I downloaded The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection onto my laptop today, but every time I start the game, it goes through the intro movie and then freezes. I then have to hold down the power button on my laptop to get it to shut down, because nothing else works. I'm running 64 bit Windows 8.1. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

I have also got this problem, It is well known that The Sims 2 is quite a buggy game even at the best of times, but to the point where you can't get past the loading screen after the opening vid is rediculous. I have been searching accross the interwebs trying to get a fresh perspective on the matter and it seems a whole lot of people are having this problem and I have tried the various solutions that people had to offer, such as:- reinstalling Directx 9.0c- making sure graphics card drivers are up to date- running in compatabilty mode- running as admin- verifing game data- checking for game updates- checking for windows updatesSpecs: for specs I have also seen that you need at least 4GB of FREE memory of RAM for the game to run properly and windows takes up around 2GB itself so at least 6GB of RAM, but I would recormend having around 8GB for cushioning as you may have other background applications taking up memory also.My computer specs are: (to find this type "DXdiag" into windows search)OS - Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)Processor: AMD FX(tm)-4100 Quad Core ProcessorMemory: 8192MB RAMGraphics Card: AMD Radeon HD 6800 SeriesDirectX Version: DirectX 11 (but i also have older version installed also)NOW, I have had issues with games in the past due to my graphics card being AMD which causes incompatability with some games software such as "Saints Row 2" causeing it to be unplayable and this again may be the case with The Sims 2, I don't know. but hopefully people find this info useful.I apologise for any spelling errors or unreadable parts as I am dyslexic.

Hopefully this will help someone... being in IT I had a few more tricks up my sleeve 😕mileyvery-happy:My daughter just got the Sims 2 Ultimate Collection and it crashes before any movie sequence / menu appeared.Her laptop has a duel video cards installed (onboard Intel for 2D and nVidia 545m for 3D) - and the nVidia Control Panel (under Control Panel) was configurered to use "defaults". As it happens "defaults" in this case was trying to run the game using the Intel onboard crappy graphics.Personally, if your using nVidia - I would change 2 settings within the nVidia Control Panel:Both settings under Manage 3D Settings.So, under Manage 3D Setting - change the detault graphics card from "automatically detect" to "NVidia"and also change the "Set PhysX Configuration" and set to GeForce (or your 3D card).Apply settings & try game again. Feel free to skip the movie intro - but do be patient with the loading screen, this seemed to take a while.If that doesn't work, the readme does say try updating the graphics drivers and also turn off Virtualization in the BIOS if you still have issues.Virtualization is switched on, on my daughter's laptop so this may only affect a small number of computers.For reference, nVidia v335.23 drivers was used - the newer 337.88 drivers don't work. As it happens, the newer 337.88 drivers also prevents The Sims 3 from working too. If you struggle finding older nVidia drivers, I've kindly uploaded them here: https://db.tt/3Aqh55OxHope that helps ! 😕mileyvery-happy:

I'm having the same problem with Windows 7. I've already tried compatability mode and it doesn't help.

I had this problem, but it solved now...I just right click The Sims 2 on origin library, then choose Check for Update.Wait for it until done.And then it works for me.I did play it until create familyI hope this can solved everybodies problem too.I play on Windows 8 64bit, 1336x720 res

These are solutions that I have tried myself earlier today and made no changes to the issue at hand, I do believe that this is a fault in the game itself rather than the fault of the computers that we are using to try and play the game, I will keep trying to solve this issue until I get a better result.

The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection not working on Windows 8

63 Replies

northwinds
12 years ago
I'm having the same problem with Windows 7. I've already tried compatability mode and it doesn't help.
Anonymous
12 years ago
My game does the same thing. Windows 7, 64 bit
bridgct
12 years ago
I'm having the exact same problem. I have 64 bit Windows 8.
Anonymous
12 years ago
same here!
Windows 8.1 64 bits
3gb ram
Intel Core I5 2410M @2.3ghz
Intel HD Grafics 3000
Anonymous
12 years ago
Bumping because I'm worried it won't work for my Windows 8 laptop.
EA_David
Community Admin
12 years ago
Assuming compatibility mode has no effect(check this first), can I check what drive you're installing to? Try installing to C if you don't already.
krystalsyn
12 years ago
Fixed my serial key issue now hit by this one lol, compatability doesnt help, it's installed to drive C:
Anonymous
12 years ago
I have the same problem. It freezes after the intro...
brotherhid07
12 years ago
I had this problem, but it solved now...
I just right click The Sims 2 on origin library, then choose Check for Update.
Wait for it until done.
And then it works for me.
I did play it until create family
I hope this can solved everybodies problem too.
I play on Windows 8 64bit, 1336x720 res
queenalien
12 years ago
I tried your solution but it didn't work ☹️. I hope this gets fixed soon!