Troubleshooting Two major problems and a begging for help

Two major problems and a begging for help

Hello. I signed on to this forum in order to get help for my Sims2 problem.

I had no problem until I upgraded my system (now a 3.3 gHz processor plus hyperthreading with a full gig of RAM) and had to change my OS to WinXP. Now my Sims2 will last exactly sixty seconds from start to complete system crash. All the advice in the official website relating to crashes has been tried, all to no avail; the game will last only sixty seconds, then crash the computer, forcing me to reboot.

My second problem: I attempted to write to EA Games for advice, but they tried to make me register. When I attempted to register, their system said I was already registered. All attempts to get my password failed, resulting in their system trying to make me register again. So the EA Games system says I'm registered but refuses to admit I'm registered, thus I can get no help from them.

Anyone who can help with either of these problems will receive my eternal gratitude and a box of chocolates.

 

I had the same stinking problem. There's something wrong with their registration system, I think. I had to wait until I bought an EP and register using that code, and then it worked OK.

They think I only own Uni now, not the original. Not sure how I'd manage that ...

Don't know anything about OS's, sorry, but thought I'd let you know you're not the only one who's had the official site problem.

 

UH lemme get this straight ...

You bought The Sims 2?

You installed it and it worked pretty darn fine?

You upgraded Windows to XP and now The Sims crashes?

If that is the case I am not surprised.

If so please confirm and I will talk you through a repair. If not please say what the exact situation is/was/will-be ...

 

That is EXACTLY what happened.

I eagerly await your assistance ...

 

OK

Moved thread to Installation and Upgrades

The following advice assumes a certain degree of computer competence. If you have any doubts about your ability I strongly recommend seeking skilled help as messing this up will make matters worse ... a lot worse

First up. If you have neighborhoods full of sims and houses consider whether to start over (ie to scrap them all) something there may be corrupted and that might be causing the crash. If you're willing to give that a go then simply follow the first part of the advice in the link below, and then try restarting the game ... it will attempt to remake the missing game files. If that does not work then start the procedure over from the top and proceed to the end.

If you wish to try to keep the saved games files then you will have to find a way to save the folders in My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\ ... preferably on an optical data disc (got a DVD writer? cos the folders are too big to all fit on to a CD ROM).

My advice is scrap everything and start over. It is less hassle ... painful but the pain goes away ... eventually (done it myself so I know what I'm talking about )

OK Then ... take a look at http://forums.worldsims.net/showpost.php?p=96548&postcount=7 and follow the directions there to utterly remove TS2 from your system.

Before reinstalling it is worth your while to take a few minutes to work through the basics (even the ones you already did!

1) Windows Update
2) Drivers and Directx Update
3) Defrag
4) Run dxdiag to confirm the staus of Directx and Video drivers (see Drivers link above) I say this because Windows is quite capable of letting you think you're using an item without actually telling you that you aren't.

If all that fails we don't give up but you will need to publish your dxdiag report (just the main system parameters please ) before we can help further.

 

Everything was done: slow manual uninstall, new drivers, reinstall, etc.

No change - it still crashes at the 60-second mark. Thanks for trying.

Here's the information ...

1. Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs; in practice runs at 3.3 GHz)
2. 894 MB RAM
3. Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600)
4. 39.2 GB free
5. 111 GB total
6. DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
7. ATI Raedeon Xpress 200 Video Card
8. ati2dvag.dll 6.14.0010.6599 (English), 1/24/2006 22:52:48
9. Total Video Memory 128 MB
10. Sims 2 DVD Version, no expansion packs

 

I'm not a hardware geek and know little about the ATI side of the industry but my understanding is that the ATI Radeon Xpress 200 was engineered for the AMD.

The fact that you're having such trouble seems to point to some serious hardware conflicts going on inside your chips.

Josh? Kat? Any thoughts?

 

I'm not sure about that. The card is built into the motherboard, and I got the board and processor as a package when I built the computer, so I think the system would have been vetted for such things. I might be wrong, though.

 

The motherboard is an Elitegroup RS-400A with a 775 socket. The computer has not given me any other problems except for this one game, which is part of the reason I don't think it's a hardware problem.

 

If flame is right and its your power core, that is a pretty cheap upgrade (20-40 bucks I'd say).

Pardon my French, but the whole Sims series has been really *****y about video cards (REALLY). Even if it shouldnt be, 3:1 in my book says video card. But because everything checks out on your end, heres my advice

First
Try what Flame said (yeah, i know, money, but thats what it is gonna come down to for this game). Buy a power source (I'd recommend) at Best Buy. Get their "Return for any reason for a year" warranty (just in case this thing dosnt actually fix the problem). Installing a power core is pretty straight forward. Once you take the old one off (and unplug everything, KEEP TRACK), you just put the new one on the same way, and plug everything back in.

Second
If numero uno dosnt work, I'd recommend getting an old video card via Ebay. you could probably pick up a Radeon 8000 for under $20. Yeah, its got less juice, but it'll work (maybe).

All in all, as far as user-friendlyness, I give the Sims 2 series like a 2 out of 10. Its bad. But depending on how desperate you are to play it, this may work

 

LOL Me too, Josh.

894 + the 128 video makes 1022 which is still 2 shy of the gigabyte that was quoted right at the top of the thread.

Kungfu Joe is rather harsh in his comments about the game, I thought. Maxis said, right up front that game performance was going to require some serious graphics handling capability. Phrases like: the more [video] memory the better ought to make anyone who actually reads the minimum system requirements sit up, take notice and perform a double-take.