I have had a similar problem (I don't know if it's the same) since pets first came out. The intro video (whether skipping or not) will "lock up" the game for a few minutes. I'll go to make tea or something and it'll be working again, but if I go into task manager it says "not responding". I always have a significant delay while starting up the game. However, it's 10 minutes tops, usually around 5.
I thought I'd pass this along, since I can't be the only person suffering the pseudo-freezing. I've had this happen on 3 different computers, so I don't know if it's my game or if I need a patch or what. It's also happening on the Sims 2 Ultimate Collection on Origin. Good luck to everyone!
Edit: Machines I've had: 32bit XP, 64bit Win 7 (twice), all intel processors, XP had ATI card, Win 7 computers had nvidia.
Yup. Took your advice and it worked fine. Patience IS a virtue!
