[TippeX]

yup, no such thing as a fixed image... just mini/maxi/full (full you'll have to make yourself.. gcw wont host them for obvious reasons)
unless hmm, its like a tages image with the 'right' sectors injected

image generally means game works with the protection (because its emulated), however you might have an upward battle against blacklisting etc introduced in later versions of the game (patches etc..)

cracked exe generally implies the protection is removed (though some peoples definition of cracked varies... hugely)... a cracked exe is only as good as the cracker... if they missed a spot check, trigger, or other such things the crack will be bad and strange things might start happening in the game (turning into a bird for example.. having no ammo.. units exploding...and of course the game crashing)...

so for each option theres an upside and a downside

hope that (and what joe said) answers your question

oh yeah, another thing worth mentioning is that if you chose to use a cracked (aka fixed) exe, then please ALWAYS virus scan it before you execute it... and dont download them from 'dodgy' sources.. that, and backup the original file.. so that as/when/if an update happens you can rename the backup to the original and the patch will then upgrade... think thats mentioned in the faq though, so if you haven't read it you would be well advised to do so.