I can't get Makin' Magic to work. I'm installing in Windows XP Professional with Double Deluxe as my base. Any suggestions? I've tried everything!

Asked at 07:20 on Wednesday 28 July 2004 by Sarah Allen (silromen)

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What's your symptoms? What happens? Saying "it don't work" isn't helpful.

Having said that, under WinXP you need to be installing under an Administrator account, it won't work under a User account.

Answered at 11:59 on Wednesday 28 July 2004 by Neil Jones (NKTP) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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Sorry about the vagueness, I'm a new member and am still getting used to this format for posting questions.

I am installing under the Administrator account. I've tried installing with and without other expansions besides Double Deluxe and I get the same error(s) every time, and this is the only expansion I've had any trouble with. I meet all the system requirements listed on the box. I have Windows XP Professional which I have just recently installed cleanly, not an upgrade. The other expansions I have are House Party (came with Double Deluxe), Vacation, and Unleashed.

I've been working with EA Tech Support and they've run through everything to the point where I should get new CDs. I did, I exchanged them at the store and I still get the same error. It's a Component Transfer Error on the file C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\ExpansionPack7\ExpansionPack7.far. After I get this error, it asks for me to insert the Makin' Magic CD into the CD drive (no disc 1 or disc 2, just the Makin' Magic CD; the one it wants is disc 1). I do so, click OK, it stops the installation, Autoplay (Autorun?) doesn't even show up on my screen, and if I try to play the Sims from the last expansion or from Double Deluxe (when I don't try other expansions with it) I get an error that the Sims cannot be found on my computer, reinstall it.

I've tried from a CD-ROM drive, from an iomega CD-RW, even using images of my discs with Daemon Tools, and I always get this error. It wouldn't bother me soooo much, except I have to reinstall everything from scratch every time I try to install Makin' Magic. I can't even use the option to Reinstall (under More Info or Other Options, something like that on the Autorun menu), I have to uninstall the Sims and start over.

As an aside, I've also been getting an error when I click Install from the Autorun screen that comes up when you insert the first CD in the drive (only for Makin' Magic, no other expansions do this.) I get a dialogue box for downloading an application file, asking me if I'd like to Open the file or Save it, Cancel, or get More Info., except the Save option is greyed out, so I can't choose it. I click on Open, and nothing happens. Checking my system, I notice the CPU usage spikes about a second after I click Open in the dialogue box, then settles down again. No new applications are started, no new processes are started.

This didn't happen until I installed the SafeDisc patch that tech support recommended, to fix it if it was a CD drive problem, and with my CD-RW I got it to go away by turning off my firewall. With my CD-ROM, I turn off the firewall and my antivirus and it still gives me this error. Again, only with Makin' Magic. I'm starting to wonder if this expansion is more trouble than it's worth, but it looks fantastic.

Answered at 22:51 on Wednesday 28 July 2004 by Sarah Allen (silromen) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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Okay...

Quick google, tells me that a Component Transfer Error is the result of one of three things:

1) Faulty media, as in being unable to read the disk.
2) Faulty CD unit.
3) Fault with the technology used to install the game.

Since you can install other stuff, it's probably not your unit. Since you've replaced your disk and it's doing something, it's not the media.

Grab an InstallShield patch - download from here and install it. Restart, and try to reinstall again.

If that fails, there's a whole list of things to try, which you can read by clicking here. This covers, amongst other things, copying the CDs to your hard drive and running from there.

Answered at 00:14 on Thursday 29 July 2004 by Neil Jones (NKTP) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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Well, I tried the InstallShield patch and all of the suggestions on the list you linked to. Thanks for your help, but I'm still at a loss to get it to work. I heard back from EA Tech Support, and they suggest maybe my Best Buy just got a bad batch of discs. Unless anyone has any more ideas, I guess I'll just have to wait till the weekend to try another set of discs (I'm going out of town & can try exchanging it at a different store).

Answered at 21:20 on Thursday 29 July 2004 by Sarah Allen (silromen) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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Had the same problem and EA Tec Support could not help. After much messing about I found that I had to uninstall all games and use the SimsEraser.exe. Then using the CD-Writer on my computer install all games from there. After installation I used the Start Menu to Run the games and I always play with the disc in the CD-Writer. Hope this helps as I was going mad trying to sort it out myself.

Answered at 17:58 on Sunday 1 August 2004 by Linda Lauder (LynnLau) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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I think I've figured out the problem I was having - both of my CD drives (one R, one RW) are ancient & can't read the entirety of the CDs no matter what I do. I ended up installing Double Deluxe and MM on my boyfriend's computer, making a .zip file of the Maxis folder after installation, and then copying all the Makin' Magic files into their proper directories before installing it (except for the executables, help files, etc.) When all the files are already there, it doesn't matter that my CD drive can't read it off the disc, because it doesn't have any trouble with updating the executables and such (that being as near as I can explain about the Important files that are not skins or items or Sims.)

Answered at 05:24 on Tuesday 21 September 2004 by Sarah Allen (silromen) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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