Let me start off by saying I believe in doing things fairly. I realize that many people have pirated versions of these video games and most of the questions about mounting image files are from those people... but I don't pirate video games unless I've owned them and cannot play them for some reason (misplaced or damaged disc, etc).
Which brings me to my current, undulating ball of frustration that is leading me to dead end after dead end. Let's start at the beginning (and if you think I'm lying for an excuse, ask yourself how much time you REALLY think a pirate would give to create a story like this just to seem like less of a jackass).
For reference: I OWN all of the Sims expansion packs except for Apartment Life and most of the stuff packs
I have a very old computer which I played video games on, especially the Sims 2. I had long decided that my laptop was to be the new home of many of the Sims from that computer so I painstakingly exported them to my external hard drive. It took days, and hours and hours of wrestling with my old computer's failing hard drive which would jam and scrape the Freetime disc viciously. It was through this that the disc became so damaged it was unrecognizable half of the time - but I had no other choice.
In order for me to export the Sims in the only way that I, then, knew how, I needed to be inside of the game to do it. So that meant wrestling with the drive even through all of the scrapes and times where it didn't recognize it, or when the disc came out with a mysterious sticky substance every time it ejected (with great difficulty) after being stuck.
I loved my Sims that much, they were all based on characters from my novels or group role plays, characters I had literally put years and years into. I've had The Sims 2 since it first came out. I was not about to let them go.
Let me do a quick run-down:
- You need to have all of the expansion packs installed that you did in order to import a Sim into a game.
- My Freetime (the latest and most important of the expansion packs, because it is the last one I own and therefore the disc I would need to play the game) disc is damaged beyond repair. ...Yet I need to install and run it (and all of my other expansion packs, including ones I've lost the CDs to, like University) in order to get my Sims.
- I cannot use SimPE on my other computer to cleanly extract my Sims; it's too late, the files are gone.
...I installed The Sims 2 basegame with a pirated version of the game only - ONLY - because I lost the second disc out of the four, but I had the other three. I was worried that maybe the first disc would be too damaged to boot it up and have it run, so I tried to mount the iso that came with the pirated version instead. Plus, at that point in time, I hadn't located the first disc which had also mysteriously vanished.
Only Daemon Tools, MagicIso and PowerIso were unable to run it - the game was still arguing about a disc.
I was still worried, so I used a no-CD crack but I quickly learned that this crack creates a terrible mass of glitches within the game. I abandoned that, scoured the house and finally found the first disc. (Still no idea where the second went. 1, 3 and 4 are fine.)
Bingo. I'm in. It's all good.
Except, I'm not sure that my Freetime disc will run. It sure as Heck didn't when it was in my old computer, and it's so damaged that I'm scared it will give me hassle even trying to recognize it let alone play it. But I'm DESPERATE to get all of my expansions back so I can restore my characters.
I downloaded those with missing CDs (just Uni) and damaged CDs (basegame, Freetime)... The rest (Nightlife, Pets, Seasons, etc) are still organized and in working order so I didn't need them. The reason I downloaded - not just because I've ALREADY paid for them - is because I do NOT have the extra cashflow to replace the damaged and missing expansion packs.
I don't. I don't have a job, I cannot afford to buy one of them let alone all of them - and I need them all to get my characters.
SIGH.
...But to make a long story shorter, how on Earth do I do this without a CD, if the no-CD crack bugs it all up and the iso mounting isn't enough? I haven't tried burning the image to a disc yet but my laptop's recently been showing signs of a disc drive malfunction too. (Wondering if this has anything to do with the extra disc drives created by Power/Magic Iso(s) and Daemon Tools...)
So... I rarely ask questions of anyone. I hate feeling stupid. I know that the likelihood of me running into someone who knows what to do with my situation is tiny.
...But... I'm all out of ideas. Help. Please...
Which brings me to my current, undulating ball of frustration that is leading me to dead end after dead end. Let's start at the beginning (and if you think I'm lying for an excuse, ask yourself how much time you REALLY think a pirate would give to create a story like this just to seem like less of a jackass).
For reference: I OWN all of the Sims expansion packs except for Apartment Life and most of the stuff packs
I have a very old computer which I played video games on, especially the Sims 2. I had long decided that my laptop was to be the new home of many of the Sims from that computer so I painstakingly exported them to my external hard drive. It took days, and hours and hours of wrestling with my old computer's failing hard drive which would jam and scrape the Freetime disc viciously. It was through this that the disc became so damaged it was unrecognizable half of the time - but I had no other choice.
In order for me to export the Sims in the only way that I, then, knew how, I needed to be inside of the game to do it. So that meant wrestling with the drive even through all of the scrapes and times where it didn't recognize it, or when the disc came out with a mysterious sticky substance every time it ejected (with great difficulty) after being stuck.
I loved my Sims that much, they were all based on characters from my novels or group role plays, characters I had literally put years and years into. I've had The Sims 2 since it first came out. I was not about to let them go.
Let me do a quick run-down:
- You need to have all of the expansion packs installed that you did in order to import a Sim into a game.
- My Freetime (the latest and most important of the expansion packs, because it is the last one I own and therefore the disc I would need to play the game) disc is damaged beyond repair. ...Yet I need to install and run it (and all of my other expansion packs, including ones I've lost the CDs to, like University) in order to get my Sims.
- I cannot use SimPE on my other computer to cleanly extract my Sims; it's too late, the files are gone.
...I installed The Sims 2 basegame with a pirated version of the game only - ONLY - because I lost the second disc out of the four, but I had the other three. I was worried that maybe the first disc would be too damaged to boot it up and have it run, so I tried to mount the iso that came with the pirated version instead. Plus, at that point in time, I hadn't located the first disc which had also mysteriously vanished.
Only Daemon Tools, MagicIso and PowerIso were unable to run it - the game was still arguing about a disc.
I was still worried, so I used a no-CD crack but I quickly learned that this crack creates a terrible mass of glitches within the game. I abandoned that, scoured the house and finally found the first disc. (Still no idea where the second went. 1, 3 and 4 are fine.)
Bingo. I'm in. It's all good.
Except, I'm not sure that my Freetime disc will run. It sure as Heck didn't when it was in my old computer, and it's so damaged that I'm scared it will give me hassle even trying to recognize it let alone play it. But I'm DESPERATE to get all of my expansions back so I can restore my characters.
I downloaded those with missing CDs (just Uni) and damaged CDs (basegame, Freetime)... The rest (Nightlife, Pets, Seasons, etc) are still organized and in working order so I didn't need them. The reason I downloaded - not just because I've ALREADY paid for them - is because I do NOT have the extra cashflow to replace the damaged and missing expansion packs.
I don't. I don't have a job, I cannot afford to buy one of them let alone all of them - and I need them all to get my characters.
SIGH.
...But to make a long story shorter, how on Earth do I do this without a CD, if the no-CD crack bugs it all up and the iso mounting isn't enough? I haven't tried burning the image to a disc yet but my laptop's recently been showing signs of a disc drive malfunction too. (Wondering if this has anything to do with the extra disc drives created by Power/Magic Iso(s) and Daemon Tools...)
So... I rarely ask questions of anyone. I hate feeling stupid. I know that the likelihood of me running into someone who knows what to do with my situation is tiny.
...But... I'm all out of ideas. Help. Please...