Software Recommendation - DAEMON Tools

[Prodigy]

DAEMON Tools

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INTRODUCTION:

DAEMON Tools is an advanced application for multiprotection emulation. It is further development of Generic Safedisc emulator and incorporates all its features. This program allows running Backup Copies of SafeDisc (C-Dilla), Securom, Laserlock, CDCOPS, StarForce and Protect CD (and many others) protected games. Also included is a Virtual DVDROM drive (Generic DVD-ROM) enabling you to use your CD images as if they were already burned to CD! DAEMON Tools works under Windows9x/ME/NT/2000/XP with all types of CD/DVDROM drives (IDE/SCSI) and supports nearly any CD protection.

• DAEMON Tools needs a 1:1 Copy to run!!
• DAEMON Tools is used to RUN GAMES, NOT TO BURN THEM!!! Means emulation must be active while you want to play a game, not while burning the copy (except for you want to use DAEMON Tools' "fastdump" feature on a safedisc protected CD).
• If you want to run a copy protected application from an image mounted to a Generic DVD-ROM enabling the copy protection emulation(s) is NOT necessary!!
• Generic DVD-ROM is able to run nearly every protected or unprotected CD image (Safedisc®, Securom®, Laserlock®, Lockblocks® etc.) like it was the original CD! Just do an image file using one of the supported burning programs and mount it with Daemon Manager!
  

DAEMON Tools supports the following image files:

• cue/bin
• iso
• ccd (CloneCD)
• bwt (Blindwrite)
• mds (Media Descriptor File)
• cdi (Discjuggler)
• nrg (Nero)
• pdi (Instant CD/DVD)
• b5t (BlindWrite 5)
  

[Prodigy]

INSTALLATION (for all operating systems):

1. Download daemon???.exe
2. Open daemon???.exe
3. Click install
4. Follow the on-screen instructions
5. You may be required to reboot your computer before running DAEMON Tools
6. After reboot, a SCSI controller will be added
   

INSTALLATION (Windows 95):

• You must have Windows 95b or higher
• You must have the USB Supplement installed (Download Here)
• You must have Internet Explorer 4.0 installed (recommended 5.5) - this is needed to update certain files - if you don't want IE, just uninstall it and updated files will not be uninstalled
• You will need Windows Installer (Download Here)
  

INSTALLATION (Windows 98/ME):

• You will need Windows Installer (Download Here)
  

INSTALLATION (Windows NT 4.0):

• You must have Internet Explorer 4.0 installed (recommended 5.5) - this is needed to update certain files - if you don't want IE, just uninstall it and updated files will not be uninstalled
• You will need Windows Installer (Download Here)
  

INSTALLATION (Windows 2000/XP/.NET):

• Windows Installer is included with Windows 2000/XP/.NET
  

[Prodigy]

UNINSTALLATION


UNINSTALLATION (Recommended):

1. Click Start
2. Select Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click on Add/Remove Programs
5. Scroll and click on DAEMON Tools
6. Click Remove
   

UNINSTALLATION (Manual):

1. Enter device manager
   
   * In Windows 9x/ME, right-click on My Computer, and click Device Manager
   * In Windows NT/2000/XP, click Start, click Run, type devmgmt.msc, and click OK
   
2. Goto the System section
3. Delete 'PnP BIOS Extension' - If you unsure whether to delete it, goto the driver tab and click driver details, then check the version of the driver (should be same version as your DAEMON Tools)
4. Reboot your computer
5. Follow UNINSTALLATION (Recommended)
   

[Prodigy]

REPAIRING:

1. Click Start
2. Select Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click on Add/Remove Programs
5. Scroll and click onDAEMON Tools
6. Click Repair
   

OR

Download the latest version of DAEMON Tools, and follow INSTALLATION instructions (Explained Above)

[Prodigy]

CONFIGURATION:

Changing the number of devices:

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-ROM
3. Select Set number of devices...
4. Click on a number
   

Changing drive letters and DVD region code:

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-ROM
3. Select Device [?;]
4. Click Set device parameters
5. Select Drive letter and/or DVD region
6. Click OK (or Cancel to leave without saving changes)
   

Changing Vendor, Model, and Revision

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-ROM
3. Select Device [?;]
4. Click Set device parameters
5. Enter Vendor, Model, and Revision information
6. Click OK (or Cancel to leave without saving changes)
   

Changing audio properties


Using digital audio (recommended):

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select options
3. Select Analog audio
   

