Coolcat12

Hi. I want to Copy a video game on my pc on a DVD. The problem is that its 10GB and my DVD-R's are 4GB, is it possible to use 2 or more DVD to add part of the files on them? Thanks.

bkdude

If you own a legal copy of a game, you have the right to create a backup if the maker of the game allows it. If they do, You can take the files and put them into split winRAR archives and burn them onto two or three separate DVDs.

You can download a free evaluation copy of winRAR from www.rarlab.com, install it, and perform the following steps:

- Find the 10 gigs of files you wish to burn and place them into a single folder.

- Right click on the folder after all the files are within it and press "Add to archive..."

- Select the destination where you want the split .RAR file, and go to "Split to volume, bytes" and type in the value in bytes equal to the size of one DVD.

- Hit ok and wait a while for the files to compact and split, and you will either have 2 or 3 files (depending on how compressed the files become) which you can burn onto seperate DVDs

- Voila. You will have a compressed backup of your game. You can take the files and copy them from your DVDs onto your computer, right click the first file (usually ending in 001) and hit "extract to..." and check the destination, and the original 10 gig file containing the game will appear in the location.

Remember that this is only legal if you own a copy of the game and the company allows you to make a backup. This forum does not condone the use and distribution of pirated data.


*If it is a CONSOLE game you downloaded and wish to burn and play on your console than chances are it is copyrighted and illegal and you should delete it immediately. I'm not certain about making backups of console games though.

Coolcat12

It's not a pirated game, its a PC game I bought which I wanted to burn on another disc to play on LAN with other computers on in my house.

bkdude

If the game makers allow you to put the game on multiple computers owned by the same person than it will be alright, but otherwise it might be considered a form of piracy. Allowing the two computers to link-up via a LAN network or the internet would be out of the question to ensure legality, especially if a disk is required to be in the tray to start the game up. There are ways around this, but they are in almost all cases illegal except for cases of backup, which would not involve playing on two computers at once.

Most game publishers allow a game to be installed on multiple computers, but lets say you and a friend were to play a game over a lan or the internet. The company would expect you to have multiple copies of the game. Making a copy for the purpose of a backup is in pretty much all cases allowed, but using a "backup" as a "second game" is generally prohibited.


My suggestion to ensure complete legality would be to buy another copy of the game.