can you play disc games on windows 10 PCs/laptops?

[rockstarjazz]

i have some pc disc games i still play on my win7 laptop.

but i understand win10 doesnt support discs, so will i be able to play them on win10 computers that has a physical dvdrom/bluray disc drive?

[DaivRules]

Depends on the game. Windows 10

absolutely supports discs so I don’t know who misinformed you, but you’ll just have to try them one at a time. I have a bunch of games that play easily on my Windows 7 desktop, but I’ve had a pain of a time running on my Windows 10 tablet and PCs. 

[Null_Spectre]

Windows 10 can definitely support discs, be it using an internal or external disc drive. You might be thinking about compatibility issues. There are some games that run completely fine on Windows 7 but can't run on Windows 10 evening when using Compatibility Mode.

 

Do your research, investigate the games you have specifically if they run on Windows 10. Given how many years have passed between 7 & 10 I'd say there will be a lot of solutions online.

 

Also check to see if you can redeem the CD keys for a digital version. An example of this is I have physical copies of STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl & Clear Sky. I was then able to redeem the digital copies on Steam and GOG.

[AJ_Radio]

Computers nowadays don't really carry disc drives anymore.

 

I bought a USB disc drive player years ago on Amazon. Works like a charm.

[CypherNova139]

Win10 absolutely still supports does disc drives and PC games that installed/ran from disc, I have a few here on my PC.
Remember Win10 is built on WinNT from the 90's when disc drives were a huge thing.

However, the information OP may be referring to for disc games 'not working' is many disc games from 2000s on up used heavy handed DRM solutions for making sure the disc was in the drive. Win10's beefed up security measures prevents the DRM from working and authenticating the game, due to system security risks the DRM schemes actually created and MS won't stand for it any longer. More info here.
In this case you would need a DRM free game version to play on Win10, hopefully GOG.com would have such a version.

[rockstarjazz]

are steam versions of games from early 2000s playable on win10 if installing and trying to play from disc proves fruitless?

pc games i have on disc are the gta3 series, return to castle wolfenstein, the half life series, doom3, quake4 and some others

[turniplord]

The only reason people would say that Disc Versions don't work is because of compatibility issues with the game itself. The only way to find out is to try it and then google for a solution if it doesn't load up.

Failing that, as stated above, the Steam versions would probably work but you're probably best grabbing the game on GoG if it's on there as they personally test every game to ensure they work on modern hardware, Steam has been around for years and never checks if new operating systems break the games they sell.

[Eyjabria]

These sites may come in handy when checking for compatibility, fixes to issues, etc. Linking to Half-Life as an example. 

https://gamesystemrequirements.com/game/half-life

https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Half-Life

 

Steam should also list pretty accurate system requirements for games sold on the platform and there's often helpful discussion about technical issues.

[DaivRules]

It's worth pointing out, in my experience, the determining factor in whether a game disc does or does not play on Windows 10 is almost always the DRM used. If you search for the game title with DRM in the search and identify which DRM the disc used, you can narrow down what's going to work. It's probably faster to look up than how long it takes for a spinning disc to install and try to run, depending on the game, so that's where I'd start.

 

This site will help you identify the DRM and if it'll run: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Category:Games

 

For example, Return to Castle Wolfenstein: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Return_to_Castle_Wolfenstein

[PIECREAM-4-U]

All games from discs will install. Wether they will run is another story. If it's a game that was an online service and it has since  been closed then it won't play no matter what you do.

 

If it's an older game and compatibility mode doesn't work there are always fan made fixes and patches you can find online. I would say the majority of  PC games even from the 1990s will still work today if you're willing to to do some tweaking with fan made patches, even ones with troublesome defunct DRM.

 

 

Edited July 5, 2021 by Dan-lives-here

[RadiantFlamberge]

On 6/30/2021 at 11:10 PM, CypherNova139 said:

Win10 absolutely still supports does disc drives and PC games that installed/ran from disc, I have a few here on my PC.
Remember Win10 is built on WinNT from the 90's when disc drives were a huge thing.

However, the information OP may be referring to for disc games 'not working' is many disc games from 2000s on up used heavy handed DRM solutions for making sure the disc was in the drive. Win10's beefed up security measures prevents the DRM from working and authenticating the game, due to system security risks the DRM schemes actually created and MS won't stand for it any longer. More info here.
In this case you would need a DRM free game version to play on Win10, hopefully GOG.com would have such a version.

I had a Japanese disc version of Raiden III for Windows, which required the disc to be in the drive. Now it's a coaster because of SafeDisc, but at least GOG sells the game digitally (only $10), of course with no DRM. One good example of GOG saving a game. Original Crysis and Crysis Warhead still have the online-activation SecuROM PA on Steam (I don't get that... Steam is a DRM, why do they keep SecuROM?), but both can be picked up on GOG. I love GOG.

 

SafeDisc is a bit flaky. When I tried to run the Raiden III disc version with Windows 7, sometimes the CD check failed, even with the disc in the drive. This was before the secdrv support was pulled from Win7. It would just CTD with no error message. SecuROM has a similar issue.

Edited July 17, 2021 by RadiantFlamberge

[Eyjabria]

Inspired by this topic, I tried installing Diablo II from disc. The game was originally meant for Windows 2000/98/95/NT/Macintosh, heh. 

Game installed fine and asked me to swap in the play disc but the game didn't start at all on Windows 10 even in compatibility mode. The old CD key could be used to activate a license for more modern Diablo II installer downloaded from Blizzard's Battle.net however which worked without a hitch on Windows 10. So my story of failed install attempt had a happy end after all. 

 

I assume there are less compatibility issues with more recent games meant for Windows 7.