Using analog audio (use only if digital doesn't work):

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select options
3. Deselect Analog audio
   

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-ROM
3. Select Device [?;]
4. Click Set device parameters
5. Enter Sound information
6. Click OK (or Cancel to leave without saving changes)
   

Windows 9x/ME:

1. Click Start
2. Select Settings
3. Click Control Panel
4. Double-click Multimedia
5. Click the CD Music tab
6. Select the drive whose audio properties you want to modify
7. Uncheck Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device
   

Windows NT/2000/XP

1. Double-click on My Computer
2. Right-click on your harddrive
3. Click Properties
4. Click the Hardware tab
5. Click on the CDROM/DVDROM whose audio properties you want to modify
6. Click Properties
7. Click the Properties tab
8. Uncheck Enable digital CD audio for this CD-ROM device
   

[Prodigy]

USAGE:

Mounting an image:

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-ROM
3. Select Device [?;]
4. Click Mount
5. Browse and select the image you wish to mount
6. Click OK or double-click on the file to mount
   

Unmounting an image:

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Virtual CD/DVD-ROM
3. Select Device [?;]
4. Click Unmount
   

Enabling Protection Emulations:

1. Right-click on the DAEMON Tools trayicon
2. Select Emulation
3. Click on the desired emulation to enable
   

Fast Dump:

DAEMON Tools' "fastdump" feature is used to speed up the image creation of Safedisc 1 & 2 protected CDs and is also the first step to create a backup of a Safedisc 2 protected CD.

1. Enable safedisc emulation
2. Install the game you want to backup
3. Start the game, and wait until the safedisc check is over (you usually see a splash screen while it is safedisc checking)
4. Exit the program and do NOT remove the CD
5. Run your burning program (a list of suitable burning programs will be discussed later on)
6. Start image creation or copying
7. You might see a list of errors for up to 20 seconds, which is normal
   

Command Line Switces

• -lock
  used to lock the DLL operation to be sure no unauthorized program can load daemon.dll and use its functions. Used mainly in autostart (if 'Autolock' option is enabled), but can be used in command line too. Unlocking can be done from Virtual DAEMON manager or other GUI that is currently running. Note that locking has no effect on DAEMON Manager itself or other programs which have been 'authorized' by us to use the DLL.
  
• -noicon
  this option is used to prevent DAEMON Tools from creating a taskbar icon. It has no effect if DAEMON manager is already running or you specified another command (except 'lock') in the command line! DAEMON manager automatically exits after command is executed and does not create taskbar icon.
  
• -mount
  allows mounting images from command line (or shortcut).
  Syntax is: -mount ,
  where 'n' means DVD-ROM device number ('0' - '3' allowed) and 'path' is the full path to the image file.
  Example: daemon.exe -mount 0,"c:\My Images\nameofimage.cue".
  Do not forget to set the path in quotes if it contains spaces!
  
• -unmount
  allows unmounting images from command line.
  Syntax is: -unmount
  where 'n' means DVD-ROM device number ('0' - '3' allowed)
  
• -safedisc ?
  allows turning Safedisc emulation on/off from command line.
  '-safedisc on' enables emulation, '-safedisc off' disables it
  
• -securom ?
  allows turning Securom emulation on/off from command line.
  '-securom on' enables emulation, '-securom off' disables it
  
• -laserlok ?
  allows turning Laserlock emulation on/off from command line.
  '-laserlok on' enables emulation, '-laserlok off' disables it.
  
• -rmps ?
  allows turning RMPS emulation on/off from command line.
  '-rmps on' enables emulation, '-rmps off' disables it.
  

[Prodigy]

COPYING:

1:1 COPY:

Many (most??) people don't have a clue what a 1:1 copy means so I guess it's time I clear some things up. First some general explanations to (hopefully) make you understand why a 1:1 copy is ESSENTIAL when it comes to burning protected CDs. The most important thing to know is that a CD contains A LOT more information than just the files and directories. For example:

Lead In/Lead Out (Lead In stores CD structure, Lead Out is mainly to let the CDROM know where the CD ends)
CD subchannel (storing e.g. CD Text, Text and synchro data on Karaoke CDs and is used for several copy protections)
This is also the reason why the CD size shown in Windows Explorer (or any other file manager) and the size of an image done by a burning program ALWAYS differ. The image is always bigger in size as it contains many more data than just the files. In an extreme case this difference can be 600 MB (german game called "Frank Busemann Zehnkampf" - the actual game files are about 30 or 40 MB, the rest of the CD are unreadable sectors).

