I have been recently reading many posts about the existence of a NO-CD crack, and other ways of avoiding having to have #4 CD in the drive when running FS9/FS9.1.Now I am not going to get into the philosphical debate about whether or not it is "bad" to run a cd-crack, but would rather put to rest some misconceptions that many people have about the CD4 requirement.Myth #1: CD#4 is required to be in my CD-Rom whenever I run FS9.FALSE: CD#4 is only required to be in your CD-Rom when you START FS9. Once you get past the title screen to your "default flight" or select a flight menu, you can safely remove CD-4 and place it safely away.Myth #2: Having the CD in my drive causes a huge/slight/noticable performance hit. FALSE: If you have done a COMPLETE install on your hard drive, then the only time CD-4 is accessed is during initial startup. It is not read after that. Talk about "performance hits" are just veiled justifications for having a NO-CD crack.Myth #3: The version 9.1 CD-Crack gives me all the benefits of the patch without needing CD#4.UNKNOWN: Microsoft obviously made changes to the FS9.exe to enable some of the elements in their patch. This is why they specifically tell you in the readme that you need to run the patch with the FS9.exe that gets "modified" or overwritten by the patch. Unless you can disassemble the .exe and see that the new 9.1 changes are there, you are simply taking the word of a third party. Since I can neither confirm or deny with evidence that the "9.1" CD crack is any different than the "9.0" CD crack, then am I not willing to take that chance.Bottom line is this. Why is so much time and effort wasted in trying to "find" ways around Microsoft's "obtrusive" copy protection when it takes an individual a grand total of 20 seconds to pop their CD in, fire up the game, and then put their CD away? Why would I want to download some Virtual CD program and waste hard drive space to host a virtual CD, when again, I am talking about what....20 secs?Again, those of you who use a No-CD crack, fine. Do what you want to. But please don't muddy the waters by making groundless claims that having CD-4 in your drive for the short time it takes to fire up Flight Sim, as "adversely affecting performance". Especially when it's clear that you can safely remove the CD once the program is running.As for me, I will take that precious few seconds of my life to "remove" the CD once the program has started, and be content knowing that I am using the fs9.exe that has been "blessed" and is fully supported by the publisher. I'll leave the philosophical debates regarding it's use to the rest of you. But the fact remains you DON'T need CD-4 in the drive at all times, and the presence of CD-4 in the CD-ROM does NOT affect performance of the sim.

Leave out the Myth #3 and everything else is well written and flawless logic.Being the empiricist that I am, I used a debug tool to verify that the memory offset changes made to the original fs9.exe by the 9.1 Update, were identical to the unauthorized version. In point of fact, they are...

There's also a lot of misconception about the legality of using the nocd crack. As any first year law student will tell you, in any criminal offense someone has to have been harmed. If you write and distribute a nocd crack or use it to start software for which you don't have a license, yes, you've harmed someone, and could and should suffer the consequences. If, however, you use it for expediency--I used it for a week or so until my damaged disk 4 was replaced--and have a licensed copy you haven't harmed anyone and there is no recourse. Recourse for what? There's no civil recourse either because no damages have been suffered.

Ok Bill, I stand corrected. I did not have the ability to do the research that you did on this. That is why I put "unknown". Your version of the crack may indeed have those changes, but since there is no "official" release site of the crack, it's up to each and every end user to verify that "their" 9.1 crack is valid as well. Many "sites" offer the No-Cd cracks, so it becomes a bit of a sticky wicket to try and discover which ones are real and which ones are not. And since many of these "sites" that host these "cracks" are filled with spyware and other such garbage, I need to make sure I have my slickers on, so to speak before I start browsing around looking for it.Thanks for clearing that up though, at least we know there is one file out there that is truly a 9.1 variant.

Could you please explain in what possible way I could be harming someone when using a no-cd crack?I find that notion obsurd. If I use the program and don't distribute it then I can't for the life of me fathom having had hurt anyone. Has anyone considered that CDs can get damaged over time, no matter how much care you take to prevent it, from being used every single day? If the greedy software companies such as M$ decided that it was ok to make a backup copy, say, of disk 4, to protect the original one, then I'd more than gladly use it.The law assumes everyone is a criminal.

You know what, I brought FS2004, and if I choose to download a NoCD crack so I dont have to keep using the CD to start it, I will.It IS NOT harming anyone.In the grand scheme of things is it that serious?Dan.

Greetings Will!"(...) since there is no "official" release site of the crack, it's up to each and every end user to verify that "their" 9.1 crack is valid as well. Many "sites" offer the No-Cd cracks, so it becomes a bit of a sticky wicket to try and discover which ones are real and which ones are not (...)"That's where the better and more reliable sites like AVSIM and FlightSim should come in. Which they fail to do...This reluctance (where did the last thread go?) to even discuss the issue is quite remarkable, and a disservice to the members.Be well!Jaap Verduijn.

