I strongly suggest against no cd cracks,
you might end up like Tommy2000GT. Modifying the executable also may violate the EULA.
A better alternative (that will not get you banned by punkbuster like software which checks to see if the executable has been modified) is to use the latest version of
Alcohol 52% (which lacks the burning ability of 120%) to make an image of your game and mount it using the virtual drive, it is critical that you keep Alcohol updated or you will run into trouble. However, please read the EULA to see if you are allowed to make a backup of your software before ripping it and it will only work if you have a legal / valid license for the game (license key).