Lost all my base game neighborhoods

[Judecat]

They are not in my program files nor my documents file -- and I've lost the registration codes long time ago.     Is there any place I can go to redownload the nieghorhoods without a prolonged search for all my registration codes,  and without having to  reinstall all my games over again.
I've seen the clean sub neighborhoods,  but they won't do me any good unless I can get the actual neighborhoods back.

[J. M. Pescado]

If you need just original, blank neighborhoods, they are located in TSDATA/RES/USERDATA/NEIGHB~1. Simply copy the NXXX of your choice into your own DOCUME~1/EAGAME~1/THESIM~1 directory.

If you want codes, go get them from TPB. Pirate Cat won't pay for his downloads.

[SnootCB]

Usually the codes can be found in your registry.  Hit Start>Run>"regedit">Electronic Arts>EA Games>The Sims 2>ergc and you should find it.  That is, if you're running Windows.  But like Pes said, you shouldn't really need the registration code just to get your neighborhoods back.

[Judecat]

It won't let me copy the neighborhoods from the CD -- keeps giving me an error message about cyclic redundency,  and then freezing up windows explorer.   Looks like I'm just going to have to uninstall and re install all the discs -- which I was trying to avoid.

I just got my computer back after the Feds had it for two years,  and they Fubared half the stuff on it.  (Long story short --hubby is now doing 14 years in prison for what he was doing on the computer.)

[FourCats]

Delete or move you the sims 2 folder in my documents.   It should build everything new when you do that.

[witch]

I just got my computer back after the Feds had it for two years,  and they Fubared half the stuff on it.  (Long story short --hubby is now doing 14 years in prison for what he was doing on the computer.)

Ummm. Have you thought about re-formatting? 

[Zazazu]

It won't let me copy the neighborhoods from the CD -- keeps giving me an error message about cyclic redundency,  and then freezing up windows explorer.   Looks like I'm just going to have to uninstall and re install all the discs -- which I was trying to avoid.

I just got my computer back after the Feds had it for two years,  and they Fubared half the stuff on it.  (Long story short --hubby is now doing 14 years in prison for what he was doing on the computer.)

No, not from the CDs. From your C Drive. IIRC, the path is C:\EA Games\The Sims 2\TSDATA/RES/USERDATA/NEIGHB~1. That shouldn't have been messed with. I'd assume the Feds mostly cleared out My Documents, as people don't usually hide their dirty stuff in their Sims folders. I'm surprised they gave you the computer back at all.

But yeah, I'd reformat. Either do the Pirate Bay for a keygen utility, or rip them from your registry before the reformat.

[J. M. Pescado]

Wait, what? You are NOT reformatting the hell out of the computer after the GOVERNMENT has been messing with it? Who KNOWS what they did to put and put on it? Wipe that sucker fast! Don't sweat the CD codes, just reformat the entire thing now. We can give you new CDkeys when you're done.

[Judecat]

Ok,  please don't send me to retardo land,  but do I need a windows xp disc to reformat?  The computer came with XP on it,  I didn't get a disc.  And I don't really have a clue how to reformat.

Zazazuu --They gave this computer back because all the bad stuff was on his computer not this one.   And I know that neighborhoods are supposed to be in my sims folder,  but they aren't there at all.

[witch]

Oh lord!

Seriously Judecat, get thee hence to a website with good tutorials on how to reformat your machine. Print them, follow them. Find all your drivers - again by following tutorials, and burn them to a CD first. Torrent yourself an operating system, again by finding and following tutorials. This will be time consuming but not impossible. If you feel it's all too much, take it to a shop and ask them to set it back to factory default.

Then install your stuff again.

Seriously.

[J. M. Pescado]

No! Don't set it to factory default! That is STILL spyware-infested. REFORMAT CLEAN. ALWAYS. Accept no Kewian-based substitutes!

[Mootilda]

Ok,  please don't send me to retardo land,  but do I need a windows xp disc to reformat?  The computer came with XP on it,  I didn't get a disc.  And I don't really have a clue how to reformat.

