How can I play Crysis 2 without shutting down ProcExp and Visual Studio?

I'm a developer. When I have some spare time, I like to play the occasional game. Crysis 2 won't run if I have Visual Studio or Process Explorer running – which I do at all times. Sometimes I have a debugging session running; I can't just close VS without losing a lot of state.

What (legal) options are available to stop this madness?

Solution 1:

This site cannot give you legal advice. However, it may be legal in your jurisdiction to download a DRM-free copy of the game (e.g. via BitTorrent) since you already own the game. It may still be legal even if the EULA claims that you can’t do it (many sections in EULAs do not have force of law in many jurisdictions). You will have to research the legality of this option within your jurisdiction yourself.

Solution 2:

Upgrading to Crysis 2 v1.9 and installing the DX11 tessellation patch has enabled me to play regardless of what else I have running. I'm not sure which of these two installs did it, but I suspect it was the v1.9 upgrade.