SimCity 4 Deluxe won't start on Windows 10

[reble1 50]

The game is on a Gateway laptop model NV570P-18U, OS Win 10 Home 64bit.
I got this SimCity 4 Deluxe on eBay. The game install's just fine. But the game just won't run.  I click on  "SimCity 4.exe" and the blue circle goes around 1 maybe 2 times and that's it. I tried compatibility mode, thinking it mite work on one of the earlier versions of Windows. That didn't work ether. I also tried uninstalling the game and re-installing the game. I am still stuck with a non working game, and I am out of ideas as to what to do.

PS: I  found out what the problem is. This is an older version of SimCity 4 Deluxe. The game works just fine on the Sony laptop model PCG-7142L, OS Win 7 Home 32 bit. But I don't know how to get this SimCity 4 Deluxe to run on the Gateway. That's what I get for not checking out the seller 1st. The seller turned out to be the Goodwill online store

 

[Cyclone Boom 17,016]

Hi reble1,

It sounds like you may have acquired the disc based game there. Unfortunately due to the copy protection DRM mechanism it uses, I'm afraid this is incompatible with Windows 10 completely. There is no known viable method to make this work, unless using a complex solution of signing the driver file manually. Maybe someone would know how to do that and could point you in the right direction, but it would be quite complicated and I'm not sure how to do that myself.

From here there are two possible options:

1. Redeem your game code at Origin as per what @Haljackey posted about here.
2. Purchase SC4 from GOG.com which is the best digital version. Every once in a while they run seasonal sales where the game is 75% off the listed price.

Hope this might help.

[reble1 50]

Cyclone Boom read my PS that I just posted.

[Cyclone Boom 17,016]

Reading your edit, and it sounds like your Win 7 comp does not have KB30886255 installed (as this topic explains) and that's why it can run the game. Nothing in my reply is invalidated by this though, and for possible ways forward on Win 10, it does depend on acquiring a valid digital version of the game.

For redeeming from Origin and this is a free option to use your game code. It would need chatting to their customer support and they should then add SC4 to be downloaded once having made an Origin account. If that isn't preferable, another option is Steam too, but that needs purchasing the game separately from there. The same for GOG too, but the advantage for GOG over any other digital vendor is how the game comes fully patched, and also can be run standalone as well (see this post for details).

[reble1 50]

3 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Reading your edit, and it sounds like your Win 7 comp does not have KB30886255 installed (as this topic explains) and that's why it can run the game. Nothing in my reply is invalidated by this though, and for possible ways forward on Win 10, it does depend on acquiring a valid digital version of the game.

For redeeming from Origin and this is a free option to use your game code. It would need chatting to their customer support and they should then add SC4 to be downloaded once having made an Origin account. If that isn't preferable, another option is Steam too, but that needs purchasing the game separately from there. The same for GOG too, but the advantage for GOG over any other digital vendor is how the game comes fully patched, and also can be run standalone as well (see this post for details).

Cyclone Boom. I saw the Win 10 version of SimCity 4 Deluxe on GOG for $19.99 and I saved the URL for it in a text. I can get it now. But my bank charges $28.00 fee every time I use the overdraft protection on my checking account. So I save the overdraft protection for when I really, really need it. The SimCity 4 Deluxe game is a want, not a need. So I have to wait until July 3 when I get my next SSDI direct deposit. Then I will get the game if it still on sale for $19.99. I don't know what I am going to do with the old game. Also been a Win 7 game. I know now what totally locked up the Gateway laptop. I was trying to apply a Win 10 no-cd patch to a Win 7 game. I had to go into Win 10's safe mode to undo the no-cd patch. Win 10 Home has been an interesting learning curve. I jumped from Win 7 to Win 10. Without stopping for Win 8.0 or 8.1.

OOO PS: Thanks for your help and info Cyclone Boom.

[twalsh102 1,601]

@reble1, #19.99 is the regular price on GOG for SC4 Deluxe. When it actually goes on sale, the price can go as low as $4.99.  If you miss a sale, no worries - they always come back around for SC4 (sorry can't give you an exact frequency, but every month or two).

Just FYI, if you had been successful with that no-CD patch, you might have been able to get the game to run, but you still likely would have had problems installing legitimate patches and mods. You would not have been able to get any help with problems encountered as No-CD patches are considered hacks, and hacked versions of SC4 are not supported here or over at SC4D. All No-CD patches are in fact hacks. While on the face of it, these patches are supposedly a "convenience" for game players to allow them to store and run their games directly from their PC without having to have the game CD in the tray. In practice, if not in fact, these were patches designed to get around the DRM software that required the game discs to be in the CD tray in order to run a game.

[reble1 50]

Cyclone Boom   I looked at the "Windows Update KB3086255 blocks SC4 from starting" page.  I don't have the KB3086255 installed. But I am a bit confused.  You say that I need the KB3086255 installed for the older cd version of SC4 Deluxe to run, I also have a few other Win 7 games on cd that won't run ether. But the title of that page says "KB3086255 blocks SC4 from starting" and farther down in the page it says the same thing.  Also something is wrong with my OS, the Windows update standalone installer is not working. The error message is "the update is not applicable with your computer". I have never run across that error message before.

