was working fine, now crashes on bootup

[Beaucat001]

Something very strange has happened with my Sims 2.
    I had all of the expansion packs installed and a very large amount of stuff in my downloads folder. First I started having problems with the game locking up during play. I disabled all custom content that was ID'd as a possible conflict, and it still kept locking up.
    Then, the game started crashing occasionaly during bootup. I was able to get around that by re-starting my PC, then starting the game again, and then the game would then boot up normally.
    Last week, I had the game up and running one evening. I closed it down and didn't try to re-open it again until the following day. This time it crashed during bootup, immediately after the first "notch" on the progress bar. I re-started the PC and tried again, but this time it would not load. Kept crashing immediately after the first section of the progress bar filled in.
    I removed everything today and checked to make sure there was no Sims 2 left on the registry. I re-loaded only the Sims 2 -- none of the expansion packs -- and tried to start the game. This time it crashed when it got to the third "notch" in the progress bar. Tried re-starting the PC and re-starting the game, and it crashed again.
    So I have no idea what's going on. Would appreciate any help anyone can offer.
    Thanks very much.

[Burstangeljo]

Try going into your documents>EAgames>sims2 folder and trash the accessory.package and group.package files.  You can delete the cigen.package file if it is there also.  If that doesn't work, try going into the thumbnails folder and delete the thumbnail packages from there.  Hope this works.

[Beaucat001]

Thanks very much for your response. I'll give it a try when I get a moment and post the results.

Thanks again.

[Beaucat001]

Can't find the accessory.package and group.package files, nor to I see the cigen.package file. Are they in folders somewhere within the Sims 2 file, or should I see them immediately when I open the Sims 2 folder? I've opened the other folders in the Sims 2 file (Camera, Collections, Config, etc.) but I don't see the files you listed.
    I do see the thumbnails folder, but wanted to follow the sequence you suggested instead of skipping the first suggestions and going to the thumbnails folder.
    Thanks again.