Reformatting your hard drive should remove everything: Windows XP, all of your installed programs and saved data, and all of the spyware that the government installed on your machine while they had it.  That's why people are suggesting that you reformat.  Usually, you would want to make sure that you have all of your installation disks including Windows XP, all of your CD keys, and a backup of all of your saved data before reformatting.  However, people are concerned about everything that's currently on your hard drive.  If you don't have external backups from before the government got your machine, it might be best to consider everything gone (corrupted) and start over from scratch.

[J. M. Pescado]

Don't forget to wipe out the partition table entirely, too. Who knows what might be hidden in there? And reinstall the BIOS while you're at it.

[Lum]

What if she acquires a new version of XP, buys a new hard drive, gets the local Best Buy to reinstall everything on the new one, then purifies the old drive with cleansing fire?

Personally, I'd just chuck the whole thing and buy a new computer. Replacing the hard drive seems cheaper, but is it going over board?

[Callista]

Considering the computer is two or more years old... A computer is totally obsolete in five years, anyway, so it might be time to treat yourself to a new one.

[Judecat]

I'll have to go see how much it costs for a new XP disc -- because I can't replace this computer -- I'm still paying for it.  I'll be back in a couple weeks for sure to be asking for more help.

[witch]

No, got to sites that specialise in what you're trying to do. Don't buy XP, torrent it.

[Zazazu]

Pirate Cat aside, never buy again what you've already paid for. Yes, the comp came with XP. No matter how they marketed it to you, you paid for that XP. You have a license and a right to the program.

[Simsample]

And the license should be stuck to the outside of the PC case somewhere, with the key code on it. You need to borrow or otherwise obtain a copy of Windows which is the same version as yours- for example, XP Home, and then you can reformat and reinstall using your own key.

[Lum]

I second the torrent idea. And if I'm not mistaken, the serial number is usually in the back. Is the computer a Dell/Gateway/bought from a store or home-made?

[Judecat]

It's a Big Blue Dell computer customized and shipped to me.  I did add some ram and a new graphics card --but the rest of it is how it came from the factory.

So I need to find all my drivers,  and copy them to CD,  can I put them on an external hard drive?  Then I have to aquire windows XP,  and all the programs I'm running liked PSP9 and various games,  then I wipe out everything.   Another question here -- isn't the bios what tells the thing to read the download CD.  So how would I go about wiping and replacing that.
I really think I just need to "Accidently"  delete everything,  and take it to the geek squad to fix it.   I'm just afraid if I try to do it I will end up with no computer at all.

Does it make any difference if someone who knows things ran a Hijack this on it,  and took out the stuff that looked like it didn't belong to any program that is supposed to be on here.   Or that I'm running half a dozen anti malware programs (including one that flags securom).

Thanks for helping,  and sorry for jabbering -- I just got off work,  and I need sleep.

 

[J. M. Pescado]

No. You're dealing with government malware. You know it's there because you can't find it.

[Nec]

Go HERE for a good torrent program with instructions on how to use it.
Go HERE to get the uni edition, or HERE if you want to choose another uni version. There are directions on what you need and how to install and get the cd key. I used this version, and upgraded to legitimate Vista with it - no issues from M$ at all. I do not recommend installing SP3, but you can use Windows update.
Go HERE and put in your service tag number to get the correct drivers for your computer. As long as you are currently running Windows XP, there shouldn't be a problem.

After you have acquired everything and burned your drivers to one disk, and you have burned the iso properly (i.e. put it in the cd drive and restart your pc, if you get the "press any key to boot from cd" message, it is properly burned...just don't press anything and Windows will load normally), you want to make sure you have everything you want saved to disk.

NEXT: Make sure the XP cd is in the drive; restart your computer. Press any key to boot from CD when you get the message. Press F8 and agree to the license agreement. You WANT to install Windows. You WANT to verify that you want to install Windows even though you already have it. DO NOT WANT to repair. You will see a list of partitions. DELETE partitions. Yes, you really want to. Then you want to format the partition using the NTFS file system. Make sure you select the full format. Then it will install Windows after rebooting, and you can put your cd key in. Don't worry about activation going wrong because it won't. Don't worry about Windows Genuine Advantage, because this edition IS legit, it is just for students (unlimited licenses), so don't panic. Next, install your drivers for everything from the driver disk you made. Install any new Windows updates. You are then all set.