My game crashes, please help!

[Kristof]

I can't believe... my game crashes again, after 4 seconds. I start loading, skip the intro and after 4 seconds, it crashes.
I deleted all the stuff that I put in my DL folder today, and removed 50 MB other stuff. I deleted the groups.cache file.

Does anyone have an idea why my game doesn't work? argh...

Could it be because of a virus? I have the newest Avast, should I make a virus scan?
And I noticed something:
Usually I don't grab the sims DVD from the computer, I just leave it in. But today I got the DVD out of the computer, and before I wanted to start the game, I put it back. But then, it looked like that the graphic settings were lost in the game. The loading screen and the mouse were bigger than before, I think... I don't know if this could be a problem or not. Could we talk about something, that the game "forgot" the graphic settings, when I grabbed the DVD out of the computer? Is this possible?

Thanks for any help!

[Theraven]

That graphic trouble never happens for me, so it shouldn't.

Do a virus scan (in fact, do it regularly, at least once a week, and have it running in the background especially when surfing the net).

First tip: delete the accessory.cache, contentregistry and cigen.package, too. This often tends to help, as these files tend to go corrupted, too.

Next: do you have a lot of downloads? If you climb up towards 5-10 GB or more, and your computer can't handle it, then it's about time to do something about it.

Graphics trouble: Shouldn't reset itself, unless you've done some changes yourself. If the game or the graphics card needs more memory it can have a say in the graphics. Try to set them back to what you had (if you do get ingame).

Could also be some troubles with your DVD. Check for scratches and such.

[Kristof]

Thank you, Theraven!
I'll surely do a virus scan.

I deleted groups.cache and accessory.cache, but not the conterstregistry and the cigen. I didn't know they can cause problems. I'll delete them too.
Yes, I have a lot of downloads, 14,5 gigs, but I always had like this but never had problems like this before. And I have 159 GB free space.
Ok, so I checked the DVD but no scratches. If I could get into the game, I'd check the graphics settings, but I still can't get into.
Thank you for the help!

[Theraven]

Memory/RAM, then?
But if you never had any problems...
If you're running other programs in addition to Sims, then try to shut those down.

You tried to take out all your downloads? (Just put them in a folder on your desktop, and include everything from your Savedsims folder too). Could be something in there causing troubles.

[Kristof]

If I put the whole DL folder to the desktop.. will I be able to put the whole back? I mean, before I had troubles with putting downloads in, because the game slowed down if I put more than 500 MB one time. I had to start the game, then exit. Put 500 MB again. Load the game, and so on... What do you think, will I be able to put the whole back one time?

[Theraven]

I usually make a new folder, move everything out, and leave the original folder in place. Some people have had troubles with the actual folder being corrupted, and had to delete it and make a new one. But try to move everything out of it first, and then run the game.

[Kristof]

OK I'll try it now! Thank you.

[caffeinated.joy]

Theraven asked you how much RAM you had. When posting a tech help question, it's good to provide as much info about your computer as possible. Can you please tell us how much RAM you have, what video card you have, what OS your using, etc?

[Kristof]

Sorry, here are the infos:

- Windows XP
- 160 GB free space on the driver
- Video card: ASUS AH3650



I moved my downloads - the game still crashed without them. I made a virus scan, it found 4 infected files, but not on that driver, where I have TS2 installed.
Next? What should I do now?

I have the files from the Logs folder if that helps here:
http://www.box.net/shared/yc99zo3osk

THANK YOU!

[gazania]

Also, have you tried running the game completely vanilla? Not just removed the Downloads folder. Did you do these steps:

1. Renamed your current game. No need to get fancy ... Sims2aaaa would be fine, unless you have another folder with that name. BTW, backing up before you try anything is always a good idea, as I'm sure you know. I've even backed up the entire old game in My Documents to a disk. Granted, your current game isn't behaving. But just in case you do something that really borks things up, you have a Plan B. You can almost NEVER back up enough!

2. Try running the game without ANY custom ANYTHING .... no custom neighborhoods, houses, camera hacks, terrains, etc. Not all "downloads" are in your Downloads folder. It will generate a new game. Don't panic. Unless you save anything, no harm should come to you. And you DO have your whole-game backup, ready to go.

3. Go into a Sims house you don't care about, and see if the game crashes at this point. And of course, do NOT save anything! If you do, you might very well regret it.

4. Go into CAS, make a Sim, see if the game does something odd there. Once again, no saving anything. X-out of the CAS. You don't want a new Sim!

If nothing crashes, then you might have a gltichy terrain, camera hack, house, etc. in your "good" game. I've had this happen to me. In my case, it was a messed-up house that I downloaded off a site.

[Kristof]

Thank you Gazania!
How do you mean renaming the game? The Sims 2 folder to Sims2aa in the EA Games folder, or where? Sorry, that's perhaps a silly question.
Thank you, I'll try these.

Silly me, I wanted to move all the downloaded things, but I only removed the Downloads section... now I'll remove all the things. Thanks for the tip!

[gazania]

Whoa, Nellie! You need to rename the folder in My Documents. Don't move the other stuff ... the stuff in the My Computer area.

My Documents -- EA Games -- Sims 2 . That "Sims 2" folder.

But FIRST, back up your Sims 2 folder in your "good game" and move it somewhere else in your My Documents area. Name it ... anything ... as long as you know what it is. I know this sounds like nagging, but always back up before you start something like this! NEVER try this otherwise. Backing up might take a while. In the meantime, perhaps someone who is more of a "pro" can assist you, too.

[Theraven]

RAM is the memory. Usually comes in anything between 512mb and 4GB.
Memory and harddrive space isn't the same

You'll find it where you find the system information.

[Kristof]

Sorry, I'm not a too big computer pro... I can do things what I need, but nothing other 
My computer has 1,50 GB RAM.

[gazania]

Oh, dear. I don't know if theraven will concur, but you might indeed be pushing your game with the Downloads size.

I play one game (I have two different games I play on two different computers) on a 1.5 GB computer, and I was once told to watch the size of my Downloads folder on that one. This game does love to eat lots of RAM.

I believe that trying the game vanilla might answer your question as to whether your game itself is corrupted or not.. But you might also make sure you have enough space on your hard drive for a backup and your renamed folder first. Oh, and when you make a backup, rename that as well. Sims2backup is fine.

Perhaps I should let theraven walk you through the next steps.