Installation



To make sure you install NFSHP2 correctly, follow the instructions below:

- Don't install NFSHP2 while your PC is dangerously overclocked. If your machine has to be overclocked, set it to an overclock you know is completely stable and in particular make sure your CPU is not at its absolute limits. Data corruption can often occur from CPU/RAM that is pushed too far and this can ruin your installation in subtle ways which may not become obvious until much later.

- Uninstall the NFSHP2 Demo if you have it installed. Do this through Control Panel>Add/Remove Programs. Then manually go into Windows Explorer and delete the demo directory and all its contents.

- Disable any antivirus programs you have running in the background, such as Norton Antivirus. These are notorious for causing install problems. If in doubt, check my WinXP Tweak Guide for details on how to disable programs that load at startup like Norton. In general, the fewer programs that are running in the background while installing (and playing) NFSHP2, the better.

- If things get so messy that you need to reinstall NFSHP2, uninstall it through Control Panel>Add/Remove programs first and then manually delete the program directory. Then use Regcleaner (download link and instructions in my WinXP Guide) to completely clean out your registry. Then reboot and reinstall as per above instructions.

Once you've installed the game, I recommend you run defrag. This may or may not take a long time to complete, but it's very necessary if you want smooth gameplay. Again, see my WinXP Guide for more details.




Official Patches and No-CD Patch

Official Patch

At the moment there are no official patches for NFSHP2. The current (and original release) version is 240. When a new patch is released, I will update this guide with the link to it, and any changes that the patch makes. In the meantime, EA Games has released a Beta Version 242 Patch which can be downloaded from here. There is a readme document that comes with the patch outlining the changes, but essentially the beta patch resolves controller issues and some multiplayer issues. Remember that a beta patch, although released by EA Games, may well cause more problems than it resolves. The first official patch is yet to be released, but keep checking back here and the Official Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 Website for more information.

It's important that if you've installed a No-CD patch, you need to delete the No-CD NFSHP2.exe file and replace it with your original NFSHP2.exe before applying an official patch (see below for more details).


No-CD Patches

When you first install NFSHP2 it will insist on keeping the game CD in the drive and will load various things (such as the intro movie) from CD every time you run the game. This is very annoying, but luckily there is a way around it that makes life easier and speeds up loading times. Remember, TweakTown in no way condones software piracy - NFSHP2 is well worth buying.

The first step is to go to a site such as GameCopyWorld or MegaGames and head to the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 section (this direct link to the NFSHP2 section may not always work, in which case go through one of the main site entrances).

Once there, I recommend you download the No-CD patch by "gimpsRus" - although you can try any of the others to see if they work. Once you've downloaded the file, follow the instructions below to get the No-CD patch to work correctly:

1. Extract the NFSHP2.exe file from the archive using either WinRar or WinAce

2. Go to the directory where you installed NFSHP2 (typically C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\NFSHP2\)

3. Rename the existing NFSHP2.exe file to something else (e.g. NFSHP2.Real_exe). Don't delete or overwrite it, you'll need to keep it for future upgrades through official patches.

4. Copy the No-CD patched NFSHP2.exe file into the same directory as the existing (but renamed) NFSHP2.exe.

5. Copy across the following directories (and all their contents and subdirectories) from your NFSHP2 CD to sit under the NFSHP2 directory on your hard drive:

\actors
\AI
\Audio
\Cars
\Movies
\Particle
\Tracks

Now remove your original CD from the drive and put it safely away. The next time you run NFSHP2 it won't check the CD drive and you'll load up a bit faster.

Some things to note are that each No-CD patch will only work with the version indicated. At the moment, the available No-CDs for NFSHP2 will only work with the original release version ("v1.0" which is the same as version 240). That is, if you apply the beta patch version 242, the initial No-CD patches will probably not work.

Also remember that as patches are released for the game, you'll need to delete the existing No-CD patched NFSHP2.exe file. Then rename the original NFSHP2.exe back to NFSHP2.exe. Download and apply the patch as usual, then check back at one of the links in the No-CD Patches section above to get the latest No-CD fixed .exe file to match your new program version and go through steps 1-4 above again. Attempting to apply a patch over the No-CD version of NFSHP2.exe may result in errors and will usually fail.








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