How do I load a game from on a DVD when my new laptop doesn't have a drive?

Factual Questions
1

So I’ve bought a new laptop (with Windows 10) to replace an elderly computer that recently failed.
(P.S. Excuse me if this is a poor question, but I’m pretty old too! :o)

I have various games on DVD in a Windows version (such as Meier’s Colonization 2008 / Masters of Might and Magic 1994 / Heroes of Might and Magic 1995.)

However my new laptop doesn’t have a disc drive.
I know there is a reliable company (Good Old Games) that has downloadable Windows versions (just as well since some of these games were DOS based.)
I’ve heard about the game platform Steam too.

Are these sites the way to load and play the veteran games I like? :cool:
Have DVD drives gone the way of the buggy whip?! :eek:

2

USB connected DVD drive Amazon Best Sellers: Best undefined

3

Plug in a DVD drive via USB to read a DVD. If you don’t want to bother trying to read your discs, then it seems the simplest alternative is to download it from GOG or Steam or Abandonia or wherever.

4

If you prefer (assuming windows PC):

  1. Convert all your old DVDs to ISOs using DVD decrypter on your old computer (freeware) http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/

  2. Copy the ISO files to your new computer or keep them on an external drive

  3. Mount them as virtual DVDs on your new PC using daemon tools (freeware) DAEMON Tools for Mac: Smart mounting and imaging software - DAEMON-Tools.cc

5

Thanks for the replies!

Can I use Dropbox to transfer games?

6

If you find a drive and save the ISO file, you can transfer it like any other file. Not sure about Dropbox; check that you have enough storage to store all your files (each uncompressed DVD might eat a few gigabytes).

7

This step can be skipped in Windows 10. Double-clicking an ISO file mounts it automatically.

8

A lot of old games don’t run on modern operating systems. Part of what GOG does is update the code to make them compatible with modern computers. The older the game, the more likely it is to need some configuration hacks or something like DOSbox to run. GOG takes care of all that for you. Good company worth supporting.

If you want to play around with old DVDs yourself, of course you are welcome to do so.

PCGamingWiki is often a good resource to look up compatibility:
https://pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Sid_Meier's_Colonization

For example, for that Colonization game, the GOG version comes with Dosbox. If you were to install it yourself, you have to set all that up. It’s not super hard, just takes some reading.

9

Thanks for that. :cool:

Sorry, I should have explained that the DVDs I have are all Windows versions of these old games, so definitely will run on my new laptop. :slight_smile:

10

Not necessarily. I’ve got an old game from the Windows 2000/Windows NT era that won’t work on Windows 10.

11

Yeah. I mean, feel free to try, but older Windows games won’t necessarily run on the latest version.

12

There’s a ton of factors. But the big one wrt Windows 10 is whether you are running the 32 or 64 bit version. Quite a bit of stuff runs on the 32-bit one but the 64-bit one is something else entirely.

So people asking about running games here on Windows 10 should specify which version. (And the CPU as well.)

(And I’m not going to get into VMS, emulators, etc.)

13

There are often ways to run software in a compatibility mode in newer versions of Windows, so if it doesn’t work right away, try some searches for “<game name> Windows 10 compatibility” or something and see if there are directions to get it going.