[SOLVED] Sims 2 refuses to run on my system, some EPs won't even install anymore

[AngryOldHag]

After not playing the Sims 2 for a long time, I decided to start it up again. Unfortunately, my game seemed to decide otherwise. I got the error sound, but no message ever popped up and it simply did nothing afterward. I followed the provided tutorial on fixing the problem but it did nothing. I removed all my custom content. I removed my saved sims folder. I even removed all the userfiles as suggested and still to the same effect.

Left with no other option, I tried unstalling the game and discovered that that function also no longer worked. In order to still remove the game, I did it manually through a tutorial and then went about installing it again after defragmenting my drive.

Installing the base game went like a dream, but when trying to install University this happened: http://i34.tinypic.com/hskxtz.jpg

The same happened with Nightlife, H&M Fashion Stuff and Celebration Stuff. Not only that, but the game will not start. Not even after a fresh re-install and no alterations to the game file itself. I am well and truly stumped. Can someone help me on this one? It's not gone beyond just wanting to play the sims. It's a matter of pride!  

My system specifications:
AMD Sempron Processor LE-1250 (2.2 GHz)
2,0 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Windows XP

[amc462000]

Click My Computer, in Program Files in the EA Games folder, there should be no other folders except what you have installed sucessfully so far. (except homecrafter that is).  If there are, delete them.

[AngryOldHag]

Click My Computer, in Program Files in the EA Games folder, there should be no other folders except what you have installed sucessfully so far. (except homecrafter that is).  If there are, delete them.

Thank you for your reply. I did what you suggested but unfortunately it didn't work. I still can't start my game up. I get the initial Sims 2 logo - it flashes by too quickly to get a proper screencap - but then it does absolutely nothing. At least I can uninstall the game again so I guess that's one bit of progress so far.

But thank you for your help.

[MaryH]

I'm rather puzzled by this problem, myself. Perhaps your disks are not clean? After not playing them for some time, they might have been scratched or damaged in some way?

[AngryOldHag]

That was one of the first things I actually did, inspect the disks, clean them if they needed it. There were not cracks or anything.

I have noticed something when I tried reinstalling (again) the sims 2 just now, actually: http://i34.tinypic.com/30mpdgy.jpg While I do have Ikea, I removed it when I uninstalled all my games. I also followed the tutorial on removing the infernal DRM from my computer. I can't find any of the files on my computer so I'm beginning to suspect there are some hidden files I didn't find.

There is also now a problem with my mother's sims game. The same I experienced, actually. She tries to start her game (FreeTime) and all she gets is an error sound with nothing else happening. We have separate computers but we do have a network connecting each other in the home.

So I'm begging. Anyone who might know how to fix this, please help. My mother scares me when she can't get her daily sims dose (okay, maybe not, but she gets very cranky when things don't go her way).

[ancienthighway]

If you uninstalled by just deleting the files with Windows Explorer, you probably have some orphan registry settings.  Get ccleaner to check and clean up the registry if needed.

[AngryOldHag]

If you uninstalled by just deleting the files with Windows Explorer, you probably have some orphan registry settings.  Get ccleaner to check and clean up the registry if needed.

Thank you. I already had CCleaner but I usually use EasyClean to keep my registry in check. It did find some things, but unfortunately when I tried to re install (which worked) the base game, I tried to start it and unfortunately I had no luck. But thank you for your suggestion!

I think that I'll go try and install it on a my E instead of G drive and see if that makes any difference. This is all very weird.

ETA: Just tried it, didn't work. I think that that narrows my problem down to the C drive itself.

[MaryH]

I've gone to the extent of asking our head admin to see what she suggests about your problem. If you did a Securom removal by way of our tutorial and program, this is what you should do:

Make sure you have everything you want to keep (CC and hacks etc..) saved before you do anything.

Uninstall all packs the normal way by using the uninstall function.... then go into your C drive and go to program files then into the EA games folder... delete all Sims2 stuff from inside.
Go to My Documents and make sure you delete the Sims2 folders inside of the EA Games folder.

The go Start - run - type    regedit   and click OK.  once in there go to  Edit  -  Find  and type Sims2 or Sims 2 into the find box and click find... what ever it finds delete it and hit the F3 button on your keyboard to find the next entry and keep deleting all of the Sims2 files until they're all gone. Repeat the full search by looking for SecuROM and cmdlineext.dll  and delete anything it finds until the search is completed and nothing else shows up. Exit out of your registry.

Now click on this link http://reclaimyourgame.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=28&Itemid=52  and go to near the bottom of that page and  download the Wise Registry Cleaner 4 Free (instructions on what one is next to the link for wise registry)... install it and run it.... then run the cleaning part of CCleaner and then the registry part. Do a  windows disc cleanup and then lastly do a windows defag.

The only other thing that should help no matter what is to search for the latest driver for you Graphics card... which should be here - http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_191.07_whql.html
restart your PC once all of that is done... then try installing all your packs slowly and test in between each installed pack

(If you need the link to our program and tutorial, use the link on my sig)

If you would like to have more help, please feel free to contact us at RYG or Prism about any of the suggestions. We'll be more than happy to help you out!

[AngryOldHag]

Thank you for all the trouble you've gone through, I really appreciate it. I did everything you said (I really like that Wise Registry Cleaner, by the way) but it still didn't work. I installed the base game and it is still not starting. I get the splash screen and it tries to connect to the internet, which I denied, and absolutely nothing happens afterward.

I am well and truly stumped. Thank you for all your help. I must be quite annoying with the constant 'I tried is but it didn't work' routine. I'm sorry for that.

[ancienthighway]

It may be time to have a friendly geek take a look at the computer and try to get the game running for you.

[AngryOldHag]

I'm afraid so. Luckily we have a friendly geek (my dad) and he's wiped my mother's entire computer clean as she has the same problem but not nearly as much documents that need to be saved as I do. Her sims is running again now. What might be interesting to note is that the hard drive used solely for the Sims 2 games, as it wasn't such a big one, appeared to have some hidden files stuck on it that could only be removed by erasing the partitions on the drive all together. I don't know if it was the sims or something else, but I thought it was interesting.

[LynSky]

So did you solve the problem?

I had the exact same problem a few months ago after I reformated my laptop (before that it worked fine). After I tried many differents things I did something that worked for me: I unnistalled the base game, used CCleaner to clean up Windows registry, rebooted my PC and installed again The Sims 2 (without Maxis' patch) and then The Sims 2 Celebration Stuff (which is the only Stuff pack I own), and voilà, no more "The update process did not complete succesfully" problem.

After that I started installing the Expansion Packs (University, Nightlife, Oper for Business...) and without any problem at all. I don't know why it worked, but I really tried too many things (and spent too many hours x.X I'm a bit of a stubborn, I don't like it when I can't fix something xD -which by the way, is the reason I had to reformat my PC in the first place, haha) and that was my solution.

I hope this helps as it helped me.
--I'm sorry for my english.

[AngryOldHag]

I think I tracked down the cause of my problem and my mother's. It's actually the latest drivers version that's conflicting. It's the only thing I can come up with. Here's the story: my mother has a new windows installation. She installed the sims 2 and university. They ran perfectly apart from a few graphic glitches that should be solved by updating the drivers.

I updated the drivers and promptly Sims 2 refuses to function at all. The new drivers are the only thing that changed so it's got to be that. I already submitted a question to NVidia, so here's hoping.

More proof that the drivers caused the problem: removed the new drivers, installed the old ones from the disc that came with the card and miracle of miracles, it works! So I think this problem is now solved