To save my old games from getting scratched (many are somewhat irreplaceable these days) I'll sometimes resort to using a no cd patch. As to how to backup original cd's, I don't really know.
I'll usually buy several copies of games I really like so I haven't given it much thought really.

Also check if GOG sells them. They are DRM free!

I have used Daemon Tools Lite to create images of most of my older game CDs. There are some game CDs that have a protection that does not allow DTL to create the image. There may be a way around it but haven't really looked into it very deeply. I keep those trouble games in a safe place being extra careful with them.

I have successfully used CloneCD to take backups of my game disks http://www.slysoft.com/en/clonecd.html. It can clone pretty much every older game cd with their copy protection intact, so you don´t have to use no cd cracks with properly cloned images.

Vifa wrote:

Hi there, […]
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Hi there,

I have a CD collection of games which I would like to digitally backup somehow. Some of the CDs might have some kind of copy protection which will only allow the game to be installed from original CD or played with the original CD.

My first thought was to save all CDs as .iso files, but I am open for other suggestions.

What software can you recommend for this purpose ?
I have used DaemonTools before to create .iso files, but I want a good and solid backup of all my gems.

Any good advise or experience ?

Best Regards
Vifa

Some games have CD tracks. For those use bin/cue.

There's no sense in trying to preserve the DRM on the disc. Eventually the drivers for the copy protection won't be updated and will not work on your OS or 5/10 the CD emulator you are using will not work with the copy protection. (So you'll have to hunt for cracks 5 years down the line....good luck) Also it's best not to use proprietary formats for your images. .ISO is universal.

If you spot a "digital" version of the game that doesn't have the DRM and doesn't leave anything out and you are too lazy to image your CD or hunt for a NOCD then purchase that.

So just make .iso's of all your games (except for the ones with CD Audio). Then find NOCD cracks for the games that need the CD.

I use MagicISO to make ISOs and BIN/CUE sets.
For games with copy protection I found Alcohol 120% useful. It has a tool to detect which protection is used and has different settings for each. These get saved as mdf/mds files.

Alcohol 52% 2.0.1 Free Edition.
1) Freeware.
2) Supports .ccd/.img/.sub - for mixed-mode cds, Safedisk, Securom 1x-4.6x, back-compatibility with win9x etc.
3) .mds/.mdf for almost any commercial protections (except Tages).

DT Lite - mdx and .mds 2.0 (DT version of .mds/.mdf format) supported only by DT Lite and Astroburn. The second trouble - DT always emulate safedisc for images. So you can't test consistency of Safedisc backups.
Nero Burning ROM - troubles with CDA gaps.
CloneCD - support included in A120/52%. 😀

Also - DO NOT use .cue/.bin format. Reason - no sub-channel support, except CDA tracks pregaps. And even this support is not always working.

Hi there again,

Thanks for all your replies. 😀

I got around to try some of your suggestions.

::: CloneCD :::
I really like CloneCD, nice and simple user interface. But I get 4 files (.cdd, .cue, .img and .sub) from one backup. I like the idea of one file for each CD instead though. I am not familiar with these file types. Nevertheless, I know what they are and what they do but I have never worked with them before.

CloneCD has some different profiles to choose from, including one called "Protected PC Game". But I can't see what the difference is between this profile and some of the others.

::: Alcohol 52% :::
The one thing I really like about Alcohol 52% is the 'Data Type Analyser', and all the different data type profiles. The mds/mdf format is, however, completely new for me.

My conclusion is to use Alcohol 52% because of the Data Type Analyser, and also partly because it is freeware.

The question is now more what format to use. I have always used the .iso format, but would it be better to use .mds always ?

Best Regards
Vifa

Iso format is flawed because it can't include audio tracks. And for copyprotected games it might not be the best as well.
But for data tracks only CDs without copy protection I'd stick to iso.

The ISO Buster documentation claims that BIN and ISO images are in fact exactly the same (assuming, I suppose, that the CD only has an ISO filesystem and no additional tracks, audio or otherwise).

One thing you need to consider is the longevity of your CD backups - will the software that created them still exist to read them in 5 - 10 - 15 years time on perhaps a completely different operating system and architecture?

iso9660 format is, well, a standardised format. MDF/MDS, CCD and the others are not, and I wouldn't put money on them being around forever.

I'd agree with the others that have said storing a ripped or no-cd version along with the original is probably best in the case of copy-protected games. Remember to store any patches, hacked .exe's, no-cd utils or update files with them, then you'll have have everything in one place.

Thanks for the inputs 😀

I will begin with a digital backup first, saving everything as iso. And the CDs with audio tracks as mdf/mds.

Backup in progress.

I went all the way and bought Alcohol 120 %. 😀

I was wondering if any of you keep a hash of your files when you store them ? I thought of doing a MD5 or SHA hash of the files, or perhaps of the original CD if that is possible - for comparison later on.