[CorinaMarie 29,771]

I believe some confusion has snuck in here.

1. Your Windoze 10 comp will not run any of the old CD based games which use the SafeDisc DRM. Win 10 has the equivalent of KB3086255 built in so deeply it cannot be easily changed.
2. Your Windoze 7 can run those CD games because it does not have KB3086255 installed as CB said.

 

 

[rsc204 21,836]

Bear in mind too, under Windows 7, the original mentioned KB no longer applies. MS changed updates to a single monthly cumulative update, containing all updates from before you may have missed. If you’ve installed one, then the driver won’t work for you without manually reenabling it.

[reble1 50]

I got  SimCity 2k DOS version working on Win 10 Home 64bit using the DosBox emulator. And I found a modified Windows version of Streets of Sim and Sim Copter that will work on Win 10, 64 bit also.  But thanks to you all for your input.

[City_Train_Lover 3]

On 17/6/2020 at 5:08 PM, twalsh102 said:

@reble1, #19.99 is the regular price on GOG for SC4 Deluxe. When it actually goes on sale, the price can go as low as $4.99.  If you miss a sale, no worries - they always come back around for SC4 (sorry can't give you an exact frequency, but every month or two).

Just FYI, if you had been successful with that no-CD patch, you might have been able to get the game to run, but you still likely would have had problems installing legitimate patches and mods. You would not have been able to get any help with problems encountered as No-CD patches are considered hacks, and hacked versions of SC4 are not supported here or over at SC4D. All No-CD patches are in fact hacks. While on the face of it, these patches are supposedly a "convenience" for game players to allow them to store and run their games directly from their PC without having to have the game CD in the tray. In practice, if not in fact, these were patches designed to get around the DRM software that required the game discs to be in the CD tray in order to run a game.

WELL ITS USELESS WITHOUT NO CD PATCH!

Language, please.
- Moderator Terring

[rsc204 21,836]

Long and short, it has been well known since almost the official release of Windows 10 that the disc-based version of SC4 and many other games besides, simply can not be made to work. It's got nothing to do with compatibility, simply DRM screwing folks who bought legitimate copies of games. MS removed the driver that validates the on-disk DRM from Windows, under Windows 10 it is simply not practical to try and enable this driver, since you'd have to manually digitally sign it before the OS will load it. Not exactly a for beginners task, not to mention you are white-listing a publicly known security risk on your system, c'est la vie.

Windows Vista, 7 and 8 systems also received an update that removed this driver, but there are ways to work-around things by only temporarily loading the driver when running the game. Of course in theory the same can be done on Win10 and presumably 11 too. But the practical reality for the average user is that the SC4 disks are now coasters. Wait for a sale, buy a digital version from GoG for 5 ($/£/€) and you'll never have to buy another copy of SC4 ever again.

The NOCD Patches work around the DRM system, but this is a double edged sword, on one side yes it does enable legitimate purchasers of games to run them without the disk in a drive. However, this also means that it enables the use of pirated copies of games too, not to mention that the sort of sites where you'd find them give rise to all manor of potential security risks, from the websites hosting them to the actual download itself. Given the low price of SC4, if you are a little patient, you can have a legitimate, secure, fully pre-patched, DRM-free copy of SC4.

I'll note here too, one thing people often don't realise is that (to my knowledge) no such NOCD Patches exist for the fully patched 1.640.0.0 version of SC4. So at the very least if you go down this path you won't have nitelighting on custom buildings, but if you aren't careful you won't have the EP1 patch either, a NAM requirement.

[City_Train_Lover 3]

On 18/10/2022 at 4:35 PM, rsc204 said:

Whilst I understand the frustration of not being able to play the disk version of SC4 under Win10, there are a few problems with the tutorial video.

1st, clearly its creator doesn't understand how the patches work for SC4. If you follow these instructions as-is you'll end up with the same unpatched and unpatachable version of SC4 that those who buy the Origin edition have to suffer. I'll note that means no support for installations of NAM, mainly because many bugs you'll suffer actually were fixed by Maxis, if you just install the EP1 patch correctly. Correctly is an important word here, there is a very specific method required to correctly install the EP1 patch doing things this way.

2nd, it's impossible to use a NOCD Patch and run the fully patched 1.640.0.0 version of SC4, so if you must then you won't be seeing nitelights on custom BATs.

3rd, I'm not sure it's responsible to recommend people use such patches. For starters a site with obvious pornographic images and predatory ad pop-ups is in and of itself a security risk. Likewise, using a file like this from an unknown source can too, be a security risk. Sure you may well be fine, but plenty of users don't really understand what they are actually doing, case in point they need a video tutorial to do it in the first place! Those users are likely to jump in without considering the risks and potential consequences of following this guide.

Considering with a little patience and 5 ($/€/£) you can get a DRM free copy of SC4 from GoG in a sale, is it really worth the downsides?

i managed to get the game working