Trying to Reinstall

[BlueSoup]

It's a long story as to why and I won't bore you with the details, but I had to reinstall from the ground up and my installation is not going smoothly, to say the least.

The first disk went fine.  The second disk had a corrupted file which I had sent to me and then it went fine.  The third disk had an error in a file which I had sent to me and then it went fine.  Now I'm on the fourth disk and there's another damn error!

So, what I am hoping is that someone can send me the file I need so I can continue reinstallation and back up each and every EP/game and then never have to do this again.

It is on Disk 4, then it's compressed.zip/TSData/Res/Sound/Techno.package.  It may be a big file, as the other ones have both been.  If you can do this, just PM me or post here and I'll give you the address to drop it into.

Thanks in advance and you can have a big cookie. 

[BlueSoup]

Thanks for sending it to me, Simsbaby.

[jsalemi]

Just an FYI -- I had similar problems with my NL disks, and found the easy solution was to just copy the CDs to the hard drive and install from there (you'll still need the first CD in the drive for the copy protection thingy). Make a directory on your hard disk (call it whatever you like), and then make subdirectories called Disk1, Disk2, etc.  Note that there cannot be a space between the word 'Disk' and the disk number.  Then copy the CDs into the appropriate directories, and launch the install from the Disk1 directory.  Hasn't failed me yet.

[BlueSoup]

I did actually do that, according to some instructions I found on EA's website.  And everything seemed to copy fine but once I went to install is when I got these problems.  So after I got the Disk2 file fixed, I thought maybe there was just a copying error on the Disk3 and tried to insert the actual disk (I renamed the folder so it wouldn't read), but it wouldn't even recognize that I had a disk in the drive.

Manually installing and correcting these corrupt CD's (which are always kept in the case, and are immaculate with no scratches, etc.) is the only way I've been able to do it so far.

Thanks for letting me know though, I imagine if I hadn't already done this it would have come in really handy. 

[Jelenedra]

I had that problem too, BlueSoup.

I don't understand why a CD that manages to install your game the first time, manages to be corrupted when you want to reinstall.

[Ambular]

I had that problem too, BlueSoup.

I don't understand why a CD that manages to install your game the first time, manages to be corrupted when you want to reinstall.

It's an evil Maxian plot, I tell you.  Self-destructing disks that force you to buy a new copy of the game or go through Hell like BlueSoup has been doing.

Is your game working yet, Blue?

[Metalkatt]

Yes, I'm curious, too.  You were having such a horrible time last night.

[BlueSoup]

I'm at home right now for lunch, I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Edit:  OMGZYAY!  It finally freakin' worked.

eDIT #2 Okay, I spoke too soon.  It's installed but it gets an error immediately upon trying to play the bloody thing.

[Jelenedra]

Yuckers.

I had that weird problem when I tried to reinstall NL. (when I pulled a stupid and uninstalled OFB) The CDs, for whatever reason would never complete the install. No scratches, no nothing. Tried to do the manual install thing, and it only copied one file!

Very frustrating. I just bought a new copy of NL.

[Metalkatt]

Blue, methinks it's time to azureus it...  That's just getting ridiculous.

[liegenschonheit]

Seriously. If you have a legit copy and obtain a backup copy, it isn't even illegal. 

[BlueSoup]

I really don't care at this point about legal and illegal.  If I can't get it running tonight (and I don't want to install any EP's yet - I am going back to basics for awhile, me thinks) then I'm so torrenting it.

I'm wondering if I have another damn problem with the CD drive.  I'll have to check that out later, because if it is that, it's also a giant pain in the ass to fix. 

[Jelenedra]

I dunno, Blue. My original NL CD got corrupt-for-no-reason files when I tried to reinstall. It might be something about NL CDs.

[blubug]

I had multiple errors when I managed to botch up my windows installation. Something was corrupt with windows so I kept getting random errors when installing thesims2 and EP's. When I finally managed to install those (skipped some files) the game would crash to the desktop (randomly) with no error log. And I had the same problems back in TS1 days from a cd-rom that was begging for retirement. In both cases, my cd's were fine too.
And I managed to install the sims2 with no problems at all after I formatted and reinstalled windows- the extreme measure.
Sorry about your trouble, Bluesoup.

[BlueSoup]

The only thing is, these are not the NL CD's - these are the base game CD's.

And I just formatted my entire computer like 4 times because of the stupid disks.  I am starting to think that's what it is too, with these stupid CD drive errors, and that's what I had to do last time to fix it.

I'm just going to cry and cry and cry if that's what I have to do.

[kacidama]

Blue, I really sympathise - you know I lost my saved game files when I tried to reinstall mine on the new hard drive - and I haven't been able to install  properly since.  I got as far as loading the game (after umpteen attempts and copying from one hd to the other) but the damn thing froze as soon as I entered a neighbourhood.


My disks seem to be unusually hot after too - methinks a cd drive prob 

[liegenschonheit]

That could be the case. My kid brother was once interested in installing TS2 on his computer, so after I installed it on mine (installation went fine), I went to install it on his and got errors all over the place. I ripped the isos and used daemon tools to install the game, and it worked fine. The problem was definetly his CD drive, it had been working half-assedly for awhile, and it broke down altogether not long after.

[BlueSoup]

I've been having problems with this drive, but it's always been the software part of it malfunctioning, not the actual drive itself.  If it does burn out though, I have two more stockpiled so I can reinstall that.

[Ambular]

If I had broadband, I'd just zip up my entire base game directory and send it to you.  : /  Well, hopefully soon.  In the meantime, I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.

Just as a random thought, have you tried looking for a diagnostic utility that might be able to tell you if your CD drive is malfunctioning?  Also, have you considered cleaning the drive?

[BlueSoup]

The physical CD drive is fine, it's clean and works for other games and music CD's, etc.  I don't know what the problem is. 

[Nailati]

Sounds like just cause to sail the torrential seas.

[BlueSoup]

35.3% done

[ZiggyDoodle]

A bitch of an experience, Blue.  Sorry your frustration level is in the red zone.

By chance do you have two CD/DVD drives?  I recall when I was having problems installing NL, the only way I finally got it on the hard drive was by popping the CD in the E-drive, rather than D, where I had initially started out.

[BlueSoup]

I only have one real drive, but 4 other virtual drives.

And I just tried to install Uni, to see if that would work, and it doesn't recognize that CD at all.  What the hell is going on? 

[SaraMK]

Could it be some kind of copy protection issue? I remember people with certain CD-copying software installed were unable to install the game.

Other than that, it sounds suspiciously like a failing drive.