Playing Halo Without the CD

[MrMxyzptlk]

While we're at it, for those who have/use Alcohol 120%, it comes with a virtual drive component. (Although it did do something w/ drivers when I installed it...)

MOST of the "virtual CD/DVD" emulators will HAVE to "do something with drivers," but by far the greater majority do it within the Windows driver level.  (Which would require getting into Windows to 'infect.'  granted not all that hard, but a LOT harder than the alternative...)

DT uses a DOS*-level driver that is installed BEFORE WINDOWS - and any AV or anti-anything SW - IS BOOTED UP, you see.

Hence my cautions about it....

* Ya, I still prefer to use the OLD name for this sort of thing!

[BFM_saes]

Is there any way to tell the difference between the DOS-type and regular drivers?

[MrMxyzptlk]

Is there any way to tell the difference between the DOS-type and regular drivers?

...Very good question, saes!

Unfortunately it's not that easy, since the naming convention isn't strictly ahdered to....

However, there's a semi-complicated way to check:

Whenever you boot your machine into "Safe Mode" (<F8> during boot sequence and select "Safe Mode") the list of loaded drivers is displayed during the boot sequence. USUALLY the last one that would normally load is named Mup.sys . Anything loaded after that is a "foriegn" DOS driver.

So you could do this: Boot into Safe Mode and watch the driver loading list scroll by, and note the name of the last one that loads (before the longer pause before Safe Mode actually starts up.)  Then install the software you're interested in, and reboot, again, in Safe Mode, and see if that's added a new DOS driver to the end of the list.

Note also that these drivers CANNOT be unloaded while WIndows is running, and uninstalling them requires a reboot.

Also note that, if I recall, uninstalling DT within WIndows does NOT remove its DOS driver! (And it can't be removed while in Safe Mode either, since it's loaded, so you have to boot from another device and remove it from that drive partition BY HAND....)

GL!

[BFM_Hydra]

There's no reason for this to be stickied but so everyone can keep referring back to it I am moving it to the FAQ.

[Bonessi]

is it possible to download Halo on a school computer?

[Ghostly Shotz]

probly not

[BFM_Skedog]

ok,
so can someone PM me on how to make my own halo cd image or how to make this work plz?

BFM_Skedog

[Rypto]

I have used Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools to mount my HALO.iso (which is only 20 MB btw), and I must say that Daemon Tools is much more preferable. It starts up as soon as I start my computer with no pop-ups at any time. It also barely takes up any memory. Alcohol 120% tends to take up a lot more memory than Daemon Tools.

[MrMxyzptlk]

is it possible to download Halo on a school computer?

...Here we go again....

Sorry, but we can't get into that here, as we are not familiar with your school's (or business's) Acceptable Use Policy, which might not allow you to do that....

[MrMxyzptlk]

>Sigh< 

My son uses the freeware Virtual CloneDrive to SAFELY mount his ISO image CDs and DVDs....

I use the commerical ($30US, not free) VirtualDrive package from Farstone to rip and mount virtual CDs and DVDs....

[BFM_Skedog]

can someone give me a detailed look on how to locate the ISO file on my computer/disk,
i go the Freeware that Mxy's son uses but can find the file to mount,
thanks in advance,
BFM_Skedog

[BFM_Kiwi]

Like Skedog, I installed Virtual CloneDrive, fired it up and then realized I didn't have an ISO file to browse to.  In case it isn't clear to others, it is a 2 step process:

1) create an ISO image of your CD - this is a single file you create on your hard disk - this is a one-time process
2) then use a program to "mount" the ISO file on a virtual drive each time you want to play a game without the CD

Some programs will do both (I think Alcohol and Daemon Tools will).  But if you want to avoid Daemon Tools and want freeware you'll probably have to use 2 separate programs.

For step 1, I found ISO Recorder which is freeware.  I think this would be a good program for most people. In my case, I have an old halo CD which is very scratchy, and it wouldn't read my CD (yikes!).  I tried Alcohol 52%, which has a trial version, and it worked, but only when I checked two boxes: "skip reading errors" and "fast skip error blocks".  Not sure if those errors are due to scratchy disk or copyprotection of some kind.  But I successfully created an ISO file.  So try the free one first, and if it doesn't work I guess use the Alcohol trial.

To mount the ISO I decided to use Virtual CloneDrive (see Mxy's post for link).

The complete steps would be something like this:

1) Install ISO Recorder or Alcohol
2) Insert Halo CD into drive (duh)
3) Create a folder somewhere to store all your ISO files for any games you intend to make - C:\Files\ISO or whatever
4a)  For Alcohol, start up the program, then use the "Image Making Wizard".  Select the CD drive, click next, then select Standard ISO image format, and also set the destination folder that you created in step 3
4b) For ISO Recorder you can go to My Computer or Windows Explorer and right click on the CD drive (D: or whatever) and there should be an option "create image from CD" - again you would select ISO as the format and set the location to the folder where you want to save.

You should be able to create an ISO file from the above steps.

To use the ISO:
1) Take the Halo CD out of the drive (so you can make sure it's worked!)
2) Install Virtual CloneDrive
3) When installed, if you go to My Computer, you should see a cute little Sheep icon.  If you right-click on that, select Mount, then browse to your ISO file you've created.
4) The sheep icon will get replaced with the familar masterchief icon, and you can now start up halo and it should work!

That is about everything I know, but if you have problems feel free to PM me.

[BFM_DarkFyr]

I am beginning to dislike macs . ugh. I want a pc there is so much more you can do!

[Goalie]

Heh heh heh...I just found out something...

You can take out the CD when the game is done loading.  i.e. when you're at the main screen with the panorama of Halo and the selections.  Your game will work fine.  It just wants to see if your CD hash matches up I believe.

[FlameDragon]

Heh heh heh...I just found out something...

You can take out the CD when the game is done loading.  i.e. when you're at the main screen with the panorama of Halo and the selections.  Your game will work fine.  It just wants to see if your CD hash matches up I believe.

It dose not check the cd hash on the cd with the one installed it just wants to see you actually have the game sort of a way to deter pirates but its not a very good way.