Since i was unable to find a thread specifically related to this game i might aswell post my experience.
(If you prefer a YT video explaining most of this i suggest the video by "77vids" on YT. This guy has several very useful video's)

My experience however starts with actually having the original disc(s). I cannot help with issue's running a cracked version since i don't have one.

- This game installed without issue on my win11 machine and from what i've read it's the same on win10. I used a USB cd/dvd/blu-ray drive without issue.

- I started by setting the game to run in XP compatibility mode. Wether or not this was needed is uncertain but if anything it will help negate issue's down the line.

- Every comment i found about running this game on a new OS states that you should upgrade to version 1.2. (Use at your own risk. )
https://community.pcgamingwiki.com/files/file … ound-2-patches/

- Most likely you wil run a widescreen monitor and a multiple core cpu so I installed "ThirteenAG's widescreen fix"

You can see a demo of it here https://nfsmods.xyz/mod/3327
There is also a how-to in the link. I cannot recall if i actually got the files from that site or another. (Use at your own risk. )
Also you may need to run notepad in admin mode to be able to save the .ini file after you have entered your resolution / modified it to your liking.

This file also allows you to set the CPU affinity to 1 core (recommended) and MANY other things like FPS cap/skip cut scenes/support for controllers etc etc. Highly recommend you go through the list.

- After patching to version 1.2 my game suddenly started to load infinitely between races/shops.

According to other people this is caused by the lack of either the US or the EU exclusive cars in the games folder. This was indeed the issue in my case. I have the EU version so i lacked the US exclusive cars being the Corolla and Acura RSX. If you have the US version you need the Vauxhall Corsa and Peugeot 106. So i copied the 2 files into the CARS folder and lo and behold no more infinite loading.

I got the needed files from the links found in this Pcgamingwiki article https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/Need_for_Sp … :_Underground_2 bot mirrors are dead but the last link (megaNZ) is still live. Again use at your own risk.

-If like me you find yourself not being able to progress because no new races pop up on the map: This is most likely because you haven't "riced out" your car. This is how the game's mechanic is setup ... it won't let you progress unless you have modified your car with body mods. There is a workaround for this using the "Novisualrep" mod but this does not work on the original EXE. When you have a no-cd patch you can use this mod. https://nfsmods.xyz/mod/2773
(i had to rice my car into oblivion to progress because i don't have a cracked exe)

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Issue's i still encounter and i currently have not found a fix for:

-Sometimes crash to desktop when the game loads after a race or visiting a shop.
-When setting your preferred keybings these are lost when you reboot the game. I have tried multiple "fixes" but none succesfull.

I still run the game off CD using an external disc drive. If you do not want this the old EXE (by HOODLUM) that was used back in the day to circumvent this.It is still floating around on the internet. I have not used it as i'm weary of putting old "l33t h4x" on my main rig. Though i do recall using it back in the mid 2000's so i didn't have to use the cd all the time. If you want to go this route again at your own risk.

I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE LINKS/FILES THAT ARE LINKED HERE. USE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT.

I do however wish to thank the people that created the mods and files to help to community to get this game running on the latest windows (especially the people behind the ThirteenAG widescreen fix and the PCgamingwiki article)

There are MANY mods out there to alter the game graphically but i just played it as is apart from the widescreenfix. I have no experience using these mods.

If anyone has experience running this game on win11 i would gladly hear about your experiences/issue's/fixes so i can add things to this post.