Zoo Tycoon works, but...

I read the whole post here: https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t29252-zoo-tycoon-2-possible-fixes-for-installation-problems and it worked, thank you so much.

I tried everything and the only thing that worked for me was going into Files and starting it from the actual 'Startup' executable.  My question is, do I still need to use the crack now?  I know this is a dumb question most likely, but I couldn't find anything in the post about it and I have never actually started a game like this without having installed it properly first.  Sorry if this is a really 'duh' type of thing, I am just wondering if it's ok to keep playing.  

I downloaded this cause my son (he's 3) took a real interest in Cities: Skylines & Sims 3 & 4 so I thought a simulator with animals would be even more fun.  He likes to take the mouse and just kind of 'fly' around the city (he says he's climbing).  I dunno, I guess it's a reach I just thought this would be a good learning tool for learning resources and animals at the same time and (hopefully) maybe math, too.

Also, thank you for taking the time to write that whole thread.  It was incredibly helpful and I really appreciate the time & work you guys & gals put into everything.  Thanks so much for helping people like me who aren't very well versed in all of this.  

I need to add that the game randomly crashes.  I don't know if this is just the game (are there any patches/updates for this?) or if it is cause of how I have to play it, I just wanted to add this.  It happens every time I click on the glacier.  Maybe it has something to do with the expansions?