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.

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

Thanks again.

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.

If I were you, I think I'd remove the game and re-install it and start over, especially since you say you started only recently. If you remove it, you might want to also use the regedit tool to clear the old Sims stuff off your registry.

Hope you find the problem.

Am having increasing problems with game locking up, requiring me to do "hard" re-boot (i.e., turn off power) and restart my PC.

I have all expansion packs installed. My PC is a Dell XPS 720, so I'm assuming the problem is not any sort of capacity shortcoming such as RAM, processing, etc. I have many, many custom downloads.

Recently started having problems with game locking up during play. I may have downloaded something recently that is causing the problem, but if that's the case, the problem download isn't obvious.

I assume that as a last resort, I could dump all of the custom content, re-install the game, and re-install the game files as they were the last time I backed it up, which was several weeks ago. But I'd rather not do that if it can be avoided.

Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks very much.

Could someone please tell me where I can download Insiminator v2.7b? I find many links that say, "To download, go here and scroll down until you see the download link." But when I do that, I can't find the download link. I find lots and lots of documentation, but no download button. Have also tried to search the forums, but can't find any help there.

Thanks very much.

Thanks everybody for the responses.

I downloaded and installed the updated driver, and that seems to have fixed the problem. I've played the game several times, and have "loaded up" the lots that were crashing. No problems so far.

Thanks again.

Thanks for  your response.

I'm using a Dell XPS DXG061, with 600 gig hard drive and 3 gigs of RAM, Pentium D processor, with two Nividia graphic cards. Supposedly, it was Dell's top of the line gaming PC when I bought it a few months ago. The Geek Squad tech who set it up for me said he'd never seen a PC this big. So I suppose it's possible that I don't have the horsepower, but if I don't, Dell must have misled me. I was under the impression that I could do pretty much whatever I wanted with this thing.

Thanks again.

Have developed a problem with crashing. Seems to happen under two circumstances: (1) If I play a residential lot where six or eight Sims live and try to invite someone over, the game usually crashes. (2) If I play a community lot and try to bring in a group, the game often crashes at some point. Sometimes it's during play, sometimes it's when I try to make the group leave the community lot.

I'm guessing that it's some kind of problem with virtual memory. I've tried tinkering with the virtual memory setting but it doesn't seem to be doing any good.

Would appreciate any suggestions. Thanks very much.

Update: Ran Cleanpack Installer and removed or disabled most of the items that were highlighted in red. Also removed all of those that were highlighted in pink.

Still having the same problems with the Athletics Career error message before each lot loads and the Iterations error. Have not tried emptying Sims memories, from what I've read about that it's a risky operation and since I'm not a tech whiz I'm afraid of really screwing things up by doing something wrong. Can this memory dump be done with minimal risk?

Thanks again.

Thanks again to everybody for the responses.

Carinthe, I'm pretty sure I haven't enabled the boolprop you mentioned, but I tried your suggestion briefly on one lot and didn't get the iteration error. But I didn't try it long. Will let you know what happens during longer play. Thanks for your help.

Yeash, I downloaded the stuff you recommended and will give it a shot. I ran the Cleanpack Installer and saw some files highlighted in red, and a few others in pink. I assume these are troublesome files. I'm still trying to figure out how to delete them, however. Will look for a tutorial.

Thanks again.

Thanks for those responses. Veash, I tried dumping the groups.cache, cigen.package and accessory.cache, but the iterations error continued.

I'll try the SimPE method, but it'll take me a while to go through and understand the tutorial, I'm a bit slow when it comes to tech stuff.

Ancienthighway, can you suggest a quick way to take a close look at custom careers/food mods? I downloaded one or two of those some time ago, but don't really use them and wouldn't miss them if they were removed.

Thanks again.

I keep getting a couple of error messages, hope someone can advise me on how to clear them up.

I have all the expansion packs, including Seasons and Celebration.

One of the error messages says "Object Error." The readout says "An error occurred in object 'JobData - Adult - Athletics', and then it gives a number. This error with JobData-Adult-Athletics occurs every time I load a lot. It happens three times before each lot loads, and when I've hit delete for the third time, the Object Error message stops and the lot loads. Doesn't matter whether it's a residential or community lot. And as I said, it's always Adult Athletics. The numbers will be in ascending order, like, "... Adult-Athletics #411," (for example) then, same thing, "#510," then "609" or whatever.

The second recurring Object Error is "Too many iterations" and it seems to be happening more and more frequently.

Would appreciate any comments. Thanks very much.

Doing the registry thing worked. Thanks very much.

Removed everything and started over again, starting with the Sims 2 base game. I intended to try to start the game after each installation step.

When I finished installing Sims 2, I put Disc 1 back into the drive and tried to start the game. But I got a message readout saying I had to play the latest version of the game, and that I should insert the Seasons disc -- even though I hadn't yet tried to re-install Seasons. Inserted the disc anyway, tried to start the game, and it crashed again.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks very much.