# The Sims 2 Freezing While Playing



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Ive been having some problems with my Sims 2 game after this whole Trojan/Virus business detailed here. There are some routine steps to go through in order to try and find bad/corrupt user files. I went through all the steps, tested the game from scratch and still have the problem.

It doesnt matter which lot Im playing, what time of day it is or how long Ive been playing. But right in the middle of game-play, my entire system freezes up. I cant get out to the desktop or anything. Its completely frozen. So Im wondering if its a video driver issue or if it could be something conflicting with the new virus scanning things Ive been working with due to my last problem. Like a possible scanner conflicting with the running of TS2?

*Computer Specs:*
Dimension XPS 400, Intel Pentium D Processor 820
1 GB DDR2 SDRAM @ 533MHz
256MB PCI Express x16 DVI/VGA/TV-outnVidia GeForce 6800
160 GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Windows XP

Any advice or ideas???


----------



## Section (Oct 22, 2007)

It may be that the virus deleted something that you needed to play the game with, like some graphics or memory data that you need to get or something. Goodluck, hope this helps a bit =/


----------



## Aus_Karlos (Mar 10, 2007)

Update all your drivers as they may have been corrupted by the viruses you previously had. Backup your sims saved games (MyDocuments/EA games/Sims) Then uninstall the game restart and then install.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Could someone kindly bring me through the steps on how to uninstall and install drivers? I did it once before, but it was so long ago that I seemed to have forgotten. I use nVidia drivers for a GeForce 6800 graphics card.


----------



## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Download the *latest driver* and save it to the desktop.

Go to Start > Control Panel > System > Hardware tab > Device Manager and click the [+] next to Display Adapters. Right-click the nvidia entry and select Uninstall.

Shut down and reboot. While the computer is starting (white text on black screen), keep tapping the F8 key until the Advanced Options menu appears. Select *Enable VGA Mode*.

When Windows has finished loading, disable your antivirus and close down any running programs.

Install the new driver and reboot. Go into Display Properties to set the screen resolution and other settings.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

The game is still crashing, now with an error. Anyone know what this means?









Link​


----------



## Aus_Karlos (Mar 10, 2007)

Update Direct X. Use the link in my sig the get the latest.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

I actually just did that last night, and still the game froze. This time without an error - i just simply froze and I had to force a system shut-down.


----------



## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

ok lets start some more basic troubleshooting here.lets test the temps,and voltages.try speedfan post back the temperature,and voltage readings.also what kind of power supply do you have?power supply may be totally unrelated here.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Alright, can we step back a step for a second? 

I recently uninstalled TS2 and all my Expansion Packs in order to reinstall fresh. I had multiple problems with installing, but I managed to get it done. However, two of my six EPs are not being recognized in the game, and now I cannot uninstall them to try and reinstall them so that they will be recognized (when I try to uninstall, nothing happens). Could there be a problem with uninstall programs on my computer? And how do I manage to uninstall/reinstall these EPs or how do I make the game recognize them?

*Speed Fan Readings*
HD0: 27C
CORE: 51C
Ambient: 38C


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Ok disregard my last post... I got the EPs reinstalled finally.

*Speed Fan Readings*
HD0: 27C
CORE: 51C
Ambient: 38C


----------



## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

so is it fixed,or are you still having another problem with it?


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

No, it isnt fixed. Im still having the "freezing while playing" problem. I completed steps 1-9, updated my drivers and installed a the latest version of DirectX and am still having the "freezing."


----------



## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

pharoah said:


> ok lets start some more basic troubleshooting here.lets test the temps,and voltages.try speedfan post back the temperature,and voltage readings.also what kind of power supply do you have?power supply may be totally unrelated here.


if it is freezing while playing you need to do this.what i listed in an earlier post.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Ive never used this program before and am not sure how to retrieve the information you want using it. Ive attached some screenshots of the program and what I think you may be asking for...

Screenshot
Screenshot

If thats not what you need, please explain a little more to me what exactly you need. Im also not sure what you mean by "power supply" or how to measure it. Sorry! Im not too computer savvy... hence why Im here >.<


----------



## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

looks like you may have a heat problem.the cpu usage showed 0%,and a core temp of 51c.you may need to check the inside of your computer for a dust buildup in the fans,and heatsinks.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Alright, I cleaned my entire computer out. There was quite a bit of dust build-up, but I got all of it out. I checked SpeedFan again:

CPU Usage 0-15% (it fluctuates but is usually around 1%)
HD0 - 24C
Core - 46C
Ambient - 33C

And the freezing problem still persists in my game.


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

Sorry to bump, but Im still having the problem. I still get the *D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE!* error, so Im thinking its something relating to DirectX or something. I dont know for sure of course, but since the same error has come up more than once since my virus...


----------



## pharoah (Aug 28, 2006)

dont think ive forgotten about you.as you seen i did post to the thread about the virus you had.because i think it has to be related being the problem started after the virus.


----------



## Xaszx (Nov 10, 2007)

well if it worked before without any freezes, try going back to when it last worked like that..and ask yourself, what ,if anything, changed around that time..that might link you to the problem..the sims 2 wont work on my computer either, but then again...no game works on my computer, and my computer freezes right when i click the icon =/...most likely your computer is acting like a runner in the olympics, after a while it might just cut out..which means your RAM isn't working, check to see what consumes most of your RAM while running simple tasks, could be a program that is using 30-40% of it, and when you play a game..your RAM cuts out..no more room...BAM...freeze =s


----------



## Wheezy (Oct 16, 2007)

I highly doubt it was a RAM problem...

Ive re-downloaded DirectX (the latest version), and all seems to be back to normal. I havent had any freezes for a couple days. So hopefully that was the problem. Thanks for all the help and advice everyone!


----------



## masterolaf (Jul 17, 2008)

Hi everybody - My friend seems to have a similar problem as Wheezy had with The Sims 2, but it always freezes with the error: d3derr_notavailable...
I downloaded newest drivers, new direct x (9.0c) from microsoft.com and even tried to patch the game. I checked if I had any overclocking or something but I didn't find anything - everything seemed even down clocked if you understand what I mean...
I can ask for his computer specs tomorrow if you like... But his computer is quite new...

2 things that I worry about is that maybe his system needs a format (too much junk in it) and the second is that he has all the expansionpacks and has never applied a patch...
(Sorry for my bad English)


----------

