game keeps freezing

[LuckyKitten]

my game was working just fine.  hadnt downloaded or added any new custom content.  hadnt changed anything to it, but it just started freezing and locking up my computer when i pause while playing to set up chains of comands for my sims, or if i choose buy or build mode.  it will allow me to be paused/buy/build mode for a while, sometimes longer than others.  never long enough to build a home.  

i checked through the threads here for similar threads, found a thread that talked about a program that detects conflicting hacks that could cause such a problem.  i downloaded and ran the program, it found nothing.  

there was a blurb in a thread about the amount of cc you have that could effect aswell, i checked and i have less than 50megabytes of stuff in my downloads folder.  so i dont think thats the problem either.  

i dont know whats wrong.  anyone have any other ideas of what i should look for and check out?  

i have up to seasons, over a gig of ram, a nvidia gforce550 i think its called its on the approved list, and when i run sims i turn off all the other programs like the book says to do so the game can access more of the computer.  i dont know what else to do.  it was working just fine for ever it seemed like, and just out of the blue started this freezing.

[BeosBoxBoy]

LickyKitten, there are lots of potential reasons for this, not the leats of which is the weather, how high you have the in-game video settings, and even if you are connected to the network/Internet while playing.  If you have a home network with a shared folder or printer, this can result in problems like this.  Also of note is if you have any USB devices connected, the system does a "poll" of the USB/Firewire ports to see if things are connected periodically and this can cause issues like you describe.

You mention that you have all EPs up to Seasons, 1 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA 5500 video card, but you don't mention what operating system you are running or how much video RAM you have.  So it may be possible you have barely what is required to play the game in terms of video RAM, you might have a driver conflict, or your system might just need a good old fashoned defragging.

I know to us these things seem to come out of no where, but every time you play the game more and more data is piled up in the save files, and this can lead to a variety of issues.  So regular defragging can help to decrease the choppy performance that comes from the constant changing of file sizes.

If your hard drive has been formated with FAT 32 and you are running a version of Windows that supports NTFS, it may benefit you to convert the hard drive to NTFS, this is an irreversible process and should be thought out before making the change.  If you are dual booting WIndows ME or WIndows 98, then it should not be done, since neither of those versions of Windows will work after such a conversion.

[LuckyKitten]

its Xp, and the geforce 5500 has 256mb of ram

but, its done on fat32 instead of ntfs which i dont like.  i have the game on the default display settings.  i think what im gonna have to do is just swipe all personal info off the comp onto the external harddrive i have, (it, mouse and keyboard are the only usb connected devices), before just reinstalling xp all together.  

but first ill try a good oldfashion defragging.  thank you

[BeosBoxBoy]

1 GB of system RAM and 256 MB of video RAM, your game should be doing well and not bunging up, so if a defrag doesn't give you some improvement, it indeed may benefit from a fresh install of Windows (I do it frequently enough, but I always hesitate to recommend it)

[LuckyKitten]

well, i removed everything from my downloads but custom color enabler thingy, it ran fine.  i installed some hair, it locked up.  i removed the hair.  i added some clothes, it locked up.  i removed the clothes.  i added some skins, it locked up.  i removed the skins.  i have no global or any mods that change things like squinges or insim installed cause i figured those would lock it up as well.  

i need a new copy of xp, that will have to wait though cause i dont have the money for that right now, specially not with the holidays coming up and nieces and nephews with puppydog eyes always saying im their favorite auntie.  but ill get it eventually.  

till then i can play the game bare bones, but i hate the clothes that come with the game, thats what 85% of my downloads are.  bah.  thanks for your help anyways.

btw, i dont have internet at home if i hadnt told you already.  i check these type sites at my moms and brother inlaws houses when im over visiting my nieces mostly, sometimes i see a nephew or two at my brother inlaws.

[DecoraChroi]

well, i removed everything from my downloads but custom color enabler thingy, it ran fine.  i installed some hair, it locked up.  i removed the hair.  i added some clothes, it locked up.  i removed the clothes.  i added some skins, it locked up.  i removed the skins.  i have no global or any mods that change things like squinges or insim installed cause i figured those would lock it up as well.  

Maybe somthing you downloaded may just be the probable cause. Among the many files that you can identify as clothes, objects,etc; there's always going to be serveral files or maybe a single bad file that is affecting your game. If the game runs fine without cc, then your good. If you are moving files in and out and with no results, just try starting from scratch. Download new things, but just be careful what you put in your game.

[LuckyKitten]

the thing is, the clothes and hair, are all the same things i had before when i only had up to pets and it ran fine.  like mostly marvines alpha skirt and heels meshes clothes cause i just adore thoses meshes.  i dont understand why they wouldnt work in seasons.  i tried it with only the marvine clothes recolors and still it freezes.  so thats only two meshes and a handfull of recolors that i really like plus the cep or cce or whatever that handydandy lil color thingy is called.  i probably need to update it since i havent in a year i think.  last one i got was 3. or something.  

wow, just checked, one came out on the 6th, version 7.0b actually.  mine was way out of date.  could that have been the problem the whole time?  wont find out till i get home later.  babysitting my niece for the next couple of hours right now.