Problem Reading Disk; How to Play Without It

[susan]

Hi All

I have recently bought the Sims 3 Generation CD-rom and have played it for a few hours. But sadly to say, I am unable to play the game the next day. Error message is disk authentication failure. I have followed this forum instructions to uninstall all Sims 3 games and have even uninstall EA download manager. However, when I re-install Sims 3 only back into my laptop, the disk authentication failure still occur.

Thus, I came to this webpage and have followed the instructions to install the Sims 3 only game. Now, I have a question - I have successfully installed the Sims 3 game as per the stated instructions by The Illuminator, when I enter through the game launcher to play, it still prompt me to insert CD. How can I overcome this problem?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated as I have tried to uninstall and reinstall a few times and still have the disk authentication failure although there is no problem in my DVD driver since it still can play DVD movies. Thanks so much in advance. (My operating system is Window XP)


[Edit:  Originally posted on topic for playing Sims 3 without the disk.  -Pam]

[Pam]

Welcome to the Forum, susan.

This topic is strictly for information.  I suggest that you start a new topic for your particular situation.

[susan]

Hi Pam,

It is necessary to start a new topic? I would like to clarify that the instructions which I followed to re-install my Sims 3 base game is as what stated in this webpage by The Illuminator. I only need some advice which file to click so that the game launcher does not prompt me to insert the CD since I have already copied all data into my laptop.

If you still want me to start a new topic, please let me know.

Thanks so much
susan

[Pam]

I think you'll get better help with a new topic.  I'll go ahead and split it for you and include a link back to these instructions for reference.

[Frey]

I just had the same problem!!!! I've been playing Generations for a week or two with no major problems (ok, some annoying bugs as usual but nothing terrible) and now I tried to start the game but the launcher won't read my disk. I remember once having the same issue with The Sims 2 and I fixed it by starting the game directly from some folder... but I don't remember exactly how. I'm going to make some research.

And I was so happy that my game had not crashed like when I installed Ambitions and Late Night lol.

EDIT: I fixed it! maybe this will work, Susan:

I actually think the problem was with my launcher not reading the disk, not the disk itself... which makes sense, since my launcher got broken with a patch some time ago. It just closed itself showing an error everytime I clicked the "play" button but didn't cause much trouble, but maybe now it got worse.

Anyway, as I said before, I remembered having fixed a similar issue by going to C: and opening some folder, so I looked in the forum and found this thread by Pam: http://www.carls-sims-3-forum.com/index.php/topic,1186.0.html. It sounded familiar to me, so I followed those instructions and now my game is happily loading.... and guess what! I think it actually got fixed forever! Some Sims 3 strange setup started itself, then failed, gave me an error message... and now the Sims logo, which was blank ond my E: folder, is showing up again. I don't have the least idea what this means or why it happened, but I'm happy it wasn't anything worse.

Maybe you should try those instructions first and see what happens. I'm not an expert here, and I may be wrong, but unless you damaged the disk yourself (like by making it wet or something) I doubt it got damaged out of the blue... so it's very possible (I think) that the problem is caused by the launcher. Good luck

[Seabody]

Adding on what Frey said, is your disk scratched?

[susan]

Thanks Frey for your advice. My disk is not scatched.

I have just managed to re-install all my games successfully yesterday using my external DVD drive with no error! I do not understand why .... but .... I face another error when I launch Generations. The error message is stated below:

Sims 3 Generations – InstallShield Wizard
Setup cannot continue because programs associated with The Sims 3 are currently running. Please stop these applications before attempts to run The Sims 3 Generations setup.

Although I can still continue with the game, I would like to resolve this as I know I will be "kick out" of the game one of these days. Well, just me luck! Anyway, I have emailed EA technical support and hopefully, they can help.

[Frey]

Yeah, that's the same creepy error I got when I fixed my game. I have no idea what it means because I never got the message again, but you could try pressing ctrl+alt+supr and checking if there are any sims-related processes running in your computer, close them, and try again.

That's all I can think of... sorry, I'm no expert, I usually fix my bugs out of luck lol.

[HiG33k]

Hi,

If it's really the disk that has become corrupted, then there's not much you can do except to contact EA and wait for a new one. However, if you think that it's not the disk that is corrupted, you could try using a CD clone application such as Power ISO or Magic ISO to make a virtual copy of your Sims 3 disc onto your hard drive. This sort of program is not free, however, I find it very useful. I have made a digital copy of all the Sims 3 expansion packs onto my hard disk to prevent damage to the physical discs. These programs will allow you to play the discs from "virtual drives", of which you can have any desired amount. I personally have about 7 virtual drives to load my discs on.

Once you have copied your disc onto your hard disk, you can then use this virtual copy just like the physical disc; you may both install from this copy and play from this copy.

My ultimate suggestion is to contact EA first and see if they will send you a new disc, if you can wait that long.

[Pam]

@susan:

Sorry if I've just missed it, but why do you want to play without the disk in the first place?  And if you've successfully re-installed the game and it's working ok with the disk, what else do you want to do?

[susan]

Thanks Frey and HIKG33k for your advice. I will wait for EA support to reply.

Hi Pam

When I first installed my games, I encountered disk authentication failure on the second day after playing the games for only 1 day. Thus, I thought if I can play the game without using the CD-roms, I would not have disk authentication failure.

However, a few days ago, I re-installed the games and the disk authentication failure did not appear anymore when I launch the Generations game launcher. I cannot explain why this error suddenly disappears. BUT I face a new error message which is as follows:

Sims 3 Generations – InstallShield Wizard
Setup cannot continue because programs associated with The Sims 3 are currently running. Please stop these applications before attempts to run The Sims 3 Generations setup.

I have emailed EA support for assistance.

Since this error is no longer related to this topic, do I need to close this topic? If yes, how do I proceed?

thanks
susan

[Pam]

Thanks, Susan.  I'll lock the topic for you.