| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 3869.1 | fastest way to wrecked disks | HYSTER::DEARBORN | Trouvez Mieux | Thu Jun 21 1990 10:42 | 8 |
| Write protect your disks and NEVER NEVER NEVER eject a disk while
the drive light is on.
As for backups, check the notesfile directory...there's tons of
info there.
Randy
|
| 3869.2 | It Can Be Done! | CSCOAC::KENDRIX_J | | Thu Jun 21 1990 16:05 | 32 |
| Robert,
Making backups of commercial software can be tricky at times... Reason
being alot of times the disk is not written in Amiga-Dos format. This
is done to keep pirates from copying the disk. Another trick employed
by developers is to put copy protection on the disk. Both of these are
aimed at foiling pirates... Unfortunately they hurt the people who buy
the software and want to make legitimate backup's to protect their
investment. So what can you do?
You have a couple of options, one, you can buy a backup program which
is designed to break the copy protection on the disk so that you can
make a backup. I recommend RawCopy, since on alot of games it will
remove manual protection and code wheel while it copies the disk. It
can be bought for about $30.00 US. There is VERY LITTLE that it will
not back up, and they are constantly updating the parameters to keep
abreast with the latest copy protection schemes...
The other thing that you can do, is to get a copy of warp from tape::.
Warp is a program which was developed by pirates for less than
honorable purposes, however it can be use in a very legit manner!!
Warp has the capability to back up disks which not only have copy
protection on them, but it can also back up disks which use a disk
error as the protection means.
If you decide to go the warp route, let me know and I'll E-Mail you
proper documentation...
Good luck!
John
|
| 3869.3 | | FILTON::FENTON_R | Potassium Ethoxide Rules C2H5OOK | Fri Jun 22 1990 09:51 | 29 |
| Ah, my favourite subject. A few words of advice: (1) almost all
games have horrendous levels of protection on them, to get "past"
these and make a backup, you either need to be pretty competent
with the Amiga hardware and machine code; (2) there are, as already
noted, many different copiers (hard and software) on the market.
I have experience of X-Copy (with which I have had VERY little
success), and the hardware-based "Synchro Express", which will copy
some games disks, but by no means all (maybe 50%?); (3) if you DON'T
back them up, not only do you run the risk of damaging the original
(more easy to do than some people seem to think), but after a few
playings the damn thing may simnply refuse toload any more. This
is because the protection system is so sensitive to timing etc (in
order to detect if anyone may have "meddled" with the disk) that
your drive can't handle it any more. I currently have (for example)
TWO copies (both boxed originals) of XENON, neither of which will
load. As my Synchro Express won't back it up, and OCEAN don't answer
my letters asking for a replacement, I guess that means I've lost
the money.
Be warned, a lot of people on this conference think that even to
discuss this sort of thing means that it's your desire to obtain
or distribute pirated S/W, or simply that discussion is boring.
If I can help further, please let me know... but I'm not an expert,
just annoyed!
-Rog
pirated copies
|
| 3869.4 | | FILTON::FENTON_R | Potassium Ethoxide Rules C2H5OOK | Fri Jun 22 1990 12:18 | 5 |
| Oh yes and I forgot to mention, for God's sake don't attempt to
fix these disks using Diskdoctors etc - you'll destroy them.
-Rog
|
| 3869.5 | Doctor Frankenstein | CSCOAC::KENDRIX_J | | Fri Jun 22 1990 13:02 | 7 |
| I use DiskSalve for all of my file recovery needs, as well as Bformat
for formatting bad disks...
And I agree, Disk doctor, too often is worse than the desease.
JK
|
| 3869.6 | | KERNEL::MOUNTFORD | | Fri Jun 22 1990 20:36 | 36 |
| Re .0, another English buff joins the ranks! I live in Basingstoke.
I have tried to backup Batman myself using X-Copy but there are
a couple of blocks that wont get past the copy. I don't know if
the latest super version of X-copy will do it, you have to sign
a disclaimer when buying it by the way, about 20-30 quid.
Are you aware of the Jam for Batman by the way, see topic 3329.
I'm still not sure whether I should have used it, since I have
my son (4) just likes to get to the Cathedral asap. It took me
4 weeks to get to the end of the first game before I discovered
the jam! On that reckoning it would take about a year to get
through the game.
Richard
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