Did I get this right, you'd like to run the full game from an external harddrive?
Or do you only want to backup your whole game and content on that drive?

I'm no expert, but I think that if you really like to run it from there, all loading times will decrease to firewire limits. I don't have any numbers, but it should significantly be slower. Plus, the new drive will probably get pretty hot, hope it came with a cooling fan.

Anyway, to get your downloads to run, you will have to permanently move out your My Documents to the external drive. Right click on said folder and choose Properties and enter a new location path, like K:\My Documents\ .
This also means that all your files will be moved to the new location and every program / game having a folder there will address the new path in future.  

I would not recommend what you are planning, a new internal drive would have been a lot easier in my opinion, but perhaps you'll prove me wrong, I don't know. Good luck, though.

If you got content in your saved sims folder, yes, copy that one as well.

To keep your sims and their homes, you need to transfer the Neighbourhoods folder, which is also located in the EA Games\The Sims 2 folder.

I promise you'll see them in future pics

Run Simp, go to the tools section and choose the "Scan folders" function (crtl+f).

It'll open a new window, where you can choose a specific folder or the whole downloads folder to choose.
On the bottom, there's a tab menu named "Scanner Settings". Activate Thumbnail and Clothing scanner and hit scan when you're done.

After a while, the results will show up under "Filename".
Find the piece of clothing you'd like to edit, switch to tab named "Operations" and scroll halfway down till you see "set categories" along with a list of available clothing categories.

Check / uncheck the categories as you wish and click the blue, underlined "set" in the categories headline. Don't worry that the preview in the main part of the window won't update with the newly assigned categories. But as long as you clicked "set", the changes are committed.

That's all you have to do.

Did you check in TaskManager if the Bodyshop process starts at all?

You're using all flavor packs at once, did I get that right?

If you don't want the bathing suit to show up as everyday, you can either copy it in Bodyshop and import the clone to suitable categories or run SimPe's clothing scanner option and change the categories in there.

The so-called second game on another user account addresses a different My Documents folder, while using the same core files of the game.

So if you modified those core files, the changes should be noticable even on a second account.
But due to a blank My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads etc. folder, you can have a cc-free, fast loading game while leaving your fully equipped one safe and sound.

I don't know about running different EPs though, sorry.

Dear Brenda, ever heard of your lookalike, Katja Ebstein?

With some clever cheating, you can adopt that kid.
You'll need either Inge's Teleporter Shrub modified for recent EPs or the Summon and the Family Tree objects of the InSimenator.

As I have no idea where to find that teleporter shrub at the moment, here's what you do with with InSim: Using the Summon tool, find the child that you're looking for in one of the "families" listed. It will teleport the kid onto your lot. Now, using the Family Tree Adjuster, use the option to add the child to the household or just use the in-game cheat for the same purpose.

I think the trickiest part will be actually finding that kid, but it doesn't hurt anyone if you summon some unwanted sims.

*jumps in to praise the 50% method*

First, put about half of your custom content back into the Downloads folder.
Start the game and see if it works.

If it does - get back out and try the other half (you will copy the safe half to a safe place). Get back to the game and check again.

If the problem reoccurs, shut down the game again, take out half of the currently installed CC and check again.

Repeat to cut down and replace untill you can locate the culprit in one folder

Was your previous card also an ATI one?
Did you update your drivers - means did you uninstall the old version, reboot and then installed an actual set?

Good idea - it worked in Bodyshop.

How can I get rid of these "skins"?
[/IMG]

As you see, they can't be trashcanned even though they appear as custom clothing. I tried to locate them before with Delphy's Download Organizer and found a good deal of blank templates ... for other meshes.

I ran out of ideas.

This guy whom I downloaded from unknown resources led a pretty boring life in CAS


... until I decided to give him a chance and spice him up a little.
Mr. John Smith is now a wealthy and smart business man in Riverblossom Hills.

(click for a bigger view)