Virtual drive + sims 2 = havoc. Any ideas?

[witch]

I set up a PC for my son & his gfriend. I thought it would be nice if they didn't have to keep swopping CDs for games. I installed Sims 2, then mounted an image on a Daemon 3.47 virtual drive.

This worked fne on the admin a/c. Each of the 3 other a/cs said they detected emulation software. I went back to the admin a/c, it then said that the sims 2 files were corrupt.

I went to add/remove programmes. Nothing happens when I click add/remove, the entry in the programme list merely flickers. I went to the EA file eauninstall.exe. This doesn't even flicker when double-clicked.

Any idea how to uninstall sims?

PS The Sims 2 is the ONLY game that is showing off in this way, every other game I installed is happy to behave.

[miros]

The game isn't flaky enough when installed normally?

Try logging in as Admin, then uninstall from the CD.

[Mike]

This happened to me last week. Just stick the CD in, and install right over it. Once that's done, you can uninstall.

[J. M. Pescado]

3.47 is too old to work with TS2. You need to use an upgraded version of Daemon and a hider to function now.

[RainbowTigress]

Are you just trying to run the base game only?  I think OFB was the first one where you had to use a hider.  I was able to run NL and earlier just by mounting the Alcohol clone image. 

[jrd]

I use 3.47 with a hider for Pets. The STPD driver which comes with Daemon 4 is not compatible with my virus scanner.

[witch]

Well, thank you so much for all your prompt advice.

My techie mate turned up and said, "3.47 doesn't work? Let's just see..." It was a challenge of course, because he could.

Anyway when we booted the machine, Sims 2 had vanished from program files on c drive. So even though I wasn't getting confirmation dialogue, it must have uninstalled anyway. So we installed it from CD. It again worked fine in the admin a/c but not in the user accounts, even though they had admin privileges.

I did a search on MATY and someone had commented here before that you had to be logged in as admin to run the sims virtually. So then my mate came up with the bright idea of wrapper software.

So now when users double-click the sims 2 icon, this script automatically runs the programme as admin. He had to change the pause from 100 to 500 and add the path to the sims2.exe and it worked fine.

The reason I've gone into this long-winded story is because I noticed something interesting about running the sims this way, all the users are pointing to Admin Documents for the EAGames files. That means that all users can play the same n'hoods from different profiles. I thought this might be useful info for those who have said they've created custom user accounts just so a number of people  can play the same game.

Yes, I was installing just the base game. I'm pushing it a bit anyway, Pentium 1.5Ghz, 512Mb RAM and only 64Mb video card. It's an ex work machine, whole setup, monitor etc = $120 - I added speakers and a video card which I already had.

I run Pets on a Daemon image on my PC and it seems to work fine (V4.06HE). I'm not running a hider. Although I am running a bittorrent image while I was waiting for the legit copies of Pets to arrive in the country. (Which they only did about 4 weeks ago). I'll have to see how the image works when I install my real copy. But then I'm kinda scared of messing with it too.

[nekonoai]

If you want to not use the cd, why not just get a no cd crack? I like to keep my game discs from scratching, so I always use one. game copy world has them. just go there and search.

I do not condone the downloading of the game, since I buy them, but I don't see why you should need the f'n cd to play the game. They have no cds for all the sims games thru pets. It's just a new icon for the actual game exe. Then you'll need to make new shortcuts, and use em. If you can't find them, PM me and I'll send em to you or whatever. ^_^

[jrd]

Because no cd cracks alter the code. This often causes problems in the game (such as with the uni bar), makes patching impossible, etc.. A disk image is harmless.

[witch]

I tried the no CD crack for the base game, the only available ones on gamecopyworld still disable build mode. Confirmed by testing the day before yesterday.

I own a legitimate copy of every sims game and expansion pack from sims 1 onward, bar the stuff packs which I don't use. In fact I'm usually the first to pre-order in the shops. So much so I had real trouble getting the shop assistant to find it. She tried to sell me a childs game about pets. This last release of Pets turned into a nightmare in NZ, finally arrived about 6 weeks after the first arrival date was announced. I hear EA are planning a simultaneous worldwide release of the seasons EP, thank goodness.

[nekonoai]

I never had any problems. As for patching, just rename the old exe, so you can use it later if needed. I only do it mostly cause I never have the space to keep an image on my hard drive just for a game. *shrug*

I don't know what code it would alter other than "don't look for the bloody cd everytime you load!" I don't get the cd image version, just the fixed executable.

But whatever works for you! \/