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My C&C Generals disk has been scratched, and now the game won't run. I was wondering if anyone has any sugestions.

It is presumably possible to have a go at cleaning the disk. Anyone tried this? Does it work?

I also had a look round the old interweb, and it was sugested that a game manufacturer ought to replace a damaged disk for a nominal fee. A look at the manual suggests that would cost me £7.50, which can hardly be less than the value of the game at this point.

And thirdly I was wondering if it is legal to download an ISO of the disk from somewhere if you already own the game. Due to the wonders of copyright law I suspect the answer is fuck the consumer, but I thought I'd ask on the off chance I was wrong. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd be able to use it to play online, so that wouldn't be the best thing ever.

If all else fails I suppose I might just buy the first decade DVD, since I would quite like to have both RA2 and zero hour. But I thought I'd see if there is anything else I can do first.

Prozac the Robert wrote:It is presumably possible to have a go at cleaning the disk. Anyone tried this? Does it work?

This has worked for me in the past, depending on how bad the scratches are. Use a soft (preferably cotton) cloth and wipe radially outwards from the center of the disk (NOT in a circular motion -- I'm not quite sure why, but I've been told this by many people and it doesn't seem like it can hurt).

Prozac the Robert wrote:And thirdly I was wondering if it is legal to download an ISO of the disk from somewhere if you already own the game.

Almost certainly not.

SeeingRed wrote:(NOT in a circular motion -- I'm not quite sure why, but I've been told this by many people and it doesn't seem like it can hurt).

It's because the laser also reads information on the disc in a circular motion, and circular scratches are harder to read past than ones that go straight across from the center to the edge.

Downloading the disk that depends on where you are and what your copy right law is like.

Someplaces allow you to have a back up software that you have purchased, not sure what the UK is like for that but i'm not sure they're friendly about it.

if you get an uncracked version and use your own serial I don't see anything morally wrong with it, but that's my point of view, you've paid the licensing fee.

a quick search on the net hasn't told me if you get "fair use" in regards to software like you do in canada (and I believe the USA) where you can make a personal back up of your software.

Prozac the Robert wrote:And thirdly I was wondering if it is legal to download an ISO of the disk from somewhere if you already own the game. Due to the wonders of copyright law I suspect the answer is fuck the consumer, but I thought I'd ask on the off chance I was wrong. And even if I could, I'm not sure I'd be able to use it to play online, so that wouldn't be the best thing ever.

Also, you would probably need to crack the game since I really doubt it will accecpt the copy you make from the ISO as a legit copy. However the cracks you will be able to download are likely to only be no-cd cracks, meaning that the ISO will only be useful for reinstalling. And the crack is highly likely to prevent internet play, except maybe with other peopel running cracked copies.

You would probably be best to pay for a new copy of the disk if you want to play online, and thats assuming the crack is legal which I highly doubt.

Prozac the Robert wrote:My C&C Generals disk has been scratched, and now the game won't run. I was wondering if anyone has any sugestions.

It is presumably possible to have a go at cleaning the disk. Anyone tried this? Does it work?

It worked for me, I used toothpaste as a buff and a t-shirt as the wipe. Praise be to Einhander for the idea.

I also had a look round the old interweb, and it was sugested that a game manufacturer ought to replace a damaged disk for a nominal fee. A look at the manual suggests that would cost me £7.50, which can hardly be less than the value of the game at this point.

Seven pounds for something that should be free? Rubbish. I don't know how game manufacturers get away with this kind of bullshit. If you buy a game legitimately, fair and square, money over the counter, there should be options available beyond 'buying a replacement in case the first one breaks'. Easiest would be to, of course, not have CD copy protection as a requirement for the game to play. Another way would be to have the game downloadable over the internet.

And thirdly I was wondering if it is legal to download an ISO of the disk from somewhere if you already own the game.

You've already bought it, so downloading an ISO is just there as a kind of precaution in the event you lose or damage the discs into inoperability. Morally you'd be in the right, since you haven't actually deprived the artists of their rightful due, and in fact contributed to their livelihood by purchasing the software originally. Legally they'd have to prove you downloaded an ISO of course. How they would go about doing this would be an interesting exercise in futility.

This is all strictly hypothetically speaking, no doubt. Surely you are not contemplating committing such a heinous sin as downloading software?

You can also go out and buy the little machines that polish the disc and fill in the scratches. I have seen them at gaming stores and have had the stores fix some of my discs that way. I think they only cost about $10-$20 US and they work pretty good.

General Deathdealer wrote:You can also go out and buy the little machines that polish the disc and fill in the scratches. I have seen them at gaming stores and have had the stores fix some of my discs that way. I think they only cost about $10-$20 US and they work pretty good.

Unless the scratch is in the data layer of the CD, then there is nothing you can do. The only times I've tried to repair CDs like you suggest, it didn't work.

You might get lucky and have the scratches only on the protective layer, but personally I doubt it.

bilateralrope wrote: Unless the scratch is in the data layer of the CD, then there is nothing you can do. The only times I've tried to repair CDs like you suggest, it didn't work.

You might get lucky and have the scratches only on the protective layer, but personally I doubt it.

Quite right. I forgot to put that in there. If it is scratched too deep, then the disc is really only good for a nice shiney frisbee.

SeeingRed wrote: This has worked for me in the past, depending on how bad the scratches are. Use a soft (preferably cotton) cloth and wipe radially outwards from the center of the disk (NOT in a circular motion -- I'm not quite sure why, but I've been told this by many people and it doesn't seem like it can hurt).

Who'd a thunk it. Taking a cloth, and firmly wiping from the center outwards does infact work. Thanks very much, I'm well pleased with that.