Sims game crashes to desktop upon opening! I've tried EVERYTHING (reinstalls, lowering hw accel, editing target of shortcut, etc) all work for a few days then it crashes again. Any permanent solution? I have XP w/DX 9.0, 512 RAM, as updated as it can be

Asked at 20:01 on Wednesday 22 December 2004 by Rachel (iceangel99)

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If its just the original game prior to Unleashed then it's not guaranteed to work on Windows XP, although it will on most configurations.

This is because the game does not officially support Windows 2000, which is the core kernel which Windows XP is based on. Unleashed was the first EP that officially dragged Sims into the world of running on Windows XP.

Having said that, this behaviour can occur with a misbehaving download so temporarily remove all them first.

Answered at 20:49 on Wednesday 22 December 2004 by Neil Jones (NKTP) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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I'm using deluxe edition, which *should* work with XP, along with all expansions except Vacation and Maki'n Magic.

No misbehaving downloads, either. (The only outside things I use are some recolors that I made myself, and I don't even have those in the game at the moment.)

I'm going to try downgrading one of my computers to DX 8.1 and see if that solves the problem.

Answered at 16:40 on Saturday 25 December 2004 by Rachel (iceangel99) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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Uninstall the whole game and reconfigure your hard drive. It is fairly self explainitory but ONLY DO THIS IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
One you have done that install the game and all expansion packs in perfect order and start again.
It works as I had the same sort of problem with makin magic and one of my friends had the same problem as you. If this doesn't work call a computer technic.
Xp should run all programs except ones specified for 95. Last thing. Back up all files on your computer before configuring your hard drive as you may loose them all

Answered at 11:37 on Saturday 1 January 2005 by joe (welloil) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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This "configuring your hard drive" sounds suspiciously like getting a formatting tool out, which is not recommended.

The comment about "Xp should run all programs except ones specified for 95" is not true as well, it will depend on how the individual program.

Answered at 12:22 on Saturday 1 January 2005 by Neil Jones (NKTP) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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No, reconfiguring my hard drive would not solve the problem either. My computer was reformatted just before installing everything...

I believe Sims 1 just isn't friendly with DX 9.0 since it is an older game. Since I also have Sims 2, I can't downgrade to DX 8.1 (which would most likely solve the problem)...my new solution--if I want to play 1 and it doesn't boot on the first or second try, just play 2.

Answered at 15:24 on Tuesday 4 January 2005 by Rachel (iceangel99) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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DirectX 9 is backwards compatible with software that came out when DirectX was on version 5 and 6 and earlier. There wouldn't be any point in it otherwise. Sims 2 needs DirectX9.

As I said earlier, the original game on its own is not officially supported under Windows XP for reasons I've already explained.

Answered at 20:04 on Tuesday 4 January 2005 by Neil Jones (NKTP) Answer Rating: Not Rated Yet.

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