I was told via email that the claims on this page are no longer (entirely) correct. At least about Nero anyway. But I don't use Windows very frequently anymore, so I'll probably never find out. Of course, the person told me this about 1.5 years ago. I was so lazy about updating the page that I didn't get around to this sub-section until now. So.... I finally did update it, didn't I? Indeed, his input was not in vain. Second, I'm going to update the layout to make this readable. That's all for now.

Introduction

This tutorial might be useful, should you desire to back up your legally purchased PlayStation CD-ROM discs.

Clarification of information in thread

Before I start this tutorial, let me point out a site of people who were TUTORING others incorrectly. This is not an application for an iso file. While the tutorial is clarified as the postings progress, I do not recommend that tutorial because the majority of the information it teaches is over-simplified.

First of all, let me note that iso files are almost never used for games due to the fact that that the file type does not account for audio channels. The bin/cue format differs in that it has a cue file, which is a table of contents. This "table of contents" tells the burning program where the data and audio channels are in the bin file. Without the audio channels, the game will be glitchy. While it is true that about 50% of all PlayStation games will work the same in an iso file as in a bin/cue file, many games will not. The reason for this is because the games that worked only had a data channel. Therefore, the iso format would have been ok to use in that situation. However, there are many games that have audio channels; Tales of Destiny II, DDR 4th and 5th mix are just a few PlayStation games that require bin/cue files.

Therefore, when given a computer or PlayStation game to backup or clone, don't use Nero to duplicate it directly. With almost any game, the result will be a coaster. For a computer game, usually CloneCD is the best choice. (Diablo, StarCraft work best with img/sub/ccd format which CloneCD uses) Another thing to note about these games is that you must keep them in the image file format when playing them. When you "mount" these image files using Daemon Tools (I am going to write a tutorial for this software later), it treats the image files as if they are real cdroms, thus tricking the copy protection mechanism of the game. Other computer games work well with bin/cue files. Grand Theft Auto III is an example of this. One thing to note about this game is that it only works when in stays in the image file format. In other words the game only works when the bin/cue file is intact. Don't delete the bin/cue, because it will not work once you have extracted the cdrom contents from the image file. My advice for games of this type is to burn a cd in Nero with the bin/cue intact as regular files on the CD. Again for this game, you will need to use Daemon Tools to mount the image. For PlayStation games, in the case of this tutorial, use Blindread and Fireburner, (I think CloneCD will also work but I am not very familar with the program) since PlayStation games work the best with the bin/cue format. The reason why is in the next paragraph.

Creation of bin/cue files

I use Blindread (Blindwrite Suite now). CloneCD and CDRWin will probably also work. Just make sure that the program makes note of data and audio channels on the CD. In Blindread, just make select "Dump the image of a CDROM", then make sure the Image file output format is set to "CDRWin / Fireburner (CUE; BIN; SUB)." It should also tell you how many data and audio tracks the cd has on this screen. "Normal" PlayStation games will just have 1 data track and 0 audio track(s), but games that need bin/cue files will have 1 or more audio tracks.

Burning of bin/cue files

I don't recommend using Nero or Easy CD Creator to burn .bin/.cue files. If you do so, you risk losing some of the information. (I am not 100% sure on this however, but if people want to test it, go ahead, try it with a multi-channel bin/cue, I'd like to know if it works, I am too lazy to find out)

My suggestion for burning is Fireburner. If you are using bin/cue files to burn a PC or non-PlayStation game, then DON'T burn the image directly as I said in the third paragraph, or the image will be useless (if you are burning a PlayStation game, then ignore the previous sentence) Other programs that would probably work are Blindwrite Suite, (although it doesn't burn on my hardware, just reads cds) CloneCD, and CDRWin. There are probably more programs that work, but I haven't heard of them. So, the main reason why I used Fireburner is that it is the only program that burns bin/cue files that supported my laptop's burner. Anyway, to load the bin/cue, simply select "File->Import Tracks from Cuesheet," and load the cue file (THIS IS IMPORTANT!!) Don't load the bin file or it will treat it as an iso. Then to burn the bin/cue, simply select "Create CD->Burn." Now you have a burned a PlayStation game. yay.