file is needed for Securom protection. But since COD has Safedisc you dont need it and can ignore it.

Sara2 · #11 16-01-2004, 20:39

Quote:

Simply drag all the files from the original disc into your new compilation. Name the compilition like the original name. Then you can create a new folder named 'crack' or anything you want and copy the cracked .exe into that folder.

Yes but when I copy this (and other disks) in that way, it apparently doesn't copy ALL the data, eg Battlecruiser Millenium occupies 655 Mb on the original but when I copy the entire disk to my hardrive it ends up being about half this at around 380 Mb. I have been told it is the audio files which can't be copied so don't I need to somehow "rip" them from the CD as well??? Thanks for the help

George_K · #12 17-01-2004, 08:46

Check to see if your folder options are set to Display All Files. If not, maybe you don't see everything that's on the CD.

RincewindTheWiz · #13 17-01-2004, 09:13

If the game cd also contains audio tracks, you need to make a "mixed mode" cd instead of a cdrom ISO (data) one. This is simply a format that combines data and audio on one cd. At least in Nero you just have to make a new compilation and select "Mixed Mode cd" instead of "CD ROM(ISO)". Then you get a window where you can drag and drop your data, plus a separate window where you can drag and drop audio tracks.

bee121 · #14 17-01-2004, 13:29

If i ever want to add files to an image i use WinIso.

Sara2 · #15 17-01-2004, 19:42

Yep, all hidden folders are shown (but shouldn't really matter as I'm copying the WHOLE disk directory and not just the folders on it). I just wish I could get a final answer as to why when you copy an original to the harddrive it is so much less in size?? Will try and use WinISO to add the no-cd patch to the image before burning...the image burnt fine by the way and was byte for byte identical to the original but would still like to be able to copy it with patch included...I understand Alcohol gives me the option of creating a MULTI-SESSION disk so that I could possibly burn the crack onto the disk AFTER I have burnt the image...is this wise as I understand some drives are not able to read these?

Thanks to everyone for their help. Sorry for dragging this out but I think this is all important stuff for anyone backing up any game