Downloaded Custom Items.... Where/How do I unpack the files that I download from this site? Namely the clothing items.
Does it come in an executable-looking "package" file? If so, just doubleclick on it. If it just comes as a collection of files with indecipherable hexadecimal numbers, throw it in your C:\DOCUME~1\<YOUR USERNAME>\MYDOCU~1\EAGAME~1\THESIM~1\Downlo~1 folder. Try this also if simply nothing happens when the package is clicked upon.
Downloaded houses should come in a Sim2pack file. Shutdown your Sims program and doubleclick this file. The downloaded house should appear in your lot catalog at next boot. If it comes in a zip file, you will obviously, have to unzip said file first. Evaluate the contents after the file is unzipped. And don't ask where to unzip to, cuz I can't tell you that until you've evaluated the contents!
Browsing your folders normally you should go to the following folder: C:\Documents and Settings\<YOUR USERNAME>\My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\ If you do not have a "Downloads" folder in the Sims2 directory, you can create one yourself and it will work. As for the ZIP files: Extracting files differs between different versions of Windows and Winzip. Generally the failsafe way is to double-click the zip file and then click and drag the contents into the destination folder.
Bah, fine. Okay, firstly, what do you even use to unpack zip files? Let's start by doing whatever it is you do, and just unpacking them into a folder. Any folder. Say, one on your Desktop. Call it something like "crap". Throw everything in there. Now, whaddaya got? You will likely have one of several things: A. A Sims2pack, or other similar file, with an icon. B. White, unidentified documents with no icon. For A. Doubleclick on them. They should self-install. This tends to apply for packaged lots, clothings, and othersuch. This also applies to virii, Trojans, and other malicious applications. Let's hope this isn't one of those, because if it is, and you do this, you're screwed. For B. Okay, what did you download here? If these are clothes, reskinned objects, prepackaged Sims, etc., throw them in: C:\DOCUME~1\<YOUR USERNAME>\MYDOCU~1\EAGAME~1\THESIM~1\Downlo~1. You can also navigate to it through the my Documents folder, where you should see an "EA Games" folder. The my Documents folder is the same one as the Mydocu~1 directory listed above. If it's supposed to be a lot, it may be a cx_########.package. This is a directly ripped lot-palette file. Toss this in your LOTCAT~1 directory instead of your DOWNLO~1 directory. Then scream at the whoever you got this from for packaging things in such an awful and obtuse manner that requires horrendous file manipulation. But mostly, when in doubt, doubleclick it and pray you didn't just install some nasty program, or huck it in downlo~1 and see if it appears. If the zip file contained multiple files with obscure, hexadecimal names, those go in downlo~1.