Okay, I just got myself a Plextor Premium burner (another question: What is the differce between BPS and SW on the Plextor Premium drives?) and a Lite-On 166s DVD-ROM reader. I have some general knowledge on what I need to have and do to backup my PC games. I would say I am an old Noob, been on hiatus for awhile but now I actually have good equipment to backup my games. My question is could someone add to my list below to programs I will/may need in my quest to backup my games? Here is what I own so far: Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705 A-Ray Scanner v2.0.0.1 Blindwrite v5.25 (Is 4.57 better?) CloneCD v5.0.3.1 Daemon Tools v3.47 Nero Burning ROM v6.3.1.25 (Do I need InCD? What exactly does that do?) I have heard of Discjuggler... not real sure what it's for though. I know there many new methods, heard of something called twinpeaks? Mt. Rainer? Probably several little useful programs I haven't even come across in the last couple days. I have been out of the loop (the small one I was in that is)for good 8 months and all this new lingo is throwing me off, lol. I will be trying to backup my games such as Doom 3, Far Cry, Call of Duty: United Offensive, Sacred, The Sims 2 DVD Edition, etc., newer games mostly. If one or a few of you 'vets' here could take the time to either link or explain which programs are best for which protections (e.g. CloneCD is best for Safedisc XX, I know it will be arbitrary and each person will have slightly different settings, I'm just looking for a push in the right direction and I can usually feel my way through the rest)and if you do list anyother programs please give a brief rundown of what it is best used for. I think Daemon Tools is pretty much a given so skip that. Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. What I'm dealin' with: Dell Dimension 8200 2.53Ghz P4 1024MB RDRAM 80GB IBM HD 120GB Western Digital HD ATI 9700 Pro 128mb AGP Plextor Premium 52x32x52x BPS Lite-On 166s 16x DVD-ROM Philips 2.4x DVD+RW D28 Santa Cruz 5.1 SS Sound Card Altec Lansing Sub and 5 Speakers _X_X_X_X_X_[small]What I'm dealin' with: Dell Dimension 8200 2.53Ghz P4 533Mhz FSB 1024MB RDRAM 80GB IBM HD 120GB Western Digital HD ATI 9700 Pro 128mb 8x AGP Plextor Premium 52x32x52x BPS Lite-On 166s 16x DVD-ROM Philips 2.4x DVD+RW D28 Santa Cruz 5.1 SS Sound [/small]
You can't do better than the Plex Premuim and the Lite-On 166S - that's what I have. The Plex Premium is the best burner on the market for backing up games and the 166S is an outstanding reader as well as one of the best ROMs to test your copies You have most the software bases covered. I'm a huge fan of BlindWrite, both 5 and 4.57, because they've never let me down. I'd recommend getting BlindWrite 5 Tweaker from A-Ray's site. Tweaker allows you to fine tune the settings for BW5. Here are my recommendations: SecuROM - use BW5/Tweaker. Settings for Tweaker should be: Basic Settings Tab- change Max Read Speed to 4X, change Write Speed CD to 4X. Topology Tab - Writing Topology = Write With Plextor Premium / Topology method = Slow (CD) / Read Topology = Always Extract. Extraction Speed - 8X to start then 4X if if needed. Adavanced Settings Tab - change nothing. SafeDisc - My first choice is BlindWrite 4.57: Read settings: - Authorize the use of alternative method - Choose nibble and read at 8x Write settings: - No Enhance Weak Sectors - No autoplay enabled - Burn DAO Pw at 4x You may have to read the game with the Premium intead of the 166S - I had to. Second choice is Alcohol 120% using the SafeDisc 2/3 profile with the read/write speeds set to 4X. Sims 2 DVD Use BW5/Tweaker. Max Read - 1X / Write Speed DVD - 1X. Change nothing else and be sure to use an RW to avoid a pile of expensive coasters I haven't played with the newest CloneCD so I can't really comment on how it works. As soon as I installed it I got the "Emulation Software Detected" error when trying to load Doom 3 no matter what I tried I believe TwinPeaks was a method used for the older versions of BW and SecuROM but BW5 does that automatically now. _X_X_X_X_X_[small] Got Indie? http://cdbaby.com/ My Movies! http://www.intervocative.com/dvdcollection.aspx/Rephaim Forum rules! http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/2487[/small]
Okay, sweet. I downloaded BWTweaker v1.5.6 and Blindwrite v4.5.7, thanks for the info greatly appreciated. Question on the The Sims 2 DVD, you said: So does that mean I change nothing else from your SecuRom recomendations: ...or change nothing at all except what you listed after Sims 2 DVD.
Sorry for the confusion! For whatever reason when I first posted I had it in my silly head that Sims2 was SecuROM when it's actually SafeDisc. For the Sims2 DVD version we have a unique problem. While Alcohol 120% supports copying DVDs there's no datatype selections for DVDs which in essence means we won't get anywhere with A120. On the other hand BlindWrite5 fully supports burning DVD protections but it has real problems with SafeDisc 3.20.022 - the protection that Sims2 uses. If you want to give it a shot with BW5 (nothing ventured, nothing gained) I'd suggest using a rewritable DVD to keep the coaster count down Hopefully with the next update VSO will get the bugs worked out of BW5 and SafeDisc 3.20.022.
If I successfully create a successful image on my hard drive of Sims 2 DVD with my litey, do you think my Philips DVD+R/RW D28 would ever burn a successful copy? This thought makes me tempted to buy the new Plextor 716a when it comes out.
If I was to be guessing your Philips won't be able to write the protection back to the disc correctly but it's always worth a try. I hope you prove me wrong The Plextor series of DVD burners have proven to be very good at backing up games which is a relative rarity among DVD burners. I just used my PX-708A to make a wonderful backup of Doom 3 which uses the latest SafeDisc protection
I guess it's worth a shot. I thought I read somewhere in one of these forums, not sure which one, that it's not possible to back up a DVD game because the DVD burners don't support something that the CD burners do. Sorry for being vague on that but I read it in passing, wasn't the info I was hunting for when I came across it. I stayed up most of the night backing up Far Cry, Doom 3 and Call of Duty: United Offensive. I used the Plextor to read and write at 4x while using Alcohol 120% v1.9.2.1705 using Safedisc 2/3 profile, fast skip error on and have made successful backups of all on FugiFilm CD-Rs with no coasters. Not bad for my first run eh? They all play in my Litey, as well as the Plex Premium! Very satisfied with these two drives, money well spent.
Right on! Nothing like success right out of the gate You deserve a lot of credit for doing your homework, getting good equipment and asking informed questions. You're absolutely correct and it's called EFM. Inm order to write the protections back to the disc correctly the burner must have EFM capability. Unfortunately there are only a handful of DVD burners that can do this - the Plextor PX-708A/PX-712A and the Lite-On 4xx/8xx series. I'm not sure if the soon-to-be-introduced Plextor PX-716A DL will be EFM capable but I don't see why not. I may have to get one one of these days Keep up the good work and keep learning - we can always use more help here
