Can I make a copy of a Halo disc to USB?

Question

I have a Halo Combat Evolved disc. Is it possible to copy the files to a USB so I can play Halo wherever I want without carrying my CD case?

Answer 1

Yes, you can on Windows!

1. You will need to "install" the game from the CD onto the flash drive.
2. Patch the game to 1.09, this is very important. 1.09 removes SafeDisc and the CD-check.
3. Using regedit, export the proper key for your OS:
   • 32-bit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Halo
   • 64-bit: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Microsoft Games\Halo
4. Save this .reg file onto the USB stick.
5. Make a copy of it, and remove or add the Wow6432Node in this copy so that you have one of each.

Now, when you want to play, you will need to do the following.

1. Open the proper .reg file in Notepad. This will be the one with Wow6432Node for 64-bit systems, and without it for 32-bit systems.
2. In the .reg file, change the EXE Path value to the proper USB path (this may change depending on what drive letter you get when you plug in in, hence the need to change it).
3. Merge the .reg file into the Registry.
4. Install redist\msxmlenu.msi from the Halo directory. (If this isn't installed already, you will have issues with the chat UI disappearing).
5. Run the game!

When you are done, you will need to open regedit and delete the registry key you imported before you started playing (if you forget where to find it, look at the paths back in the first section). This registry key contains your CD key, and you don't want to leave that lying around. :)

Answer 2

The best way is to make an image of the CD and carry that around on the USB stick. You'll need software like Daemon Tools to mount the image so you can install and play, though. You will need other software in order to create it in the first place -- I don't know of anything free offhand, but I've used Nero 7 for this. (Edit: Daemon Tools can now create .mdx images, which I believe only they support.)

Another option is a U3 USB key. They have a special partition that appears as a CD drive to the computer. If you got one of those there are some third-party tools to replace the content of that partition so you could potentially put Halo there (or at least the files required by the CD check, since I'm not sure the whole game could fit). That would be better if you only want to install Halo and not any image-mounting software.

Answer 3

If you are talking about the Mac OS X edition of Halo, then you can try the following:

• Open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility.app (part of OS X)
• Select the volume you wish to image (you should select the drive in this case to get all partitions on the disc).
• Choose File > New > Disc Image from <your selected device> or click the New Disk Image button.
• Image format: DVD/CD Master
• Encryption: None
• Name it & hit save.

Disk Utility will then make an exact copy of your disc that you can keep on your laptop or flash media so you don't have to take the CD with you all the time.