Install game without CD drive?

I bought a new laptop with no CD drive. But since I still have some games that I only have on CD, but still like to play again and again, I now came up with the question, how can I install them?

Sure, an option is to get an external drive.

But is it also possible to download the game somewhere and then activate it with the activation code on the box of the game?

If so, where do you get the files from?

I'm interested in the following games:

Rollercoaster Tycoon; Command & Conquer Tiberum Wars; Civilization 4 Complete Edition; Gothic Arcania

Would be cool if you had me some information there!

You get a lot of old games at http://www.gog.com

You'll need to buy them again, but the games will be adjusted to work with Windows 10 as well. In addition, any copy protection will be removed and the games are DRM-free. That means you could theoretically make a LAN and everyone gets the game from you. Of course you should not do that.

Some providers also offer a download if you send the activation code to the support. But only a few do and I do not know which.

This is not a problem with new games as they usually run on a platform, such as UPlay, where you can download the games. Legally, you will not be able to get around an external drive on old games as they usually need the original CD in the drive as part of the copy protection.

EA did that for a long time with / for Sims 2. Photo of CD and Key and you got the complete edition in your original account, even if you did not have it complete.

So just email the publisher.

Otherwise you could try to create an ISO from the media s.einem PC with Lw, and then via USB to the laptop and see if you can install from there. Never know how the old copy protection mechanisms worked.

Okay, yes I can try it.

Yes, it is possible, but depending on the copy protection very expensive (Daemon Tools and Alcohol 120% can emulate copy protection at ISOs) or requires a crack. In order to create the ISO at all, it may be necessary to use a program that can bypass the protection. So with ClonyXXL find out which copy protection it is and copy with Alcohol 120% with the recommended settings.

Whether that works but everything with Win 7/10 is the question.

You could with the help of suitable programs such as ImgBurn or CDBurnerXP create an ISO file from the game CD / DVD, a prerequisite is of course a PC with an optical drive, and then copy them to a USB stick. Also read here: https://www.heise.de/...52947.html

Maybe it could work, just copy the contents of the CD / DVD to a USB stick, but this does not always work.

Problems could also be caused by a possibly existing copy protection.

You can also look here:

https://www.hardwareluxx.de/community/f20/spiele-dvd-auf-usb-kopieren-installieren-863589.html