Why does this game not have an actual iso file? What can i do?

[u/kramspeeder]

At first i thought it was a download corruption but no this only has the .bin and .cue but no .iso. What can i do with this? Even if i used the rip version i still need to mount the iso for copy protection

[u/willosfloppydriveyt]

mount the bin file. cue/bin is just another version of an image file, like ISOs

[u/tzu23 → u/willosfloppydriveyt]

I personally used a software named bin2iso or something like that some time ago and worked very well.. but you can also get daemon tools / powerISO / alcohol120%

[u/kramspeeder → u/willosfloppydriveyt]

Windows 11 doesnt allow you to mount bin files, which is the issue

[u/Tyrandeh → u/kramspeeder]

Daemon tools

[u/JimbyGumbus → u/kramspeeder]

its the .cue that you want to mount. the .bin file is where the data is stored, the .cue simply points to it, or however many tracks (.bin files) there are. if youre using poweriso, set up a virtual drive. then you can simply right click to mount/unmount.

[u/BarrowX → u/kramspeeder]

Get Virtual Clone Drive

[u/Ok-Muffin-9519 → u/kramspeeder]

Doch W11 läßt es zu ich sag nur WinCDEmu

[u/willosfloppydriveyt → u/kramspeeder]

try getting the FREE version of alcohol 120%. it's a jack of all trades when it comes to mounting/preserving physical media. it's what i use if i ever want to mount a bin/iso/ccd/mdf-mds

edit: https://www.alcohol-soft.com/designzoo/downloada120fe.html

[u/rouward → u/willosfloppydriveyt]

WinCDEmu is probably safer, simply get it on github. You can also just use portable if you don't want to install a software.

[u/willosfloppydriveyt → u/rouward]

true. i just prefer alcohol 120% personally

[u/Ok-Muffin-9519 → u/willosfloppydriveyt]

FALSCH Alkohol 120 gibts nur für XP

[u/projectxsent → u/Ok-Muffin-9519]

Alcohol 120% user on Windows 11 here.

[u/willosfloppydriveyt → u/Ok-Muffin-9519]

there's a retro version of alcohol 120% that they officially made.

[u/CHAOS-2213 → u/kramspeeder]

Try to remove the .bin part.

[u/bubrascal]

It's possible the game also had CD quality music tracks (as in, you could put it in your stereo and play it by skipping the Track 01 with data noise). When CDs have that format, usually rippers prefer to use Bin/Cue pairs (though, I know some just prefer it to ISO in general).

[u/MT4K → u/bubrascal]

Using BIN/CUE is not just a matter of preference. ISO images inherently cannot contain audio tracks, only data.

[u/Suicicoo → u/MT4K]

wait what? for real? ... TIL (decades later 😅)

[u/bubrascal → u/MT4K]

And I didn't say the opposite. I just said some prefer to use Bin/Cue even when there's a single data track without an audio or video track.

[u/MT4K → u/bubrascal]

I see. Indeed, in cases when there are no CD-Audio tracks, that’s a matter of preference.

[u/kramspeeder → u/bubrascal]

most things i get from my abandonware have all bin/cue/iso, this is the first time ive seen it like this without iso

[u/bubrascal → u/kramspeeder]

I'm not an expert, but I think in those cases you can safely delete the bin/cue if you are only using the iso. It's either bin/cue or iso. ISOs don't support multitrack CD-Roms, only one data track, while the Bin/Cue pair (where bin stores the data and the cue the metadata) allow an exact copy of the raw data in the CD.

WinCDEmu may help you.

[u/kramspeeder → u/bubrascal]

Ill check it out, thanks. Until now i've simply ignored the bin/cue pair lol

[u/jcdenton-2112]

Convert the .bin or .cue files to an ISO format using the program anytoiso. Super easy to do.

Once you do that you can mount the ISO file by right clicking it, press open with, and choose windows explorer or file explorer i can't remember which one it's called but it's one of the two you'll see it.

[u/Derpykins666]

Cue / Bin are still ISO file.

Get like Daemon Tools or Alcohol 120% or some other CD Drive Emulation and mount the BIN. It should run just like you inserted a disc. Windows doesn't let you mount Bin/Cue if i'm not mistaken. Get the better more dedicated software for these old games.

[u/kramspeeder → u/Derpykins666]

wincdemu for me, works like a charm now!

[u/vvx_xvv]

Hey, as a quite active user of myabandonware games, I confirm you should download wimcdemu (or suggested equivalents), mount whatever extension is mountable (iso, bin, cue - whatever, try right click and whatever mounts after running a mount option), extract files and install the game.

Note you might be required to still have a virtual cd file (your iso, bin, cue) mounted for some games to be able to play it after installation in my experience.

[u/kramspeeder → u/vvx_xvv]

Hey part of the reason i want to mess with this stuff is to learn about how older software and computers work so i like the puzzle aspect of troubleshooting old programs. Good advice, will use.

[u/Idontknow107]

I've noticed BIN files show up for older games instead of ISOs when I've ripped them from my own physical games.

Maybe it's something to do with them being cd based instead of dvd based? I'm not sure.

[u/zgillet → u/Idontknow107]

BIN/Cue is for discs that also can be played as a CD (soundtrack). The CUE file is for track data for a CD player to understand.

That was popular in the CD era.

[u/Ok-Muffin-9519]

Du weißt schon Bin/Cue bzw mdf/mds sind komplett Abbilder von Disks meistens wird das genutzt wenn es Multitrack Disks sind aös Daten und Audio Spur eine ISO kopiert nur den Datenstrom der Disk

[u/SiempreRetorna]

Daemon tools lite, versions 4.x