Latest posts of: sarahkratos

The Sims 2 and all related expansion packs run fine on Vista.....32 bit and 64 bit , I have used both.

The problems associated with random crashes, "more often than not" are from downloaded "add -ons".... which are probably written wrong.. or not given the correct "file extension" I have come across loads of faulty downloads from various websites... its a case of try it and see... you can download programs that test add-ons.. Im sure someone can name many such programs and will be along shortly to name a few....
Crashes and lock ups also occur from weak hardware... thus graphics card, processors, power supply units and low memory....
Vista itself to run ok needs at least 1gb.... if you only have 1gb then running games will be glitchly...
I have tried various ways.... the more the better..ram that is...

To run most games you need a pretty good system spec.

Too many people are going to their local pc retailer , buying a £299 PC or Laptop and expecting it to run anything they chuck at it.... reality is, you get what you pay for... look at any pc retailers website and you will see... office pc's... entertainment pc's and then gaming machines.... all getting more expensive... thus cheaper pc's limited capability... higher end, will play almost anything...

Most of my gaming pc's I have built have graphics cards that cost more than some "budget complete pc's"....

I say this many times to many people I meet who ask what PC to buy... You have to decide what it is you are going to be doing with it... If its gaming, you will need a powerful graphics card, plenty of memory and a fairly fast processor...
If you plan on doing pictures and such, again, pretty good graphics card, and fairly large hard drives, jpegs and the like, take up a large amount of space.

If you want a media pc... you will want Big hard drives, fairly modern graphics, mid budget..... and a tv card(sometimes built into graphics card) and a pretty good sound card ...5.1 or 7.1 etc. and decent speakers.

So.. the moral is... if you want to play EA games in particular... you will need a pretty top of the "mid range pc".... if you try on a budget pc, you will have allsorts of problems.... and simply adding another graphics card doesnt always solve the issue... as you then have "power supply problems"....

Below is a breakdown of a system spec that runs ALL EA games fine... on mid range settings... no lock ups, glitches or freezes....it gives you an idea of how on a budget you can get to play top end games without breaking the bank.

Vista Premium 32bit.
Intel core 2 CPU 4400 @ 2.00ghz
4 GB DDR 5300 memory ( 4 x 1 gb sticks )
Nvidia Geforce 8400GS 256mb ram..( will use some of the 4gb system memory, extending graphics ram to (in my case) 1gb.. games run smooth... for a mid range affordable card.
Onboard realtek 7.1 HD sound... ( plays ok, but dedicated sound card would be better and use less resources )
320GB Hitachi Sata,hard drive, silent and never misses a beat.

If you use that as a template... you know what minimum spec you should really be looking at... most Sims 2 games will play on lower spec systems, but you will run into problems mentioned above... I run it on a Celeron 2.4ghz laptop,running Xp home, it plays, but is stuttery....(graphics are onboard and cheap).....

I hope this answers all the people who claim Sims 2 will not run on Vista... it runs fine on Vista.... both 32 bit and 64 bit... I use both, so know for sure.

You do get warnings on Vista 64 about not tested etc on many EA games, but I simply install them and they to date....all play fine.