Make a copy of a Halo disc to USB

halo-combat-evolved

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?

Best Answer

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. :)

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