A code wheel is a type of copy protection used on older computer games, often those published in the late 80's and early 90's. It evolved from the original "manual protection" system in which the program would require the user to enter a specific word from the manual before the game would start up. This system was popular because it allowed the actual media to be backed up and replaced freely while retaining security, but could be easily defeated by photocopying the manual.

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  • A code wheel is a type of copy protection used on older computer games, often those published in the late 80's and early 90's. It evolved from the original "manual protection" system in which the program would require the user to enter a specific word from the manual before the game would start up. This system was popular because it allowed the actual media to be backed up and replaced freely while retaining security, but could be easily defeated by photocopying the manual. Although code wheels could not be directly photocopied, the contents code wheels could be copied onto paper and the user of a pirated copy could simply apply a mathematical formula to the presented challenges to calculate the correct response. Once a suitable formula was found, code wheels actually made the process of copying easier since the amount of information they could contain was low compared to a manual of potentially unlimited size. Thus, code wheels were rapidly phased out in favour of regular manual protection and protection based around color, as public access to colour photocopying at the time was expensive and uncommon. This was itself made obsolete by a return to media protection when CD-ROMs were introduced.
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  • A code wheel is a type of copy protection used on older computer games, often those published in the late 80's and early 90's. It evolved from the original "manual protection" system in which the program would require the user to enter a specific word from the manual before the game would start up. This system was popular because it allowed the actual media to be backed up and replaced freely while retaining security, but could be easily defeated by photocopying the manual.
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  • Code wheel
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