The Sims 2 on Windows Vista (Updated 7 Feb 2007)

[billyd1000]

Hello Bev, Gee I hate to hear you are having problems with this. The Uni disk should not have needed to ask for disk #4 from the base game at all. If you first installed all 4 disks of the base game, chose the option to "quit" at the end of base game install, left disk#4 in your disk drive, double clicked the patch for the base game, you should have seen a box open up with a horizontal metering line in it. It should have fed it's self full red numerous times, ending with a message saying "Update of The Sims 2 was Successful" If you did not get this message, your base game was not patched. We need to get this very first problem taken care of, then the rest should be a cake walk.

I just did a complete game removal\ reinstall on my Vista Machine, not really because of problems, but I had pushed testing way beyond safety! So. I decided to do this to make sure I didn't buger up any game code. The whole process took a pot of coffee! Don't give up yet. Try to reinstall the patch for the base game with disk #4 in the drive. If you do not get the properly installed message, chances are your patch is shot. You may have to re-download it. What I would suggest is finding a friend with high speed, have them download all of the patches and put them on a cd for you. Big downloads some times go bad on dial up. Let me know how it goes . -Bill

[Bev in NY]

Well Bill...
i got them all installed and the patches too...i think not sure abt. Seasons patch....but i had the samething before...so anyways here's the analysis of what my problem was i think....i read on the BBS that u need to wait for the disc drive to stop blinking after u put disc in b 4 u hit OK...it said if u don't wait it is possible for it to not read correctly...so i waited this time and it may have been the problem since everything is installed now... also i had restarted my computer b 4 i started installing all the expansion packs....I do have a thousand more questions...
1.after i install Seasons and then go to install the patch...and it won't it says uninstall seasons and reinstall....which last time i did that and it still said it...and i read on the BBS abt. people having same problem and one of maxoid people told how to fix it....but i didn't try it....afraid to mess with things....anyways then i installed H&M fashion stuff pack and then it checks for updates says it is updated then when i click ok... it starts Seasons updater and then says seasons is updated....Does that mean it did install seasons patch???
Now for the other 999 questions....u ready? j/k
So thanks for all your help an advice i really appreciate it...

[billyd1000]

Bev, That is an excellent question, and I think the answer is yes. A few reinstalls back, I believe when the celebrations SP first came out, I did a full reinstall when half asleep. I got out of order (which by the way really does not hurt anything) and installed the new SP before Pets. When I installed Pets I got a message that said "Pets will now be updated, you have a newer EP than Pets installed and should check for new updates." Well at that point of my install the only thing newer on the drive was celebrations. When I tried to run the patch manually, It said Pets was all ready up to date. So though this neither proves nor disproves your question, I still think the answer is yes! I think this may only apply to the newer EP's and SP's though, and not to the older ones. Again, a guess. -Bill

[PrincessIsabelle]

I am having no toubles running my sims 2 on my vista i read this thread before i and my mom planned on buying it

[PiperK1980]

@PrincessIsabelle: Good for you!! You're very lucky. I know I've had my share of problems.

@Bev_In_NY: If you need help with 'messing' with things, PM me with the link to that thread in the BBS, or post it here. I could go through it for you and take screenshots of what to do. I know when I messed around the first time I was afraid I was going to destroy my computer. I'd be glad to help you more.

[PrincessIsabelle]

I had no idea these toubles existed even on my desktop and i am a notebook at first i thought the sims ep wouldn't installed but they did i wonder why it happens to some and not others

[xeldapaige]

I'm not sure if this is Vista related, graphics card related, or bad download related, but from some of the issues listed here it seems to be Vista/graphics card.

I have Vista Home Premium and an ATI Radeon graphics card X1200. I downloaded some custom furniture and started up the game and it seemed to run fine when I built my living room, kitchen, and custom sim. I minimized the sims for a minute and when I pulled it back up, the custom objects were flashing blue. I restarted the game and there were some weird pointy shadows  going on, so I fiddled with the lighting and shadows options, which fixed that, and then my sim had no body. I unpaused the game and my sim's body was sort of floating around and being generally weird. I restarted the game again and it was fine until she sat down to watch TV, then the body started flashing big and distorted when I rotated the camera.

I'm so confused...

[KCeeV291]

I'm having the same exact problem with mine. I also have ATI Radeon and been trying to solve this problem as well. I even reinstalled the Sims and I'm still having the same problem.

[xeldapaige]

Okay, so I discovered that it's not just my sim in the game. I took her downtown and all the other sims had (what looked like) random pieces of their clothes and skin shooting off the screen all over the place. Other sims on the lot just looked like disembodied heads with the bodies somewhere else. I believe that this is a problem with my graphics card, but I really don't know what to do. I searched for driver updates but there aren't any.

Edit--

Okay, so I deleted ALL my 1,200+ custom files and started downloading them all over again, and I discovered that it's a problem with XM Sims custom hairstyles. For some reason it causes some major glitching, especially when there are multiple sims around. =(
Is there a way to fix this?

My graphics card is fully updated with the highest version of Directx (9.0b) it will support.

[xeldapaige]

ARG

Okay I really need to know if there's something I can do about this. I really hate the regular maxis crap and I want to know what's up with these downloads. I had an older laptop with only 512 mb of RAM and stuff and it still ran the sims 2 fine, now I can't play because my people are glitching out.
I wish someone would read this and help me! =(

I downloaded stuff from Insim and MTS2 today and look what it does:

[PrincessIsabelle]

I have that iusse to for me i just keep playing and moving my sims around intel it stops

[xeldapaige]

It doesn't stop for me. It just keeps glitching out all over the place. =( I really need to figure out how to fix this.

[PrincessIsabelle]

I wish i could be of more help but i don't know what else i can say

[kanesmom99]

Hi all,
Long time no see, my computer died and I had to get a new one.
It's cool I guess.
There's just one problem, only half my custom content shows up in my game and none of my hacks !
I am going nuts !
Have a new Gateway w/ Vista And I am still not sure if it is 32 or 64 bit ! LOL
Hey, remember I am a Granny here.
All I want is my stuff back !
Any help will be appreciated greatly.
Huggles to all,
Donna

P.S. Got 32 bit just checked !

[PrincessIsabelle]

You need 64 bit to run sims 2 but i am running on 32 bit but you may need to update your drivers