AH! I can't run Sim City 4!

[phosphorous_zephyr 0]

So I unistalled sim city 4 about 8 months ago to play a different game. Now I miss it and have time to play it so I have again installed Sim City 4 Deluxe edition. I have played already. Later I uploaded some plugins that I used to play with. OOps..I needed to have the Sim City 4 Update to fix the bugs and night lights. Ok no problem right....

I Install the Sim City 4 ep1 update and then the Sim City 4 Update for BAT. 

NOW the game won't run. The game did run before I installed the update from the sim city webpage. I had the update when I played 8 months ago and there was no problem. Now there is. Very confused!

The plugins are the same ones I previously used and there was never a problem. They are installed correctly as well.

Computer Info: 

Sim City 4 Deluxe

Windows XP

Processor: AMD Athalon64 (1665 i think)

Ram: 512MB

Available Virtual Memory: 1.4 GB (max 1.7 i think) Virtual Memory is set to requested specifications listed below by post.

Video Card: NVidia GEForce FX-5500

Direct X 9.0

Hope someone can help me out!!

Thanks

I thought I forgot to install GMAX was the problem, but with gmax it won't run! I have removed all files from plugins and checked for errors etc, but game still won't run.

If I put in disc1, I get the bridge spash and i click on play me, but it says  "Cannot locate the play disk, pleaes insert play disk" , I put in disc 2 and nothing happens. 

Also, I'm not sure what you mean by or how to find the "service level of XP Installation".

Again, I appreciate all of your help.

EDIT: So I have decided to start over. I uninstalled and all folders are empty. I reinstalled the game. It auto ran. I exited and added the Sim City 4 Update Ep1 and then the sc4 update for bat. I put in disc 1. The spash comes up. I click Play Game. It tells me "ERROR CANNOT LOCATE GAME DISK. PUT IN GAME DISK, CLICK OK, AND START GAME OVER"

I put in disk 2. Nothing runs. 

Now what? Did I miss a program, or is there bugs possibly in the update to prevent bugs?lol

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

OK, now turn off autorun on your cd drive and the play disk is disk 2, so have it in the drive.

Depending on the size of plugins you have, you might want ot pur your VM up to 4096MB.

Run disk cleanup to fix up your filesystem then

You should schedule a defragmentation run on your disk overnight.

Millions of people run this game, so your machine should.  If you have more problems post them below.

EDIT:  XP has two service packs.  You should be at SP2 by now.

[phosphorous_zephyr 0]

First, I really want to thank you for your trouble and your help.

I have run disk cleanup and disk defrag. Everything is fine. I have made more space on the harddrive just in case. 

I reinstalled the game. It auto loaded after installation. I immediately exited the game to see if i could get back into it. I try to run the cd drive to play the game and NOTHING happens again! lol

I have the original sim city 4 deluxe cd. It has never been copied and is not a copy. I found a similar thread but the answer did not help me bc he had some cracked version or a missing file. I wonder if I too have a missing file of sorts? 

Again, I have had this cd on this same computer 8 months ago and all was well. (This must be punishment from uninstalling it the very first time, although that was done properly!)

Thanks.