The OFB disaster help please

[ptah]

I've been playing sims 2 on and off for a couple of years and I've just purchased OFB.
I've got 1.31 gbs of custom content, after installing either it won't show up (i can see the meshes glowing blue where the object should be and CC for sims is replaced with default) or when it does the game menu disappears. I can still control my sims with the mouse but that's it.
Besides any pre-existing lot blocks the OFB purchase commercial lot option from computers and telephone.
I've got the enable custom content on and all the CC is compatible with nightlife and university.
Does anyone know a reason for this to be happening? I've already tried what's suggested in http://nene.modthesims2.com/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:GCCTSU3 but it doesn't work.

[Simsample]

It could be that some of the custom content is incompatible, or else unsuitable for your game. Test it in small batches to see if it works. If it does then you need to isolate the problem files by performing a binary search. Also, if your game is running out of memory this could conceivably cause some of the issues you are experiencing. Again testing with smaller batches will determine this.

[ptah]

But normally what causes problems are hacks...
I have insimenator and inteen, could that be the problem?
When I start a new family in a new lot it runs all OFB functions, it just doesn't recognise the CC, if it was due to hacks it would malfunction anyway, right?
Maybe my pc's not enough to handle the EP and CC.

Thx for your answer, I'll try the binary search (I have everything in sub-folders) when I have time for it.

[rwills]

Every time a new expansion is installed, custom content has to be re-enabled. Not just in the splash screen, but also in Game Options.

Sometimes the game glorks a bit on cc -- in that case -- go to Game Options in the control panel.

Check the setting there for 'Show Custom Content in Catalog.'

If it is set to Disable, Enable it.

Now comes the goofy part:

If it is already set to Enable, Disable it and exit the game, then re-launch, go back to Game Options and Enable it.

This will often  kickstart things back to normalcy.

As mentioned above, you may well have incompatible cc, or cc or hacks which need to be updated for OFB, or a conflicting hacks as well.

[Ninja]

Quote from here.

Does pulling your Downloads folder out (not deleting it...just pulling it out to somewhere else, like your desktop) make the problem go away? Then chances are you have a either a borked piece of cc or hack/mod conflicting. You can make your life so much easier by keeping all your hacks/mods in a subfolder within your downloads folder, so you can pull the subfolder out and run your game with ordinary cc to see if that works. Something else I do is keep any cc (not mods...they still go in their own subfolder) I've downloaded two weeks ago or less in another subfolder called "new". That way, if I suspect it's new cc...I can pull it out and test my game again.
Are all your mods confirmed by the creator of the mod to be compatible or up to date with the latest ep you have?
Hunting down bad cc: There's only one surfire way to do it. Search and destroy. Best way is to divide your downloads in half. Put the first half in and test your game, then close the game, take out the first 1/2, put in the second 1/2 and repeat. Ideally one half should work fine while the other doesn't. Take the half that breaks your game and divide it in half. Repeat the process until you've found the culprit. Yes, it's an involved process but it's certainly better than testing your cc one download at a time.
Go into My Documents/EA Games and delete the following files: cigen.package, accessory.cache and group.cache. Sometimes these files can get corrupt over time and cause various problems with your game, not limited to the game opening slowly or not at all, or bodyshop refusing to play nice. Don't worry, the game will regenerate fresh, clean copies when you restart your game.
Is your game patched?

If none of these work, there could be a problem with your computer/graphics card or whatever.

I'm no expert at computers, sorry