Too many problems! Ever since I first loaded the sims 2, it hasn't been working right. First, it takes literally 10 minutes to save the game. Second, it will sort of freeze constantly. I can still move the cursor but I can't click. Sometimes it gets stuck half way through the turning hour glass. If I just wait it will get going again but it is incredibly annoying. Third, the pictures of the sims I create do not show up anywhere. It is just blank! I don't know what to do!
How much RAM do you have if its less than 256 you probably need more. As for the loading family screen im having the same problem.
Actually, some people have problems unless they have at least 512mb. (Minimum requirements means absolute minimum to play the game. It will still have slowing and other problems with the minimums.) And when it says min 256mb, that means 256mb that's fully usable, not taken up by having an integrated Intel card. Another thing that can slow saving is having a hard drive which has very little usable space. If you have more than 75% of the harddrive full, that can be a problem. (And if it's not defragged, it can cause the same problem even if you have very little on the drive.)
Really!?!?!?!? Wow thanks so much! I really hope that is the problem. I will check and maybe delete somethings I don't use. Would I have to reinstall the sims 2 after deleting the unused things? Would this affect the pictures too? I have no picture for any of the sims I create...
If you are talking about thumbnails not showing up, that's often a problem with not having the right drivers for your video card. (Same with red flashing water.) ATI, Nvidia and Intel all have updated drivers which came out in the last 6 months that help with those problems. Depending on your video card manufacturer, their sites have the updated driver for their products. Of course, if you don't have an adequate video card (such as a non-supported one like the Intel 82810 or some of the other older non ATI or Nvidia cards), then it's a problem with the video card itself. Edit to add: If you delete things off your harddrive (such as downloads) there's no need to reinstall. But you should probably do a disc defrag (but don't check to "analyze" first, as the drive can be horribly fragmented for a game, but since it's not too bad for a business program, it won't say you need to defrag) once you're done deleting. If a drive is defragmented, it's harder for the program to find what it needs out of the harddrive "library." A defrag just puts things "back on the proper shelves" so to speak.
