Steam/Fallout3/Winlive Dlc disks/ Help!

I have several games downloaded on Steam, one of which is Fallout 3.
I do not have the disk, it was downloaded.

My son’s early Christmas present is the Game of the Year Edition of Fallout 3.

I have installed it, and it seems to be working, buuuut of course there is one little glitch.

No matter how I try to start Fallout 3, with or without the DLC it demands that I insert the disk into the dvd drive.

It has not asked me for the activation key. It seems to be working no problem there, but I won’t be leaving this disk in the drive all the time so it can be played. Is there any (LEGAL) cure for this???

To put it bluntly, nope, there is no way around this that doesn’t violate the terms of use. Isn’t copy protection fun? This is why game cracks are so popular.

Terms of use != The Law.

For instance many software companies put that you can’t backup your media in the terms of use but it has been established by the courts you’re allowed to backup any media you own (as long as you don’t sell it on or give the copy to someone else).

I’m a little more vague on No-CD cracks I don’t think there’s been a case over them. Anyway it’s certainly nothing that you’d get in trouble for. Nobody is going to break down your door for using a No-CD for a game you own.

You don’t need a crack. Only the launcher program thing is protected by a CD check - just run the exe directly and you can play without a CD in the drive at all (worked for me, anyway). Not sure why they set it up like this, but oh well - I’m glad they did, the disk would not work in my (very old) DVD drive even though I had a 100% legit copy.

I think that will work with the steam version too, but I’m not 100% sure. If not, then I’d at least try steam’s tech support before you go searching for cracks.

(also I think cracks are illegal because of the digital millennium copyright act but of course I’m not a lawyer so what do I know)

Edit: oh, I misunderstood and you do have a disk for your son’s version, it’s not from steam. Running fallout3.exe should work fine unless they’ve changed it for the GOTY edition.

I found if I use the Fallout mod manager to launch, it doesn’t require the disk. So I am happy. The disk can sit safely with the other disk’s I have. The funny thing is, Fallout 3 isn’t suppose to be on the disks, just the add-on content. Steam touts no DRM, and you are allowed to download and play on any number of computers. Now if Steam had the DLC games, I would have seen about buying through them, but they only offer the original game.

I only want or need one game download console on any of my computers. I don’t really want a Windows live account. So in this instance all I can do is by-pass the game’s original loader and use the FOMM.

Thanks for your answers, and sorry I didn’t put anything up earlier, It’s been like a Monday around here today.

Never mind, I was confused.