[liphook27]

Hi can anyone help please?

i have just bought the sims 2, i loaded all 4 cd's without a problem, and the installation was completed.

when i try to click on the icon to start the game, a small box appears with no writing in, just a red cross, i have no idea why its doing this and would appreciate any suggestions

i can start up the sims body shop with no problem, its just the main application that refuses to work

im running on windows xp

my pc is an Amd 2400 , 256Ram , i have a Gforce 2 graphics card which the game readme says is acceptable, and have just downloaded the recent directx 9.0 patch.

ive tried changing the screen resolutions to see if that helped, but still no success, also disabled my antivirus as someone suggested that may be a cause, but thats not helped either.


does anyone have any suggestions please?

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not a suggestion just a question

4 cd's sims 2 only comes with 2 cd's and somtimes one if its not the special dvd edition

[ZEUS_GB]

Sims 2 comes on 4CD's or 1 DVD.

Have you tried installing the latest patch for the game?

[liphook27]

any ideas where i get the patch from ?

[liphook27]

ok forget last post, i just downloaded patch from the EA site.

it still made no difference

i even tried updating my graphics card driver but thats had no affect either.

any ideas?

[Dragon]

when I installed it I ran into a similar issue, turned out the download for the Directx was corrupted when it was installed. try going to start>control panel> add/remove programs, uninstall direct x 9.0. uninstall The sims 2

next install directx 9.0c, then reboot the computer. next reinstall The sims 2 see if that helps.

[liphook27]

thanks for the help

I have uninstalled the sims, but not sure how to uninstall direct-x as its not listed in the add/remove feature

any ideas?

[Dragon]

ok, don't remove it, click on start>run and then type dxdiag in the box.

on that first page it will tell you what version of DirectX you are running. let me know what that is. I will have the next step for you aftewards.

[liphook27]

ok the sims is unintsalled

this is the direct-x im using - DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)


awaiting your reply !

[Dragon]

ok, run a disk defrag.

click on start>all programs>Accessories>System Tools> Disk defragmenter and let it defrag even if it says that it doesn't need to.

Afterward reinstall the Sims 2 and try to start the game. another way to test if it will work would be to take out the #1 CD and then put it back in. If you system is set for cd's to start automatically this should take you to a screen that gives you the option to start the game. let us know what happens.

[liphook27]

ok ill try this later on and will post the result here this evening.

many thanks

[liphook27]

OK I TRIED YOUR SUGGESTION.

SADLY IT STILL DIDNT WORK AFTER REINSTALLING THE GAME AND DEFRAGMENTING THE DRIVE.

ANY MORE IDEAS PLEASE?

[Dragon]

The only other thing I can think of that would cause this issue would be a bad copy of Sims 2. I saw a number of instances like that after it came out. you might want to try the EA website for Sims 2. There might be something there.