bizarre problem

i have a mutant computer. i took two computers that each had problems and made one better computer out of them. last night i decided that i really should use a different harddrive than the one i was using because the one i was using was nearly full and the other one not only is twice the capacity but is basically empty. so i took all of the driver info and personal info including favorites files, mypics, mymusic, etc. and transfered it to my external harddrive which i think is huge.

one thing i couldnt transfer was programs. i knew i would just have to reinstall them. for me that is basically just the sims 2 and the expansion packs. well, after installing the larger harddrive as main and configuring my videocard and other things i added to the case to go with it, i restarted and began installing my the sims 2.

the base game installed fine. when i put in the first disk to install university, the second expasion, it wont run the auto.exe. it says its running but nothing is there. my videocard is set so i have one monitor, not split to mulitples like it was originally configured, or i would have thought it was appearing off screen. i dont understand why its not working.

i ran this dss program that was suggested in another thread i was having problems in. it gives system information. here is the link to the main page of info given for this second harddrive

http://www.geocities.com/satansanguis/main2ndharddrive.txt

and here is the link to the extra info

http://www.geocities.com/satansanguis/extra2ndharddrive.txt

i only had a really outdated version of ewido on that harddrive so i just downloaded the newest version to put on it.

i just dont understand what is stopping the instilation of the game. i checked the discs. they are not scratched, no finger prints or fog, nothing is wrong with them that i can see and it worked when i installed it on the other smalled harddrive.

can anyone help me figure this out? i really miss my sims. i dont have internet at home. i go to my brother inlaws or my moms to get online. if you need more info, let me know and ill try to get it for you as quick as i can. thanks guys and gals.

 

its got xp and its the harddrive that came with the motherboard.

 

i finally got them all to install by shutting down for a halfhour inbetween each expansion pack. took forever but they all are in there and running.

dont know why it wouldnt let me do it like normal and made me do it in that manner.

the link i posted before, to the extra file should tell you all the info about my comp right? like whether or not my comp meets the system requirements for the game. i think it does, from my understanding of what im looking at. but im an idiot really that just plays with computers to pass the time and picks up a tidbit of knowledge from time to time. still, am easily confused cause i dont know all the terms and not all the same terms are used all the time by everyone for the same things though they mean the same thing. anyway, here is a link to the system requirements for the sims2 game.

http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=280

 

well, it runs now, sort of, ive taken its new problem to another site that deals with the game. it now only runs when there are no mods added. which ***** cause i hate the default clothes, love adding new clothes and hair to my downloads folder. but the game freezes when there is anything in the downloads folder. so im now asking about it at sims2 sites that deal with the extra content. so far they cant figure out why its freezing. there is a program to detect conflicting mods and ive run it with results showing no conflicts. the bodyshop program runs fine, as does the simpe to edit the contents, but the game itself freezes on me everytime i try to do anything.

i can make a family. as soon as i put them on a lot and the lot opens and zooms into to them, it freezes. i restart the comp, i go in and pause the family and try building a home or adding to the premade home to have it freeze with in 1 to 5 minutes, if i get walls up, i cant get floors down. have to save between each step. restart, and try again. its really a heartache. and no one knowing how to fix it, ive tried every suggestion they give me and nothing works.

but if there are no downloads in the folder, i can play all i want without it freezing but its no fun cause it looks crappy in the default game stuff. blah. well thanks for you help. i really appreciate it.

 

Lucky Kitten,

My wife plays The Sim2 (and has every Sim game ever released) and she had many issues with the game when she first installed it. I don't remember what she did to correct the problems, but the symptoms you describe are very similar to what she experienced. I will ask her when I get home tonight and post back with her suggestions.

I know she has a ton of mods and was able to get the game to work without removing them.

 

Lucky Kitten,

Sorry for the delaying in responding, crazy week. Anyway, my wife read your posts and said the best thing to do is to get rid of all mods. She was able to get some to work by tweaking different things, but each tweak only worked for some mods and broke others. She got to the point where it was more trouble than it was worth.

She said if there was a specific mod you wanted to use, you could play around with some of the settings (video settings, no splash on startup, refresh rates, etc.) and you might be able to get it to work.

Sorry I couldn't provide a better solution. Also, just as an FYI, when my wife upgraded to Vista, it took almost a month, working with EA techs several nights a week to get Sims 2 to run. Stay with XP as long as possible!!