It freezes when I try to load certain things...

[sweetcaroline17]

I just got Sims 2 Double Deluxe and every time I try and make a family and it loads to the neighborhood the game freezes along with every time I try to go to Strangetown and go into particular homes... depending on how much I played on it before I quit the game and such... My computer has Vista and I can't tell if the requirements are off or if I just only had Sims 2 it would work. I don't want any expansions or anything I just want the basics to work... I have already tried uninstalling and reinstalling and trying to change the properties to work for windows xp and 2000 and i don't know what else I could try...

My Computer Stats: (Dell Inspiron 1525)
Intel® Celeron® 550 (2.0GHz, 533Mhz, 1M L2 Cache)
Genuine Windows Vista® SP1 Home Basic Edition
Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)
CD Writer / DVD player (Combo Drive)
1GB1 Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz
80GB2 SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100
High Definition Audio 2.0
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card

help please I'm going crazy trying to figure this out

[KatAnubis]

Poor computer is being asked by the game to do something that it's not up to doing. You have Vista which is a real hog when it comes to processor and the rest of the computer. When you add a high usage program like TS2 to that, it really makes things difficult.

Your best bet to getting it to work is to use the smaller houses, make sure that you follow all the directions in the little booklet about how to turn off the other programs that your computer has going (especially virus protection so make sure your internet is not running). Avoid custom content (as that will have a big effect on it when you're loading the game.

Your Video/graphics card is not up to the specs required when your OS is Vista. It would be hard pressed to do it with XP as the OS.

[swmeek]

Celerons + integrated graphics do not make for a good gaming computer.
You'll need to find out what expansion slot is available for your computer.
Look in your literature or on Dell's website to see if it lists anything .
As new as it is you should have a pci-express x16 slot which is ideal.
The only bad thing is the celeron won't be able to handle a very powerful graphics card as throws too much data at it .
You also need to know how total wattage the power supply puts out too.
Look on the site or through your literature and see if says anything.
You'll probably need to contact Dell and see if you have use their parts or if you can use any graphics card.
Ideally you want a 350 - 400 watt power supply and something along the lines of the 7600 Nvidia card or Ati equivilant.