Running games downloaded from DaTorrents.

[prh99]

If you've downloaded a game and aren't sure how to get it to run, this is thread will hopefully guide you through some of the basic steps.

Games posted on this tracker can come in several different formats. Below is quick tutorial on dealing with some of the more common ones.

Compression & Archive file

The most common formats, in my experience, are Rar, Ace, 7-zip, and Zip. To use these formats you'll need a peace of software to decompress and extract the files they contain. Below is a list of some software that can handle the above formats. The actual extraction is usually straight forward so I won't go into detail.

IZArc freeware and supports Zip, Rar, Ace, and 7-Zip etc
7-Zip freeware and supports Zip, Rar, and 7-Zip etc
WinRAR shareware and supports Zip, Rar, Ace, and 7-Zip etc
WinACE shareware and support Zip, Rar, Ace, and 7-Zip etc


Copy Protection

Unfortunately some publishers have chosen to implement systems designed to prevent the copying of game discs and, in more extreme cases, to restrict a games use to a limited number of computers. There are several systems game developers use and they vary in how hard they are to get around.

Several of the games I've downloaded have included a patch for the copy protection. If you're have trouble running a game ask for help either on the original torrent or in the Problems and Errors section of the forum.


Note: A lot of Hentai games (like those from Jast and G-Collections) use a system called V-Mate. To my knowledge the only way around this system is to find a patched executable for the game. Other games uses disc based
copy protection, some of these system like SafeDisc and SecuRom can be
circumvented with no CD/DVD patchess or by using virtual drive software.



CD/DVD Image files

This category includes files with extension Iso, Nrg, Cue, Bin, Mds, B5t,and Ccd. These image files contain a copy of the information on the disc they were made from. There are two options for using these formats, you can burn them on to a disc or use a virtual drive to mount the mount the image.

To burn the image to a disk you'll need software like Nero or
Alcohol 52% or 120%. Nero sometime comes bundled with CD and/or Dvd burning drives. Obviously your software must support the image format you wish to use.

In Nero Express (Supports Nrg, Iso, and Cue):

* Choose "Disc Image or Saved Project" in the "What would you like to burn?" list.

* In the dialog that pops up choose the image you want to burn and click open.

* Make sure make the destination drive is your burner and that you have blank
media in it.

* Set the speed (the max speed you can burn depends on your system).

* Hit burn and wait for it to finish

If it fails consider reducing the burn speed and closing other programs.



In Alcohol (recommended program) supports Iso, Nrg, Cue, Bin, Mds, and Ccd etc

* Click "Image Burning Wizard" which is under the heading main on leftside of the window

* Use the "Browse Button" to find the image you want to burn and hit next
Note: I don't recommend you allow Alcohol to delete the image at least
until you know you've burned a working copy of the game. Make sure the
check box at the bottom of the Window is uncheck (should be by default).

* Make sure the correct drive is select in the drop down box labeled CD/DVD Recorder also set the burn speed. If you know the game disc had copy protect you know what kind change the drop down box at the bottom of the window labeled "datatype" to the appropriate value. Otherwise I don't recommend changing the setting for write method unless you know you know a different type is needed.

* Click start and wait it to finish burning

If it fails consider reducing the burn speed and closing other programs.



Virtual Drives

A virtual drive is a peace of software that convinces your OS it's a CD/DVD-ROM drive through the use of a kernel level driver. This type of software lets you mount(open) an image file through the software and
use them like they had been burned to CD or DVD. Generally this method makes for faster data access and in the case of Alcohol 120% and Daemon Tools copy protection can be emulated without wasting blank media.

Note: The virtual Drive feature is available in Alcohol 120% and the free version Alcohol 52%. Daemon Tools is free for personal use. Also if you only have Nero and it doesn't support the image format you want, it is possible to mount it with Daemon Tools and use Nero's image recorder and CD copy function
to convert it to compatible format (though it's not recommended).


Mount an image with Daemon Tools

* Daemon Tools opens to the task bar (the area next to the clock in Windows). You should see an icon with a red background and silver circle with lightning bolt cut out of it.

*Right click the Daemon Tools icon in the taskbar and hover over "Virtual CD/DVD-ROM"

*In the menu that appears hover over "Device 0:[I:] No Media"
Note: The [I:] represents the drive letter of the virtual drive. This is the letter that will appear in my computer. If you already have a drive I: this letter will be different. Obvious "No Media" means you don't have an image mounted.

* In the menu that appears select mount image. This bring up a dialog from which you can select the image you want to mount.

* when you find the image select it and click open.

* If it is successfull a drive with the specified letter(see the third step above) should now be avalible with the contents of the image you mounted. You can now run programs and access data from the image like it was on a CD.


Unmount an image with Daemon Tools


*Right click the Daemon Tools icon in the taskbar and hover over "Virtual CD/DVD-ROM"

*In the menu that appears hover over "Device 0:[I:]"
Note: Device 0:[I:] will be followed by path of image you mounted

* In the menu that appears select unmount image.



For installations that have more than one CD, when prompted for the next CD simply unmount the current image and mount image for the needed CD.



Mount an image with Alcohol 120% & 52%

* In the lower portion of the Window is a list box that contains the head "Devices" under this heading should be a tree with one of the headings being "Virtual CD/DVD". Right click the drive under "Virtual CD/DVD". It will have the drive letter in paranthesis followed by a serial number.

* In the menu that appear click the option labeled "mount".

* A dialog should appear that allows to select the image you want to mount.

* Select the image and click open

* If it is successful, a drive with the specified letter should now be available with the contents of the image you mounted. You can now run programs and access data from the image like it was on a CD.



Unmount an image with Alcohol 120% & 52%

* In the lower portion of the Window is a list box that contains the head "Devices" under this heading should be a tree with one of the headings being "Virtual CD/DVD". Right click the drive under "Virtual CD/DVD". It will have the drive letter in parenthesis followed by a serial number.

* In the menu that appear click the option labeled "Unmount".

* If successful the text next to the device will say "No Media - Ejected"

Alcohol 120% divides the program window into three sections, with left have containing a menu, the right side is occupied by to list boxes. If you right click in the upper list box and select "add image" you can add images for faster access. Once you add an image right click it and select mount
and click the drive it displays to mount the image in Alcohol's virtual drive.


Links
IZArc
7-Zip
WinRAR
WinACE
Alcohol 120%
DaemonTools
Nero
A Tutorial For Alcohol and Daemon Tools(linked to by ReiAyanami580 in another thread)
Burning/Mounting Tutorial(linked to by Dagger906 in another thread)



Happy downloading,

prh99

[prh99]

Other Important Notes

Flash Games: Some flash games requires the latest flash players to be installed to display images properly. Get the Latest version here

ROM Games: ROMS require proper emulator that runs this games. Sometimes, the emulator will require you have a BIOS or Dump of the original machine. BIOS files may not be uploaded to the tracker nor may download links be post in the forums.

Additional Disc Burning Software
Those who do not have either Alcohol or Nero to burn disk there a free program called CD Burner XP. It is rather limited as it only support burn ISO images disk. There is also ImgBurn which supports far more formats but it's sole purpose is burning images to disc.

A tutorial on setting Windows to display Japanese can be found here, as not all games are in English.