As far as I am concerened, when I legally buy software, and don't give copies of it to anyone else, it's mine to use. I loathe the idea of having to dig out a CD just to run a program that I own, so the first thing I did was to install the file that allows FS to start without the CD in it , just like every other program that I have ever owned in any PC that I have ever used for the last 20 years. If people enjoy having to go though the hassle of using a CD to start FS, and worrying about damage to the CD that would keep them from starting their program, that's fine with me. Just don't tell me that I am doing something illegal or immoral by not participating in this ridiculous method of copyguarding the program that I paid for. As far as the 9.1 upgrade, all you have to do is reload the original exe ( I think that's the one, it's been so long ago), then do the upgrade, and then get the new No CD patch.

I believe the poster meant that you "harm" someone if you use the crack and DON'T have LICENCED COPY.quote:"If you write and distribute a nocd crack or use it to start software for which you don't have a license, yes, you've harmed someone, and could and should suffer the consequences."If you HAVE a licenced copy AND use the crack then no harm is done.Which one do you have?

Will, I think there should be an alternative to using CD4. For me personally, I leave it in my CD ROM, unless I am watching a video. Unfortunately, I am lazy and so I do not always put CD4 away and sometimes it falls on the floor etc... Software companies need to come up with a better idea than CD4 to play. I don't know what, but hey, I am not paid to know the answers, just to say what I know.

Here's that dead horse again. Gosh I hate using the alert button.

I'm afraid I'm in full support of all who the no-CD 'crack' (although a word I prefer is 'workaround').I spent about a year using the CD 4 in my drive, but about 6 months ago searched out the small file download that does away with this annoying requirement. I play several games, most of which require a CD in the tray. If I can reduce that number it makes my life easier. Simple enough proposition isn't it? I am not distributing this file, I simply downloaded it so that if I choose to play FS2004, I don't have to root out my CD 4. I paid my money, and thus have no qualms with using an alledged 'crack'.Added to which, until recently my CD drives both carried out particularly long and annoyingly loud spin-up actions whenever a new disk was loaded. This could go on for several minutes, and was yet another reason why I chose to download the 'crack', the result being that the only noise I hear when I play FS2004 now, is the throaty roar of pistons/props, and turbines. A welcome change!

"(...) Gosh I hate using the alert button (...)"Then don't. Jaap Verduijn.

>Bottom line is this. Why is so much time and effort wasted in>trying to "find" ways around Microsoft's "obtrusive" copy>protection when it takes an individual a grand total of 20>seconds to pop their CD in, fire up the game, and then put>their CD away? Why would I want to download some Virtual CD>program and waste hard drive space to host a virtual CD, when>again, I am talking about what....20 secs?Becuase "I" being an owner of a fully "legal" copy of the game for which I "paid" don't "feel" like wasting that "20" seconds every time I start the sim. The nocd exists, it works flawlessly, and it is a great convenience. If it didn't exist, I certainly wouldn't create it and distribute it, but it does and my simply using it in no way benefits the bad guys (unless they have some magic counter somewhere and everytime another download occurs anywhere on the net some guy with a Snidely Whiplash mustache claps gleefully and exclaims "hurrah, chalk up another one for nefarious evil!"), and in no way harms Microsoft.There are some very good reasons for not wanting to have to keep the cd4 around for every startup. Heres my big one - I have a son who is now 3.5 years of age. He loves to play little kiddie puzzle games and so forth on the computer. He's also figured out how to open the cd trays and he greatly enjoys sticking stuff in there or taking whatever is in there out of there and as anyone who has a young child knows, you just can't keep an eye on them 100% of the time. Using the nocds (for games that I've purchased and legally own remember) allows me to keep my game cds up on a high shelf in their original boxes where my boy can't get at them and step on them or pour juice on them or whatever other horror a child might inflict. Oh sure, I imagine that if ever something did happen and cd4 got damaged, MS would provide me another. But this way, I get to avoid that eventuality altogether...

Well Myth#3 is obviously flawed. The crackers took the new 9.1 exe and just removed the Safedisk bit from it.Also there's another option and that is to simply mirror disk 4 to the harddrive. You're not doing anything illegal, you're just exercising your right, given to you in the EULA, to make 1 (one) backup copy of the disk (how the EULA can state this when MS do their best to prevent you from making copies is beyond me).The point is "Why noy?". It's *inconvenient* to have to find Disk4 every time and "fixing" this only takes a few minutes (+ the time to write this LOL). Heck I don't even know if my disk4 is at the dorm room or if it's at my parent's home 500km away :-lol