Sorry...another BSOD post

[sweetswami77]

I know you guys are probably sick to death of these, but I'm at my wit's end and have no idea where to go from here, so I am begging for help.

I have all EP's and stuff packs, and everything was peachy for a couple of months.  The only weird thing was that I had to re-enter my CD key everytime I would load my Seasons game.  (No icon showed up on my desktop either, though my friend's Seasons game put one on hers, so I do believe it was supposed to.)  Then about a month ago, the blue screen started showing up with regular frequency.  I upgraded to a nVidia GeForce 8600 GTS graphics card (and yes, it is hooked directly to a 650 watt PSU), and updated the driver.  I also updated the chipset driver.  I tried to do the whole memtest86 thing that beosboxboy suggested (thanks for all the helpful info, BTW), but it was all Greek to me.  

Anywho, I can load my game just fine (takes about 30-45 min. with 5+ gigs of cc), and build and buy modes are no problem, but I can only be in the CAS screen for about 30 minutes before graphics start wigging out, and in the actual game no more than 5-7 minutes before it freezes, or crashes.  Yes, I did think it might be heat related, and I took the side panel off and added extra fans for a nice, refreshing cross breeze.  Heck, I even put an oscillating fan on it, but had no luck.  From what I've read, nVidia suggests fixing the problem by putting my graphics at the lowest setting, which seems asinine to me.  Why did I spend $400 upgrading to "the Cadillac of graphics cards" (according to the geeks at Best Buy) and a new PSU to get crappy graphics?

Okay, off my soap box...here are my system specs:

  ===My System Info===

=System=

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600)
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3800+, MMX, 3DNow, ~2.4 GHz
Memory: 1022MB RAM
Page File: 506MB used, 3295MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)


=Display=

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip Type: GeForce 8600 GTS
Approx. Total Memory: 256.0 MB

Main Driver: nv4_disp.dll
Version: 6.14.0011.5822 (English)


=Sound=

Name: Realtek AC97 Audio


===End Of My System Info===


So, does anyone have any ideas?  Could it be the Seasons disks themselves?  (BTW, I tried to uninstall that EP, but there was no response.  Can I do it through the Control Panel?  Mind you, I am completely computer illiterate, so detailed explanations would be SOOO appreciated!)  Or do I need to add more memory?  

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

:)SS

[Sam the T-man]

If your game keeps asking you to enter your CD key every time you boot up, there's something wrong. Maybe try re-installing? (Make sure to move your entire Sims 2 folder (My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2) to a different place so as to keep your CC safe.) Also try upgrading your Firmware driver - from what I remember the most recent that works is 71.xx (or something like that, can't remember exactly what it is).

That's all I can think of right now.

[sweetswami77]

Thanks, Sadie!  

I did as you suggested and looked for firmware updates for my computer (there were none).  I suspect that you're right; there is something wrong with my Seasons game.  Unfortunately, I've tried to uninstall it, and it's not responding.  Do you know how to uninstall it any other way than through the Program Files?

Thanks for the help!
:)SS

[sweetswami77]

Okay, so here's an update on the situation:

Seasons was showing up in Program Files, but not in the Control Panel (for Add/Remove Programs) like all the other EPs were, so I deleted the file from Program Files.  I went to the store and bought a new Seasons EP, installed it in the computer, and it installed as it should.  Seasons now shows up in the CP, there's an icon on the desktop, I'm not prompted to re-install when I put the disk in, yada, yada, yada...

But the game is still freezing 5 minutes into gameplay.  So, it's not the game disks, it's not the graphics card or drivers, it's not the PSU, or heat.  The chipset driver's been updated, I turned the screensaver off.  

I have (I think) plenty of memory, and I've optimized the settings as best I could, but it's the only thing I can think that might still be causing the problem.  Does anyone know what my next step should be?  

I appreciate everyone's help so much.  Even if it's something small, any suggestions are welcome.  I don't know what else to do. :h3lp:

Thanks so much!
:)SS

[Sam the T-man]

To clarify on the drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp-2k_archive.html

Look through the list until you come across the 70s versions and try one of those

[sweetswami77]

Thanks, Sadie!

I'll give it a shot.

:)SS

[sweetswami77]

Well, I tried to download and install the 70's versions, but I get an error that says they're not compatible with my card.  Thanks for the suggestion, though.

I had a friend of mine who works in IT take a look at my system, and he has no idea what could be wrong.  He says for all intents and purposes, my computer should have no problem running all the EPs--I've got plenty of memory, good graphics card, no errors or conflicts, etc.  I guess it's just one of those things that I'll either have to pay a professional to figure out, or just give up on Seasons.  I hate to do that, though.  If anything, I'd like to get rid of Pets, but I think that would cause a great deal of havok to my game.  Why can't there just be a simple answer?  :sad2: *sigh*

Thanks for trying anyhow!

:)SS

[Sam the T-man]

It might be worth getting a newer version in that case. When I was using Nvidia it was an older version so I could use the 71.xx driver, but if yours is newer try with the top of that list, maybe work downwards if you still get issues. You'll find a lot of this is trial and error

[BeosBoxBoy]

sweetswami77 - your install of Seasons EP went wild.  this happens to many people when installing EPs, you get a wild install that didn't complete.  For some people, the only recourse is to use the small unistaller that is on the installation media and reinstall all the game & EPs again.

Beforre you resort to that, make sure to back-up your game!!

[sweetswami77]

sweetswami77 - your install of Seasons EP went wild.  this happens to many people when installing EPs, you get a wild install that didn't complete.  For some people, the only recourse is to use the small unistaller that is on the installation media and reinstall all the game & EPs again.

Beforre you resort to that, make sure to back-up your game!!

Thanks, BBB!  I was thinking I might have to do that.

One question, though--if I do that, what sort of problems could I expect to encounter if I didn't re-install Pets (other than conflicting cc)?  Would the families who had pets or werewolf family members be unplayable?  Is it more hassle than it's worth not to reload it?

Okay, I guess that was more like three questions.

Thanks so much for your help!
:)SS

[BeosBoxBoy]

SweetSwami77 - if you choose to not re-install Pets, pretty much you end up losing all your backed-up neighbourhoods.  You could saved out all your Sims with Body Shop and SimPE, but that is tedious and if you have many sims, you might forget some.

Even exporting them on the lots will cause problems, since features of the lots will require Pets EP.

The werewolf & pets would probably crash the game in the absence of Pets EP.

Missing furniture items would probably crash the game too.

So it's not a thing you can skip if you want to keep your neighbourhoods intact.

[sweetswami77]

Yeah, that's what I figured.  Curses!

Thanks for the info!  All you guys are so helpful to us mere mortals.  I don't know what I'd do without you!  :worship:

:)SS