As the title said, I tried installing my Sims 2: Seasons, and I put the disc in the tray, and it spinned for a while, and it didn't register it at all. My E: drive reacted as if nothing was in. I still have the original box and instructions, which have the key written on them. Is there any way I can install the game without the CD, or will I have to try to get it working somehow?

This sounds like the SecuROM problem and you may need to uninstall SecuROM and try again. "SecuROM™ Removal Tool Information" https://support.securom.com/removaltool.html

Sometimes SecuROM will delete driver for CD/DVD drives and you may need to download the or another driver for your CD/DVD drive.

ADD: I should also say that SecuROM can destroy CD/DVD drives also and you may need to get another CD/DVD drive for your computer.
Not saying this is your problem but it has been know to do this.

It could also be autorun being lazy, try launching it manually by right-clicking.
And there's always this .

You didn't mention in your post if you had tried with other CD's/DVD's to make sure if it was ONLY the Sims 2 disc boinking or not.

Just in case, I would like to add that I had a lot of problems with my CD/DVD drive when I used the discs to play Sims 2, but haven't had them since I began playing the UC instead. I saved the method I used to get it working again though, when it stopped reacting to discs.

If the above suggestions don't work, pasting the following into the commando prompt and re-booting my computer, solved it for me: reg.exe add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\atapi\Controller0" /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001

(I add this as a last resort, because I don't actually know what the command is, exactly. Just that it fixed it for me).

@Ransom56 If you dont have all of the Sims 2 and if I was you I would contact EA and tell them SecuROM will not allow you to re-install your game and they will give you the UC instead.

have you tried restarting the computer? it may seem too obvious but restarting can fix many issues.

This is the only expansion pack not working, so it must be that disc only. Every other expansion pack succesfully installed.

Try going to your local video shop and asking them to clean it.