A 1:1 copy simply means to use the "CD COPY"-option of a burning program, preferrably one of the programs listed here! This means the burning program reads the CD sector by sector and burns it the same way. The opposite would be a file copy (can NEVER be a 1:1 copy!!!) where just all files are read and then stored on CD. This way the files would probably not even be in the same place (means in another sector range) as on the original CD. It would be very easy to identify such a CD as a copy! And copy protections have MUCH more options to identify a copy - I hope you now see why just copying files from CD to HD and then burning them or 'drag 'n' drop' in a burning program will extremly seldom produce a running copy of a copy protected CD.

Each burning program has an option to sector copy a CD, some burning programs don't do anything else (like Alcohol 120%, CloneCD or Blindwrite). We'll concentrate on these programs as they have in most cases more options and abilities to create REALLY perfect 1:1 copies. Although it's possible to do perfect copies of nearly any protected CD success completely depends on A) the used recorder, B) the used burning program and C) the protection the CD uses. Many protections (oversized CDs, illegal TOC etc.) can be copied on every recorder and with nearly every burning program. Other protections like e.g. Safedisc or Securom need special recorders and burning programs.

For DAEMON Tools a 1:1 copy is necessary in any way for the reasons listed above. Whether you want to mount an image to PHANTOM CDROM or if you want to run a copied CD doesn't matter. Without a correctly created 1:1 Image or CD DAEMON Tools cannot work!!!

RECOMMENDED BURNING PROGRAMS:

• Alcohol 120%
• CloneCD
• DiscDump
• Blindread and Blindwrite
• DiscJuggler
• GameJack 2
  

SUPPORTED RECORDERS:


The following websites have a list of recorders capable of making 1 to 1 backups of some protected cds

• CD Mate Recorder List
• Blindwrite Hardware Compatibility List
• Disc Juggler Hardware List
• Feurio Supported CD writers
• Nero Supported Recorders List
  

RMPS (Removable Medium Physical Signature):

RMPS is a new technology that allows backing up of certain new copy protected cdroms (StarForce, ProtectCD, etc...). Once burnt, you must use RMPS emulation in DAEMON Tools whenever you play the game.

1. Right-click the DAEMON TOOLS tray icon
2. Select Emulations
3. Click RMPS
4. Run the game
   

Currently, the only burning program capable of writing RMPS is Alcohol 120%.

[Prodigy]

COPY PROTECTIONS:

There are many different type of copy protections. Click on an item below to bring up more information about that copy protection.

• Safedisc
• Securom
• Laserlok
• Lockblocks
• Starforce
• CDCOPS
• Protect CD
  

SAFEDISC:

SafeDisc and SafeDisc 2 © Macrovision Corp

Check for these files on the CD or in the installation dir (the "00000001.TMP" is normally always in the root of the CD):

• 00000001.TMP
• CLCD16.DLL
• CLCD32.DLL
• CLOKSPL.EXE
  

Command & Conquer Red Alert 2 used Safedisc® 2 for the first time. There's no clokspl.exe anymore and also no .icd Loader. New is a second .TMP file called 00000002.TMP on some CDs!

Safedisc® 2 protected CDs have special sectors in the beginning of the CD. They're perfectly readable, but cannot be burned on most recorders (exceptions are most Acer and Philips - and their OEMs - recorders as well as the new LiteON and Plextor 24x recorders).

The Safedisc protection uses unreadable sectors to verify the CD. These sectors are ALWAYS stored in the beginning of the CD (first 4 - 5%, still the same for Safedisc® 2)! There are meanwhile many different programs being able to do perfect copies - but they have all one thing in common, they need a recorder not automatically correcting unreadable sectors when burning the CD. Check the RECORDER LIST for more details. Also check the RECOMMEND BURNING PROGRAMS list for a list of burning programs.

If your recorder is not capable of doing a perfect copy use Daemon- Tools. Do a 1:1 copy with Disc Juggler or one of the other mentioned burning progs and enable Safedisc emulation in DAEMON Tools when playing.
Another option to get Safedisc protected games to run is to create a CD image, mount that image with DAEMON Tools and install and play from there. Note that the Safedisc emulation is NOT needed in this case.

