Making back-up copies of your Sega CD and 3DO games can be a pretty simple process. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, most guides/tutorials are over 10 years old. For a 2024 version, I will describe my process using the software ImgBurn, and a cheap cd/dvd burning drive that I bought at Walmart for $25 and some cheap/middle tier blank CD's that I bought at checkoutstore.com.
The Legalities of Burning a Game to Disc
It is legal to own one back up copy of a computer game. Under Section 117 of the Copyright Act, "you or someone you authorize may make a copy of an original computer program if the new copy is being made for archival (i.e., backup) purposes only; you are the legal owner of the copy; and any copy made for archival purposes is either destroyed, or transferred with the original copy, once the original copy is sold, given away, or otherwise transferred." (Copyright.gov, Copyright and Digital Files (FAQ) | U.S. Copyright Office).
What I'm Using
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Discs: Ritek Audio CD-R, Inkjet White recordable compact discs (CDs). |
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Software: ImgBurn 2.5.8 |
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DVD Drive: Lite-ON Technology Corp. Model eBAU108 |
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Game ROM Files: Either research ripping the image off your own disc, or find a downloadable version of your game, which you must delete off your computer when you're done burning the disc. |
Settings
The settings that I'm going to put here are what worked for me using the equipment and conditions that are specific to me. They may not work exactly for you but should serve as a good starting point.
Let's Burn a Disc!
Once you have either ripped the disc image from your game, or downloaded a copy if your original disc isn't serviceable, you're ready to go.
Start ImgBurn and insert your blank disc into the drive.
About the DVD/CD Burner drive: If you have a drive with a disc tray that doesn't automatically slide open and closed (like in a laptop), be sure to check "Eject Disc" on the ImgBurn screen prior to writing.
After a few seconds ImgBurn will recognize that you have inserted a blank disc.
Next, drag the .cue file, and only the .cue file, into the Source area of ImgBurn. Don't worry about including the other files - the .cue file tells ImgBurn where they are and it will take it from there.
Be sure that 'Verify' is checked and set your write speed.
A few words about write speed
Most, if not all, of guides/tutorials tell you to write at the slowest speed possible.
Nowadays, that is not necessary. I burn games at 24x and they work perfectly. ImgBurn will tell you what speeds your drive and your blank discs can be written at. 24X is the fastest my cd/dvd burner can write to a CD-R.
With your .cue file dragged into the source area on ImgBurn, Verify checked, and your preferred disc speed selected it's time to burn, baby, burn.
When your disc is ready go ahead and put it in your machine. Please be aware that you may have to tweak the laser to be able to read the burned disc.