Okay, I'm missing something then...grrr...since I'm working with a fresh install, I only had to follow the 4th step:

4. To not get it again, you need to start loading from a no-CD crack. I recommend the Fairlight version from http://www.gameburnworld.com/gp/gamefixes/sims2bonvoyage.shtml. There is now a version for the patched game available as well. Go to "C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Bon Voyage\TSBin" and change the name of the current Sims2EP6.exe to Sims2EP6.bak. Then place the crack in the same folder. Make a shortcut to this on your desktop, and run the game from this new shortcut.

So I got the no-cd cracks and placed in the folder...Oh I think I just figured out what I did wrong.  I was supposed to rename the Sims2EP6.exe to Sims2EP6.bak (after I saved the .exe to another file) but I made a shortcut to the .bak, I was supposed to shortcut the added crack? 

Thank you for your patience and help.  I'm sorry I'm such a bother...

LOL, you're prolly right about it not being worth the time.

[sigh] I just installed everything to the T...and the bak file shortcut would not start the game.  I found a reg system that was supposed to help, so I added it and that didn't help.  In fact after I cleaned the system, I couldn't uninstall BV so I had to restore.  After all that, I unintalled what I tried to install today (BV, H&M, Teen, Ki&B).  Then I had to of course put back my saved games.  I wonder if I'll EVER be able to play these! 

I have a good contact at EA but I don't wanna be her whining board.  Ack...and I won't whine here either!  I'll just figure something out...

Ah, gotcha, thanks :-)

As for the uninstall/reinstall, you're likely to actually notice an improvement if you do.  The game starts slowing down but it's imperceptible because you get used to waiting a little longer for lots to load, etc.  Not like to a standstill, just slower load times, etc.  I'm OCD about a clean system :-D At the time that I purchased this machine it was top of the line (purchased with TS2 in mind), but it's 5 years old almost.  My goal is to make it last for 2 more years.  Sadly, I hate Vista, and XP will no longer be supported after 2009.

I guess I wasn't clear about what I was asking, which was is there a way to stop it before installing.  If the only thing I can do is install and then put in the cure immediately, am I still at risk?  I'm extremely gunshy about this malware because it has literally taken me 6 months to erradicate it from my machine and it seriously disabled my machine.  ad

I've already downloaded the no-cd fixes for all EPs and SPs.  I know I don't need them for Seasons and before, but I have them just in case.  The Seasons fix was broken anyway as was the Teen Style Stuff.  However, wouldn't I need to add the fix in for any SP following BV because those are now the run disks?  (or at least the one that is the run disk?)  I have Kitchens and Baths so that should be the run disk.

Thanks for all your help :-)

Hi, thank you so much for this post.

Back in October, SecuROM immobilized my machine.  It would read only selected DVDs and CDs (the DVDrw was 6 months old at the time).  Just a bit of background, I didn't realize that "Insert the correct CD" was a SecuROM thing at the time.  I thought, into every simmer's life an uninstall/reinstall must fall.  I don't complain about those, I just do it now and then.  When my game starts running slowly, I've found that cleans it up.  That was the worst idea ever, because I could reinstall the base game, but none of the EPs and this meant I couldn't do much about it working with EA (grrrr)...  I ran a CureSecuROM file, and still nothing.

I tried everything I could think of and finally replaced my harddrive (it was something I was considering doing before the crap started anyway, so no big deal).  Well, it appears that SecuROM actually physically affected the DVDrw as the same CDs it would read before it read and likewise the ones it wouldn't it didn't read.  So I replaced my non-functioning DVDr that I had (yes, I had a DVDrw and a DVDr) with a new one.  My DVDr was 5 years old and needing replacing.  I do not blame SecuROM for that, but I do blame it for the DVDrw failure.  I installed up to Seasons like a dream!

Lilke a Good Simmer, I saved all my games before installing BV and I had saved them on an external drive before the hard-drive replacement, so I'm back to where I was before all this started.  I'm a mostly happy Simmer.  I am ready to install BV (and other SecuROM infested software) but before I do I have a couple questions:

1)  Will I need to add this cure (I've downloaded the newest link) to the TSBin of all the SPs that are infested or will just the TSBin of BV be enough?
2)  Similarly, should I rename all the exe's of the SPs to bak's?
3)  Can I add this to my Seasons TSBin and rename it to bak before installing BV so it's erradicated from the beginning?
4)  I'm awaiting FreeTime, will this be addressed for that as well?

Final note, I know you can't answer this but commiserate with me...what the heck was EA thinking?!?!?!

VK :-)