Disc 4 for FS2004?

[LTCSZ 16]

After an absense of several years, i decided to get back into Flight Simulatiion...I pulled out my trusty copy of FS2004 and begin installing...All went well until Disc 4...When I examined it, I found many scratches, dings, etc...It just will not run...I have cleaned it and tried a couple of different HD drives...No luck...Is an image of Disc 4 available anywhere? (I don't want to do anything illegal)...Can one still buy a virgin copy of FS2004 anywhere without getting robbed? Any advice is appreciated!

[Jim Young 2,356]

Disk 4 is still required when running FS9 so you will need to somehow repair it.  There are many who have copied the contents of all CD's to a USB thumb drive.  Once completed, they can use it to install FS2004.  You will still need Disk 4 in your DVD Drive for copyright protection so, if your system cannot read it, your only other choice is to purchase another copy or upgrade to FSX-SE (for around $25).  Discussions of avoiding the copyright protection are prohibited on AVSIM.

[johncott 177]

I've had good luck with using Turtle Wax for polishing cars. Put a thin coat on the CD and polish it, may have to do this a couple of times. Warning use at your own risk.  Wasn't sure about what AVSIM's policy was about copying the disc's to a USB stick, but since the moderator mentioned it, that is what I did also even though my original disc's still work.

John Cottreau

 

[Ramjett 27]

I've used good old Colgate toothpaste on mine a couple of times when it was "acting up" and it always seemed to work.  It has to be the old style non-whitening no "fresh breath" crystals kind.  Smear a healthy amount around the disk, then press "not lightly, but not hard either" with your fingertip, always smearing from the inside to the outside of the disk...never around the disk in a circle.  Once you have a good coat of toothpaste over the entire surface simply rinse it off with cold tap water...don't "rub" it off.  When done dry it off with a clean electrostatic resistant rag or...best if you can wait...let it air dry.

I've done it to Disk 4 and numerous XBox 360 disks and it always seems to work.

Randy