Installing and Playing the Sims 3 if Your CD Doesn't Work

[Hosfac]

I believe I read somewhere, as long as it is installed on your hard drive, you can do it that way.  Alot of people are going that way.

I can confirm that this does, in fact, work.  I tested by installing everything up to Outdoor Living Stuff by using the discs, and downloading the stuff pack digitally (since those only take about 2 minutes).  I can run the game with no disc required.  This saved a tremendous amount of time after a full uninstall/re-install.  I can now download Pets while I sleep and wake up to a fully re-installed game.

I would highly recommend doing this to anyone who has the physical discs.  Download the last one and put them all away, and you'll never again have to wonder what you did with your disc after using your DVD-ROM for something else lol.

[Frey]

Did I understand that right? downloading Pets from Origin will avoid using the CD to run the game?  I should absolutely try it if it's so, because my DVD-ROM isn't working very well and it takes me 10 to 30 minutes just to get my computer to read the disk  .

[Leto85]

Did I understand that right? downloading Pets from Origin will avoid using the CD to run the game?  I should absolutely try it if it's so, because my DVD-ROM isn't working very well and it takes me 10 to 30 minutes just to get my computer to read the disk  .

Yep, totally right what you've read. I can confirm that at least Pets and Showtime work perfectly without DVD after buying online. It's very awesome to play the game without DVD and if you get a better PC you can simply reinstall your game from your old computer and install it on the newest. I can also confirm that.

[fionapotter]

First thing to check and this may just be a wording issue, but if you are inserting a DVD (sims3 is a DVD not CD) into a CD drive then it wouldn't be able to read it.

This sounds to me like a hardware problem (assuming it is a DVD drive after all) try inserting another DVD and seeing if it will play that and also try putting your game disk into another computer with a DVD drive. That will at the very least give you an idea where the issue lies.

Kindest Regards
KJ

Hi, I have this problem. I have Windows 7, and a Dell Inspiron which is about two years old. My brand new Sims 3 disc is not recognised by my computer. It runs just fine in other computers (my mother's laptop, my brother's laptop, and my father's desktop); equally, other games, DVDs and CDs work fine in my laptop, including other EA games. When I insert the disk, it makes weird scratching noises in the drive for about one to two minutes, then quiets down and the noises stop. At no point, whether during the noises or after, does my computer recognise the presence of anything in the disc drive. Any advice?

[Pam]

Hi, I have this problem. I have Windows 7, and a Dell Inspiron which is about two years old. My brand new Sims 3 disc is not recognised by my computer. It runs just fine in other computers (my mother's laptop, my brother's laptop, and my father's desktop); equally, other games, DVDs and CDs work fine in my laptop, including other EA games. When I insert the disk, it makes weird scratching noises in the drive for about one to two minutes, then quiets down and the noises stop. At no point, whether during the noises or after, does my computer recognise the presence of anything in the disc drive. Any advice?

Welcome to our Forum.

I suggest that you make a new topic about this issue.  I think you'll get better help that way.  Be sure to make the Subject very specific for the problem.

[babygrace]

I have the same problem as LadyRam. I go to find it in my E: drive and there are no files to copy over. Any help?

[mappam]

I have the same problem as LadyRam. I go to find it in my E: drive and there are no files to copy over. Any help?

I just did the "......rename Sims 3 to Sims 3 old...." and copied the files I needed. I then downloaded all the downloads.

No matter what I try I get the No Disc in drive message. When I go to my E drive it shows nothing. If I put the Pets disk in I show files BUT I can not play with that disc in the drive = still get the message to 'insert Seasons disc into drive'.

I have tried everything. I HAVE registered all of my games with EA. I even went to Origin to try to load game thru them - same message about putting disc in drive!

Any help would be MOST appreciated!!

Note = I just finally got the disc to show on my drive. I copied the info to a new folder on C drive. I had to uninstall Seasons before it would let me re-install it (setup?). I now have a folder with all of the disc info on C drive BUT I still get the message that there is no disc!

Should I add this new folder to Sims 3?

To say I am frustrated is an understatement - what did I miss in the steps?

[shibamistress]

For some reason, my seasons disc is damaged (pieces are breaking off in the center!) and it is getting hard to read the disc.  So I need to have a way to play without the disc, which this thread explains.  BUT I'd really like to have a back up disc since clearly mine is not going to last much longer.

Can I use this method to copy the files to another dvd so I do have a Seasons disc? 

(I do use a mod to bypass the launcher on occasion, so I know how to do that, but I like using the launcher, so I'd like to be able just to make a copy of my damaged seasons disc).

[kaydega]

I have two cds to install sims.. I copied the files from the cd to the new folder But i dont know how to run it.  Please help