[ScinteX]

In summary.... however here are the most common resolutions. This turned into a slight rant... so umm... sorry!

Reinstall the game!
Goto Windows Update and install all of the updates
Get the lastest drivers for yor graphics card
Get the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard
Download DirextX 9.0c
Download something like CCleaner and clean your PC
Defrag your hard disk(s)
Go here and use the utility to defrag.
Go here and read the thread and use all of the tools that you feel comfortable with. APK is always around, so any questions just post.
Be very careful using any kind of "NOCD Crack". Only try if the game still doesnt work (useful for older CDROM drives though).
Disable any uneeded Services. Go here and follow the Services guide.
Flash your BIOS to the lastest version (be careful)
To get help from EA go here.


OK so thats the kinda 'general' housekeeping done.

Now, the rest.

Dont moan if your graphics card is old. S3 and 3DFX are DEAD. They maybe in Video Heaven however no amount of praying will work!!! Something like a nVIDIA GeForce2 or better should suffice. Handy list of cards here.
If you have Integrated Graphics the chances are that they are not beefy enough to run the game. If you have a non-T&L capable video card, such as Intel Extreme Graphics or Radeon VE series, then you need at least a 2.0 GHz processor.
Have enough RAM and make sure it is fast! It doesnt matter if you have 1Gb of slow RAM... you would be better off with 512Mb of fast RAM! Read up on DDR and what it means.
DO run the checking utilities provided for the Sims 2. Get them here.

Accept the fact that you may just have to change the graphics levels to LOW or even OFF

Goto Google and type "tweak <your graphics card> guide". Tweak away.

Read up and learn about the following:
Corsair, OCZ, Crucial, DDR, Mhz, AGP, PCI-X, SATA, DirectX, DXDIAG, ID, UDMA, chipset, PSU, ATI, nVidia.

Erase the following from your brain:
PC100, S3, Windows 95, Single Speed, TNT

Uninstall ANY software that meddles with refresh rates. Programs that FORCE refresh rates make Sims 2 go bonkers.

try reinstalling DirectX 9. To do this:
> Open My Computer.
> Right click on the Sims2 icon and choose Open
> Double-click on the DirectX folder.
> Right-click on the DSETUP.dll file and choose Copy.
> Close this window.
> Open My Computer again.
> This time, open your C: drive.
> Now open the WINDOWS folder.
> Open the SYSTEM32 folder.
> Right-click on an empty space in the folder and choose Paste.
> Now try running the DirectX installation again.


If all else fails, post a question.... or upgrade! Sims 2 pushes the boundaries just that bit more, which maybe more than your PC can handle.

[Inferios]

Please help i have the Sims 2 and everytime i try and open the .exe file i get this message - The Sims 2 has encountered a problem and needs to close, We are sorry for the inconvenience.

If you were in the middle of something,the information you were working on might be lost.

For more information about this error, click here

On the click here it says -

Error Signature ------------------------
AppName: sims2.exe AppVer: 1.0.0.999 ModName: ~df394b.tmp
ModVer: 0.0.0.0 Offset 0008e86b

To view technical information about the error report, click here.

On the click here is -

A load information starting with exception information which is,

Code: 0xc0000005 Flags: 0x00000000 Record: 0x0000000000000000
Address: 0x000000006678e86b

Can anyone help here is my system information;

Processor Intel Pentium 4 2988MHz
Display Card NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Memory 512MB
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
Free Disk Space 61.73GB
Display Card Memory 128MB
Display Driver Version 5.6.6.4
DirectX Version 9.0c
Optical Drive CD/DVD
Sound Card Realtek AC97 Audio

Thanks for any help, i hope i can get this fixed before i rip my hair out!!!

[Dave521]

I have a problem I believe is of a more serious nature. As a gift we got my daughter Sim 2. It worked fine for a while (about 2 hours), then suddenly the screen flickered a lot and then the computered crashed. Now the computer graphics are very pixalated, and I cannot seem to change them. No matter what I do with the Screen Appearence, it stays stuck on a Resolution of 640 X 480 pixels and a Color Quality of 4 bits. She has a Dell Dimension 4700 P-4 at 3 GHz running XP with the service pack 2 installed. The monitor is a Dell E153FT with an Intel 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chips Family. I have tried updating the drivers and changing all monitor options and resolutions, but it keeps going back to the above pixel and 4 bit of color. Your help would be greatly appreciated. As it stands this computer is really not usuable, as you can bearly see any open window (or they are even beyond your sight and you cannot get to the information displayed). Thanks.