Sims 2 Windows 11?

@datboilizzy try launching the autorun.exe file through task manager with admin privileges.

The other file is the exe for the expansion pack. It should be SimsEP with a number after the P and its an exe file. Like SimsEP1.exe or SimsEP4.exe. whatever number expansion pack pets is. 

So I do want to respectfully clarify something to you. I greatly appreciate your help with all this, but my computer just isn't responding correctly. I will try launching the exe file through Task Manager several more times, but the past few times I have clicked the OK button, it won't do anything. I do not know if it's the newer operating system blocking it from running, or if I have the wrong DVD/CD drive. This is my very first time trying to launch the game, so I am quite disappointed with what it's doing.

Seriously, I have plenty of RAM and space for all the game files.

@datboilizzy at this point in time, have you managed to install everything and are trying to launch the game to play, or are you still unable to install a pack you have?

Admittedly I've had some trouble with my game recently. To fix it, I made a copy of all my Neighbourhoods and downloadeds, and then uninstalled and reinstalled M&G Stuff. My laptop runs pretty quick, so it was sorted quickly and I've now got the game open. I'm on windows 11 and have a graphics card that the game didn't recognise until I forced it to.

The thing is, this game is highly unlikely to work "fresh out of the box." Sims 2 doesn't recognise new graphics cards, and it was designed for Windows xp. So to get it to work, theres usually unfortunately more stuff you gotta do after you manage to install everything. It isn't a lot, but it is usually needed  But until you've got everything you have installed, it's not worth me having you read all that stuff just yet. It will be a case of some file editing when we get to that stage

I'm still unable to install the Pets expansion.

So---you're telling me I need to first install every expansion pack I have, and then we'll move to the next stage? Is that what you're saying?

Also, I'm on desktop, so will the method to copy the neighborhoods/downloads and re-install/uninstall work the same?

@datboilizzy Yes and No. The "next stage", if needed, would be to edit files from the pack that launches the game. For example, M&G stuff launches my game so I edited files in M&G stuff. Before that, it was apparment life. 

If Pets takes control over launching the game, you edit pets files. If seasons does, editing files in the pets game will do nothing.

If, before all this you managed to get sims 2 to run fine, I wouldn't worry about that part.

So you're unable to load the game in its current state? With the taskmanager method are you ticking the box which says "create this task with admin privileges" ? Do you get any pop up? Or just nothing at all happens?

About the desktop thing, I don't think it matters at all. Desktop or laptop, we've both got windows 11.

The Task Manager popup box does pop up, and it already has an option that says "Create this task with administrative privileges," but there is no option to tick it. When I click OK to start the process, nothing happens.

@datboilizzy so it doesn't look like this (See attached image) ? Theres no box you can tick? If not, thats bizarre. There is another route. One I'm not familiar with doing, but you could try using command prompt instead.

That is the other method I see people sharing to get things going. You would target the same file, but through command prompt instead. I don't know if we're allowed to share non-ea links so I'll just copy and paste the text.

How to run a program on Command Prompt

Here is a list of steps to help you run a program on Command Prompt:

1. Open your Start menu and type "cmd" in the search box

Locate your Start menu in the bottom left corner of your screen and click on it. In the white search box next to the Windows icon, type "cmd." Command Prompt is the first search result.

2. Click on Command Prompt to open the application and type your first command

Right-click on the application and select "Run as administrator," then a new Command Prompt window opens. This opens a black screen with plain text.

3. Determine which program you want to run

Find the folder with the file you want to run. It's important to mention that Command Prompt can only run programs that are installed in Windows-created folders. You can add a program's folder to the Command Prompt list to run that program within the application.

3. Find the file path of the folder with your exe program

Type "cd [filepath]" into Command Prompt. This allows you to find the folder that contains the .exe program you want to run. In a File Explorer window, you can open the specific folder and copy the file path located in the address bar at the top of the window by pressing C and Ctrl. For example, you can run Google Chrome by locating a folder titled Google Chrome in your Program Files. The file path for that file is "C:\Program Files\Google."

4. Replace "[filepath]" in the Command Prompt window with the file path you've copied

Replacing this file path allows you to run both commands and the desired program. You can then press the Enter key on your keyboard. This takes you to the selected file path in Command Prompt.

5. Type "start [filename.exe]" into Command Prompt, replacing "filename" with the name of your selected file

Replace "[filename.exe]" with your program's name. This allows you to run your program from the file path. For example, you can run Google Chrome by typing "Start Chrome.exe." You can then hit "Enter" on your keyboard, and the program starts running 

@datboilizzy 

The filepath you need should be just D:\Autorun.exe

You go back a directory by typing "cd .."

