I just started having this problem after the 1.04 patch, I've tried to use daemon tools and the same problem is still there so I dont think it's my cd-rom.
I have a war3.exe file I got from someone (who got from someone, who got from someone, etc) that, once it replaces your other war3.exe, will allow you to play with no cd (but not on battle.net, so it looks like LAN parties gallore). It works for 1.04, so if anyone wants me to post it on any sites, email me and let me know (uber_nick@juno.com). I don't want a million individual users flooding my email asking for it, just site admins, please. Also, I couldn't find this on any web sites ANYWHERE, and I know about that trojan brittney was talking about (from the russian sites). Maybe all the little piraters trying to screw blizzard out of money deserve it , but it's not my place to say. If anyone actually gets a loader, please post a reply on this thread-- it's a pain searching for my cd and renaming files every time I want to go on bnet. Thanks,
~Nick