If any Windows 8 users are still having this problem, watch this video. It helped me SO much. Now I'm able to play TS2 Ultimate Collection whenever I want!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HB9xN8hMyEU
Good luck 🙂
Could you check if guys maybe have this issue: http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-2/Info-Request-Sims-2-does-not-start-at-all-Please-read-first-post/td-p/3204715/
Progress!!!! Thank you so much to @crinrict and @Zielonooka125.
My game wouldn't start at all (just show the cursor spinning and then quit after clicking play) and I used the fix that you suggested and now it has loaded up to the first screen after the opening movie that says Fun With Pets and plays music. It is still on that screen but it's the first progress I've had so I'm pretty hopeful.
I have Sims 3 and Sims Medieval. I deleted the paul.dll file from Sims 2 Ultimate Collection Fun With Pets like you said and then I copied the paul.dll file that was in the base game of Sims 3 on my computer and pasted it into the Ultimate Collection.
I've read that some people have to wait a long time to load it up so I'm just going to be patient with the start screen that I'm on and then try some other fixes if necessary.
Thanks so much though for getting past the first obstacle. 🙂
One more thing...I thought I'd mention that I didn't delete the paul.dll file from the original Sims 3 base game or choose to "move" it. I copied it and pasted it so that the original would still exist.
