Simple enough?
Actually, you'd be surprised. This is very common, especially with film DVDs, where some manufacturers deliberately add bad sectors to the disk that is skipped over/ignored when read by a video player, but when you try to copy it it pops up a "cyclic redundancy error" that prevents you from copying it. Also, with a lot of games, even if you mount the .ISO, they can tell that it's not being run from the disk, but from the computer instead and they will either quit or ask you to insert the disk. So yeah, there are problems. Copying disks isn't as simple as it sounds sometimes.
Also, with a lot of games, even if you mount the .ISO, they can tell that it's not being run from the disk, but from the computer instead and they will either quit or ask you to insert the disk.
So yeah, there are problems. Copying disks isn't as simple as it sounds sometimes.
There are also some special programs (I think I have one lying around my hard drive, but I'm not quite sure where it is). I just found this one--Daemon Tools. It can mount .iso images and it claims to circumvent almost all copyright protections... It's worth a try at least. I've heard good things about it.
To the original post--the only way to really find anything out is to try. CDs/DVDs are inexpensive and making a disc image is free. I'm sure there's some sort of copyright protection on the disc, but there is probably a fairly easy way to get around it. (And it may not be illegal either because, according to the law, you should be able to make one backup copy of any digital media you own... but the MPAA doesn't seem to think so.)
I don't think anybody can make any good copyright protection to prevent against a disc being imaged. After all, all the computer does is read the entire disc and save it to your hard drive. There's nothing EA can do to prevent it. Many of the things that you cannot copy are because the physical disc is a different size (storage capacity). For example, you cannot copy a 750MB CD onto a standard 700MB blank CD. If you want to run it without using the CD, computers can't tell the difference between mounting a disc image (.dmg) and mounting the actual CD. If you mount it as read-only, it will work exactly like a CD. The reason people have problems installing software without the CD is because they copy the files to their hard drive and try to run it without mounting a disc image. Again, try disc utility and/or burn and see what happens. It will almost definitely be able to make an image file at the least...
If you want to run it without using the CD, computers can't tell the difference between mounting a disc image (.dmg) and mounting the actual CD. If you mount it as read-only, it will work exactly like a CD. The reason people have problems installing software without the CD is because they copy the files to their hard drive and try to run it without mounting a disc image.
Again, try disc utility and/or burn and see what happens. It will almost definitely be able to make an image file at the least...
It may do, though with the copyright protections EA use, I doubt it to be honest. Most likely it will notice that it's not running from disk when you open the disk image. You'll definitely be able to copy it, but I think the game will recognise that it's not a disk you're running it from when you open it.
I rememember one time I was going to play Tiger Woods PGA Tour but there were at least 40 steps I had to take weaving in and out of folders, copying, moving, and editing stuff just to make it run without the disk.
I eventually gave up.
Thanks a lot though!
Is this a video DVD or just one containing files and stuff? For the former, you can't just copy DVDs like that, you'd have to use something like MacTheRipper to remove the Macrovision copy-protection because the data on the disc is encrypted and it won't play otherwise. You can then use something like DVD Image Utility to create a .ISO file from this which cant then be burnt to disk or whatever. Though if you're ripping a dual layer disk (most films these days) then it will be 9.4GB instead of 4.7GB that would be a normal DVD. You can use something like DVD2OneX to compress it. If you're talking about a DVD that just has files or software, you can use disk utility to create an image. Open up Disk Utility, click on the disk on the list to the left, then click "new image" from the toolbar icons. Select a place to save it and let it run.
For the former, you can't just copy DVDs like that, you'd have to use something like MacTheRipper to remove the Macrovision copy-protection because the data on the disc is encrypted and it won't play otherwise. You can then use something like DVD Image Utility to create a .ISO file from this which cant then be burnt to disk or whatever. Though if you're ripping a dual layer disk (most films these days) then it will be 9.4GB instead of 4.7GB that would be a normal DVD. You can use something like DVD2OneX to compress it.
If you're talking about a DVD that just has files or software, you can use disk utility to create an image. Open up Disk Utility, click on the disk on the list to the left, then click "new image" from the toolbar icons. Select a place to save it and let it run.
It's actually a game (sims 3). Do you think that using disk utility would work?
Basically that's what I wanted to do. I want to create an exact copy to the point where the computer wouldn't be able to tell.
Or, as said here
To create an ISO image in OS X, use Disk Utility to burn a new image choosing "CD/DVD Master" as the Image Format. That creates an image with the cdr extension. Just rename the cdr file extension to iso and there you have it!
If you get the .dmg from Burn (which is probably easier to use and less geeky), you can convert the .dmg into a .iso (if you want) by using the following terminal command: