How to play Nancy Drew games WITHOUT a CD:
This will work for all games except the original SCK, but be advised that it will take up a decent amount of space on your PC if you choose to copy them all. A suitable alternative would be to use a single large-capacity USB.
1. Go to Documents and make a file called Nancy Drew Games (or whatever you want). Within this folder make a subfolder for each game you plan on using without the disk and label accordingly.
2. Insert your game disk into your optical drive (your PC’s CD player) but don’t run the game.
3. Open the disk file and copy all of its contents from the disk to the appropriate subfolder you made. (This could take a little bit, depending on the game and the processing capacity of your computer).
4. If you haven’t done so already, uninstall the previous version of the game. You can keep your old save files by moving them to a new folder.
5. To avoid .INI path errors and the like, make a new folder in Documents with the title of the game or its abbreviation or whatever. (This is the last folder, I promise!)
6. Now, eject the disk and run the Setup.exe application from your copied folder. This will initiate the install process.
7. Progress through the prompts until it asks you to choose an install location. Browse to find the folder in Documents that you created.
8. Finish the install and enjoy your game on the go!
For games with two disks:
1. Go to Documents and make a file called Nancy Drew Games (or whatever you want). Within this folder make a subfolder for each game you plan on using without the disk and label accordingly.
2. Insert your game disk 1 into your optical drive (your PC’s CD player) but don’t run the game.
3. Open the disk 1 file and copy all of its contents from the disk to the appropriate subfolder you made. (This could take a little bit, depending on the game and the processing capacity of your computer).
4. Within this subfolder, make a folder titled Disk 2.
5. Remove disk 1, insert your game disk 2, and copy into the Disk 2 subsubfolder.
6. If you haven’t done so already, uninstall the previous version of the game. You can keep your old save files by moving them to a new folder.
7. To avoid .INI path errors and the like, make a new folder in Documents with the title of the game or its abbreviation or whatever. (This is the last folder, I promise!)
8. Now, eject disk 2 and run the Setup.exe application from your copied folder. This will initiate the install process.
9. Progress through the prompts until it asks you to choose an install location. Browse to find the folder in Documents that you created.
10. About halfway through installation, it will ask you to insert disk 2. Click the Browse command in the popup and select the Disk 2 file you created. Installation should proceed to finish.
11. Enjoy your game on the go without the hassle of CDs!
Disclaimer: This method is to be used by those who own the games and wish to play them without the hassle of the disks. This should NOT be used to copy games you do not own or to offer/sell digital copies online. Thank you!
If you encounter any issues with the process, please feel free to message me with questions! It can be tricky!
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