Can you use a regular cake pan instead of a springform cake pan?

If you have a non-stick regular pan, you should be fine. I make cheesecakes all the time in a regular pan and people tell me it can't be done. Make sure you er & flour the sides very well and bake the cake long enough so it starts to pull away from the sides. Release the cake from the sides of the pan with the blunt side of a er knife and make sure you have a support when you flip the cake over. (your hand doesn't constitute support, as I found out last week with a 7" cheesecake...ha ha!) And if the recipe calls for an 8" pan, use an 8" pan otherwise the cake won't bake properly. Either you'll have too little batter for a large pan or too much batter for a small pan. If you need to change the size of the pan, because you don't have the right one, always go smaller. Let us know how it turns out! Good luck!