Isobuster ; extracting files from commercial disks

[mapzilla]

I recently came across a used Castlevania :SOTN disk in a Blockbuster, and I am debating about whether to buy it. There is no place for a PS1 to go on my entertainment center nor do I want to make that big of an investment for an old game.

I was wondering if I could use a program like "Isobuster" or some other utility to extract the ISO image from the commercial CD and play it (along with the CD I guess) with a PS1 emulator on my computer.

HAS ANYONE TRIED SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

I would like to know if this will work before I make my purchase.

[Lefteris_D]

Yes, you can extract an ISO and play it with an emulator.

[Guitar Gamer]

Some programs to do so are...

- BlindWrite Suite
- Alcohol 120%
- CDRWIN (I'm pretty sure)
- CloneCD (another I'm pretty sure)

Buy it and have some fun. :msn_tu:

[Lefteris_D]

I use Blindwrite (http://www.vso-software.fr/blindwrite5_english.htm) to make the cd images and DAEMON Tools (http://www.daemon-tools.cc) to use it as a virtual cd-rom. Overall the best combination ever!

[Guitar Gamer]

Agreed. I use to use the EXACT combination for the longest time. I will second such a recommendation 100%. Works like a charm. Alcohol 120% also creates virtual drives for the same purpose but Daemon tools is free and quite universal (not to mention just as good).

[mapzilla]

That's it , heh. Almost sounds too easy. Just got PCE Dracula X to work on my YAME emulator. That was a tricky process (vitrual drives, cue sheets, etc.).

Guess the only question now is the cost to extract.

Is Isobuster's extract feature free or (1) will I have to pay for it ($29.95 to register I think) or (2) is there a extraction utility other than Isobuster that is completely free? What good is the game's CD after I have extracted the files?

Hard to believe that I can play any PS BIOS and not run into compatibility issues. Sounds like the other emulators (XBOX, PS2, etc.) are not up to this level of simplicity which why most of them can't run commercial games yet.

[mapzilla]

Ignore the above message. By the time I was done typing all these new messages popped up.

THANKS GUYS!

Think I will use the trial version of Blindwrite to download the files. Cheers.

[frosted]

Is it not just possible to run the game from the disc itself? I have had succsess with this method.

[Guitar Gamer]

Success - yes. From the CD is a perfectly fine way of doing it. :)

BUT, performance improves when running the game from an ISO - quicker loading time - no waiting for the CD drive to spin, etc. I've also noticed games which froze when played from the CD did not do so when playing from an ISO. I'd imagine though that a lot of factors can come into play when weighing which method would be better.

[frosted]

I wasnt aware of such means actually worked.... ill give it a try and see what works best. Bigger and new HD needed me thinks. :) thanks

[Guitar Gamer]

No problem. You don't really need a big HD for PS ISOs actually. They're only roughly 700MB each (listen to myself - saying "only" ;)). I use to go hard with ISOs on my old 20 GB 7200 RPM drive a couple years ago. But then again a 10 000 RPM drive 'would' make some difference I'd assume.

Whats your HD's specs?

[frosted]

hehe i got a 120 gig 8mb cache western digi... its good... however i am a sad man over 50+ work of emulation. Im addicted to it :( need a new one cause i fiddle with bfv and cs, champ manager and alsorts :)