Do that until you have just C:\

then type "D: .."

and it should change to the D drive.

I attached a screenshot.  If you never found the autorun.exe file, instead type cd TSBin, press enter, then type Start Sims2EP4.exe

D:\>cd TSBin

D:\TSBin> Start Sims2EP4.exe

Just so you know, my computer has a different format and desktop look than yours, so maybe that's why I can't find specific things or create specific tasks. I have like the LATEST latest version of Windows 11--very different format.

So I just tried the Command Prompt method. I type in the specific commands you gave me, and it keeps telling me it's not recognizing the files as an internal/external command, operable program, or batch file.

@datboilizzy 

To ensure I get it right, I am typing these in command prompt as I write this.
When I open command prompt as admin, it says
C:\Windows\System32>
I type cd ..
It now says C:\Windows>
I type cd .. again
It now says C:\>
I type D: ..
It now says D:\>
I type cd TSBin
It now says D:\TSBin>
I type Start Sims2EP4.exe
It should launch Sims2EP4.exe (the pets exe)

I don't know if the game can install through this. But if you can't find autorun.exe, it's the only other option I think.

If you have found autorun.exe and want to use it, type cd.. until you are back to -
D:\>
Then you type Start Autorun.exe
It should then say D:\>Start Autorun.exe and it should start.

If neither of these work, I'm entirely unsure of what else to suggest. I don't know how autorun.exe could be missing. Did you buy it used from someone? They could have deleted something on the disk, accidental or not. I checked my Pets disk that I have just to make sure there's meant to be an autorun.exe file and I found it.

@datboilizzy I've asked for help regarding this on reddit and someone told me that there is a US version of Pets that comes with 2 disks. Does your disk look like this (See attached image)

Yes, my disc looks exactly like that. Are there supposed to be two discs in the set, then? Because I only got one Pets disc. I may have been sold an incomplete set.

@datboilizzy unfortunately I think we have found the problem... The one disk version of pets is just a blue disk. I have that one.

The person on reddit said the autorun.exe is on the 1st disk and so I guess you have the 2nd... It says disk one and disk two. Are you able to contact whoever you bought it from and get a refund? Even if it's past the refund period, technically you were given an incomplete product and it doesn't do what the seller listed it does. So I'd definitely try and get that sorted.

OK, so I just need the other disc then? And then it'll work?

I recall now that I just recently looked at the Seasons pack, and it contains two discs.

@datboilizzy yeah I guess you just need to get both of the disks now. Check what one yours is though, so you know if you need to get disk 1 or 2. Are you able to get a refund from wherever you bought it from?

Hey. So I recently tried installing The Sims 2 Seasons expansion pack, and it appeared to be installing correctly. However, I'm worried about the computer tower because it makes a lot of noise during installation, AND when I took the second disc out it was hot to the touch. Do you know if it's normal for the tower to make noise and get excessively hot when running games like that? I don't want it to go up in flames.

I have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER graphics card (a newer one) and Intel Core i7 processor.

Also with the Pets thing I'm working on getting that fixed.

The tower is a small-medium case; it's not that big and I'm not sure if it's getting proper ventilation or not. I have fan and cooler discs installed.

@datboilizzy When I was installing my games, some installations made more noise than other but I don't think its anything to worry about. I think I can remember the discs getting a little toasty but I can't say for sure because it wasn't something I paid close attention to. I'd just say make sure that the areas around the vents are all clear.

It should just be the installation that makes the most noise. During gameplay it's quiet for me.

I also forgot to mention that the tower does shake during installation, and I know because I felt it; it also vibrates low but you can still feel it working. But you may be right. Just in case something goes wrong with the tower, it's a Dell Inspiron tower one of the newest ones. Just trying to get advice on how to prevent the system from overheating.

@datboilizzy I don't have a tower because I have a laptop and use an external disk drive but if it's any help I installed Sims 3 yesterday and it was quite noisy but I don't think it's anything to worry about. It's just working hard to read the disk.

I haven't used a tower in a while but I believe they have preventative methods to avoid overheating. I remember mine had ventilation issues and the whole thing would force-shut off if it got too hot to prevent any damage.

When you say shake, do you mean like you can see it moving from the vibrations or like it's actually shaking from side to side wobbling?

Also just ensure there is plenty of room around the ventilation vents so that there's plenty of space for air to come out and go in. Also check if the fans are clogged up with dust. If it is getting unusually hot, it may be worth checking.