Posting where you did was the problem. Most folks would not look in the SubSim Review section for a query for help. Sorry we missed you there. Also, even my old version would play without the disk, so I suspect you either have an old-old disk version (original??), or something was wrong with the install. Using your old disk version, an update to the SH4
v1.4 Patch found here on SubSim may have solved your problem, but then again, if the install was messed-up, maybe not. The v1.5 with the U-Boats for the most part is the best version anyway. Just do not install it in a Windows "Program Files" folder if you plan on doing any updating.