Solved! how do I play games on an acer with no optical disc drive??

[Kieran_11]

I can't believe I paid $750 for a laptop with no optical disc drive. I just bought a new game and it's a CD and I can't play it. How do I get the games I want when my laptop doesn't have a CD drive??

 

[kindangrysliceofpie]

I can't believe I paid $750 for a laptop with no disk drive. I just bought a new game and it's a CD and I can't play it. How do I get the games I want when my laptop doesn't have a CD drive??

Im surprised people still run games on CDs.

Try and find a download for the game on the internet, and run it from there.

 

[k1114]

I haven't used a cd since...sim city 4? Most pcs don't have them anymore. You'd have to use a usb cd drive.

 

[Solandri]

1. Borrow or buy a USB CD drive. This one occasionally goes on sale for $15-$20 if you can wait.
https/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135256

2. If you just need the CD drive to install the game, go ahead and do that. You can finish here, or do the below steps to create a CD image to install the game on future computers.

Or

2. If this is one of those games which need the CD in the drive to run as an anti-piracy measure, use imgburn to convert the game CD into an ISO file.
http/www.imgburn.com/

3. Throw away the CD. (OK, you should probably put it in a box or drawer. But if everything worked, you will never need the CD again.)

4. Windows 8/10 have native support for mounting ISO files. Double-click the game.iso file and Windows will create a new virtual CD drive with the game CD loaded. You can then play the game as if you had a CD drive on the computer, with the game CD loaded.

 

[sizzling]

Like the others I haven’t used a cd/dvd in many years for installing a program/game. I think if you setup a Steam account you can download the game using the key from the version you bought. I wouldn’t even look at DVD/CD versions these days, only digital.

With how large many modern AAA games are, 50gb plus is not uncommon, DVD’s & CD’s wouldn’t be practical given the limited amount of data they can store.

 

[jsmithepa]

This could be another funny thread ppl try to pry open the CD tray when there is no drive.

 

[webworkings]

It may seem 'easier' to download it, like with so many things, but it is also so 'easy' to lose it or lose access to it when done that way as well. Just saying.

 

[sizzling]

It may seem 'easier' to download it, like with so many things, but it is also so 'easy' to lose it or lose access to it when done that way as well. Just saying.

How exactly? I'm far more likely to loose/damage a disk or physical copy of the key. I buy all my games through Steam, Origin or Microsoft, as long as I have access to my accounts I have instant access to download and install any game I have previously bought.

 

[Solandri]

It may seem 'easier' to download it, like with so many things, but it is also so 'easy' to lose it or lose access to it when done that way as well. Just saying.

How exactly? I'm far more likely to loose/damage a disk or physical copy of the key. I buy all my games through Steam, Origin or Microsoft, as long as I have access to my accounts I have instant access to download and install any game I have previously bought.

Companies can and have gone out of business. Sometimes even when they're still in business, they drop support for older products. Have you tried getting updates for a new install of Office 2003? The website for old Office updates no longer exists. You can only get them through Windows Update by enabling "Get updates for other products the same way I get updates for Windows." Which presents a conundrum if you quickly need Office 2003 updated, but don't want to waste time updating Windows.

Also note that your Steam account is not transferable (unless Valve specifically authorizes it). When you die, the licenses to all those games you bought go *poof*. No way to give collectible classics to your kids as an inheritance. No way to give away games you no longer play but might be entertaining for your kids or friends.

The buy to own model works (physical copy of games on disc). The rent to subscribe model works (Netflix, Office 365). The buy to subscribe model (Steam, Origin, etc) still needs a lot of tweaking before I think it can legally be considered the same thing as owning.

 

[sizzling]

Tried getting old 2003 games to run on Win 10? To me games are a disposable commodity, bit like sports gear you are not going to see someone at your local gym using 15 year old equipment. I’d much rather the space and lack of clutter, none of those points you raise worry me. Its not like cd’s & dvd’s do not have a finite lifespan https/en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_rot