Ok then, first of all, it's not all so tragic as it seems. Issue is possibly workaround-able (and shame on those that can't even check Windows logs)
Second, here are nice lists of games DRM versions and here's probably the reason most nocds ain't working (code is patched to jump cd check, but driver still run?)
Third: time for tutorials!
1.0, 3, 4.70. And above all the terrific Reloaded tools.
Intrepids may practice on these.
EDIT: behold, something open source (possibly a derivative of this earlier work)