Rip Off CD?

[Hickory]

Still, a much simpler solution is to just use a no-cd version of Oblivion.exe and you don't have to do all that. How you acquire such a file though, is up to you and your sleuthing ability, because I'm not even certain we're allowed to talk about such things on this site.

 

Again, bad advice.

a. You're treading on thin ice.

b. Oblivion will refuse to be patched with a cracked version.

[roquefort]

Still, a much simpler solution is to just use a no-cd version of Oblivion.exe and you don't have to do all that. How you acquire such a file though, is up to you and your sleuthing ability, because I'm not even certain we're allowed to talk about such things on this site.

 

Again, bad advice.

a. You're treading on thin ice.

b. Oblivion will refuse to be patched with a cracked version.

Regarding (b), no it won't (see Ferryt's post; "I'm using my old no-CD hacked version of Oblivion.exe to play the game on my new computer."). I myself had to resort to a noCD patch after getting read problems with an ageing drive (since replaced). Obviously you do have to be very careful where you obtain this from, virus-check extensively, and backup the original exe.

Edited February 17, 2011 by roquefort

[Hickory]

Regarding (b), no it won't (see Ferryt's post;

 

I have stated my case and stick by it. I refuse to talk about cracks any longer.

[Ferryt]

Hickory, I know from long experience that a patched version of the game runs quite well because I detest having to either keep an original CD in the drive or jump through hoops to run a game by using disk-hogging .iso files. Whether or not he can patch the game, himself, is irrelevant. It can be done, it has been done, it works, and it introduces no instability or other issues into the game. Your experience clearly differs from mine, but, then, you're running Oblivion from a disk image, right? I'm not. I would hardly criticize the operation of a Buick if my only driving experience was a Volkswagon. :)

 

I really think this is a non-issue. You say one thing, based upon experience which I haven't had. I say something else based upon experience which you haven't had but which I have had. It's up to DDeatth to decide who to believe, and we could both well be correct, within the limits of our own personal experiences with this issue. I've had bad luck with virtual drives in the past, although I eventually got both Borderlands and Oblivion to run from them. That's why I wouldn't, personally, recommend that particular approach to solving his problem. You seem to advocate it, so why don't you give detailed instructions for getting Oblivion to run from a virtual drive, since that appears to be what he's asking for? I can't, because it's simply been too long since I went that route and I don't remember all the steps it took to get it to work that way.

 

Me? My CD case for Oblivion is sitting on my bookshelf with both CDs safely inside and will never come down unless I have to reinstall the game for some reason, and no virtual drive software has ever touched the hard drive of my new machine. Yet, I'm playing Oblivion. That, to me, speaks for itself. Like Hickory, I think this issue has already been beaten to death, and, like Hickory, I'm sticking by my guns on this one because I have real-life (current) evidence to support my position, seeing that I tested something in-game only about an hour ago and am not basing my comments on theoretical knowledge. Sorry if I seem to be coming across across a little testy about this, since that wasn't my intention, but I really DO know what I'm talking about on this issue.

[InAComaDial999]

I got tired of having to switch DVDs whenever I wanted to play a different game, so I did this as well. Note that I did this with a legitimate, store-bought copy of the game. I had already installed the game from the DVD as per normal.

 

1 - download and install ISO Recorder v3.1. Once you have it installed, insert your Oblivion disk into your DVD drive. Open up My Computer, right click the DVD drive, and select "Create Image from CD/DVD". You will end up creating an .iso file of your Oblivion DVD, which is about 4 gigabytes in size. Once this is done, eject the Oblivion DVD.

 

2 - download and install Virtual CloneDrive. Once you have it installed, open up My Computer. You'll see a new DVD/BD-Rom drive icon, which is the virtual DVD drive. Right click the drive icon, select Virtual CloneDrive, select Mount, and browse to the ISO file you created in the previous step.

 

3 - The virtual DVD drive will now look like a mounted Oblivion DVD. Double click it and run the Oblivion launcher. You need to actually start the game from the launcher on the virtual DVD one time, as this will tell Oblivion to always look for the Oblivion DVD at this drive letter in the future.

 

And that's it. Now you can start Oblivion the normal way (i.e. with the OBSE launcher, or just via the link on your desktop, etc) and it will work fine. I've done this with several other games, Virtual CloneDrive lets me easily switch between DVD images without having to mess with my drive or worry about scratching discs.

[Ferryt]

Thank you, InAComaDial999. This was precisely the information that Ddeatth was needing. I have only one thing to add, and it's important. If you have the GOTY edition, like I do, then you will have two DVDs. The on-start DVD check that the game makes is to Disk 1, which contains the Oblivion game, itself. Disk 2 is just Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. You don't need that converted to .iso and mounted in order to play the game, even if you have those two installed.

[Marthos]

@ InAComaDial999

 

Thanks for that, I was also tired of having to switch DVD's.