To create a working copy of a Safedisc® 2 protected game use the DAEMON Tools FASTDUMP feature to create an image. Then burn this image normally and run it with enabled Safedisc emulation. Also, CloneCD and Alcohol are able to create perfect Safedisc® 2 copies on all recorders you can burn a perfect Safedisc® 1 copy with.

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SECUROM:

Securom © Sony Corporation

Check for these files on the CD or in the installation dir:

• CMS16.DLL
• CMS_95.DLL
• CMS_NT.DLL
  

Or check for this logo on the CD's inner ring:

There's a new version of Securom (used in e.g. UT2003, V-Rally 2, Diablo II, Ground Control, Music 2000, Soulbringer). There are NO cms*.* files anymore and on some CDs there isn't even the DADC-logo.
The new Securom files are:

• SINTF32.DLL
• SINTF16.DLL
• SINTFNT.DLL
  

They are copied to Windows system directory during installation!

CloneCD , Alcohol, the Blindread/Blindwrite suite and DiscJuggler 3.x are programs being able to do perfect copies of Securom protected CDs. In opposite to Safedisc it's easy to do a 1:1 copy of a Securom protected CD - no unreadable sectors. Anyway this copy won't run in many cases. The reason is Securom doesn't use unreadable sectors to verify if the CD is original, it uses data stored in the CD P/Q-subchannel.

If you don't have hardware being able to read & write the 16 byte PQ subchannel data needed to do a perfect copy of securom protected CDs just do a 'normal' 1:1 copy of the CD using one of the burning programs here and use DAEMON Tools to play. Just enable the Securom emulation in DAEMON Tools and your copy will run like the original.

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LASERLOK:

Laserlok © MLS Laserlock, Inc.

Check for a hidden directory called "LASERLOK" on the CD. It contains one or more files (exact name(s) and size(s) differ from game to game) normally named laserlok.*. Here are some examples:

• laserlok.in
• laserlok.o10
• laserlok.011
  

In many cases the "laserlok.in" has an exact size, e.g. 20.000 KB!!

The Laserlock protection is one of the protections operating with unreadable sectors. These sectors are stored in the file(s) in the hidden "Laserlok" directory. There are different possibilities to copy Laserlock-protected games. To do a perfect copy you need a CD-R(W) drive compatible with programs like Alcohol, Blindread/-write, Disc Juggler, CloneCD or DiscDump.

If you don't have a recorder being able to write "unreadable sectors" you will have to use DAEMON Tools. Do a 1:1 copy with Disc Juggler or one of the other RECOMMENDED BURNING PROGRAMS here and enable Laserlock emulation in DAEMON Tools to make your copy run.

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LOCKBLOCKS:

Lockblocks © Dinamic Mm.

Check for two visible rings (one thin ring and one thicker one) on the "data side" of the original CD.
There are several other protections (in most cases self-made by the company releasing the CD) using these visible rings! They can be copied the same way as Lockblocks! Again a protection using unreadable sectors. The visible rings are a pain in the ass for most CDROMs. They just refuse to read when reaching those rings. Sometimes you'll have more luck when using the recorder to read. Programs like Blindread/-write (very recommended), CloneCD (use same settings as for Laserlock) or Disc Juggler should do the job. If you're able to dump a perfect image to HD, you should normally be able to burn it with nearly every recorder and won't have to use a crack with that copy.

Another option to get Lockblocks protected games to run is to create a CD image, mount that image with DAEMON Tools and install and play from there.

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STARFORCE:

Starforce © Protection Technology Co.

DAEMON Tools is able to support this protection 100%.

For information on how this protection works, please see the Securom protection; ProtectCD is very similar.

You will have to create your image with one of these programs though:

• Alcohol 120%
• BlindWrite
• GameJack 2
  

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CD-COPS:

CD-Cops © Link Data Security and Spinner Software

You can detect if a cd is protected by CD-Cops by the following:

• When executing the main executable a window appears with the words CD and Cops in the title.
• Look for a file called CDCOPS.DLL
• Look for files with the .GZ_ and .W_X extentions
  

DAEMON Tools is able to support this protection 100%.

You will have to create your image with a burning program.

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PROTECTCD:

ProtectCD © VOB

You can detect if a cd is protected by ProtectCD by the following:

• Open the main executable, using a HexEditor and search for the following ASCII text (it should appear a few times): VOB
  

DAEMON Tools is able to support this protection 100%.

For information on how this protection works, please see the Securom protection; ProtectCD is very similar.

You will have to create your image with one of these programs though:

• Alcohol 120%
• BlindWrite
• GameJack 2