[hanna]

hi! I asked this question on yahoo! answers, and I was referred here.
so.. here it goes

I wanted to install the Sims 2 on my laptop. I did and it doesn't work. I can play for about five minutes and then it stops working.
(I have an Inspiron 1525, windows Vista, core2duo)

what can I do about this?

if you can explain with detail,etc the solution, that would be great, thanks

[madmatt2006]

Hello Hanna

The model of laptop you mention came out with a few different types of graphics card in them do you know what one yours is? It would be best to update the driver first to see if fixes your problem. If you don't know what one it is I will post a link to a program that will tell us this.

[hanna]

i'm not sure which one it is. it is the standard one, the one that comes with the computer without adding extra money
I think it is a video card and not a graphics card, and a friend told me that's the problem, but i don't really trust his word

[madmatt2006]

Download this Belarc Advisor program and run it it will tell us what hardware is inside the laptop please post back the graphics card type. Video/Graphic card are the same thing just a another name for it just so you know to keep confusion down

[hanna]

oh, i'm sorry, that was very computer-ignorant of me. (and i was right not trusting my friend )

so, i ran that program you gave me...

Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 2 (build 6002)
Install Language: English (United States)
System Locale: English (United States)

System Model
Dell Inc. Inspiron 1525
System Service Tag: 4XNRYG1 (support for this PC)
Chassis Serial Number: 4XNRYG1
Enclosure Type: Portable

Processor a
2.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache
64-bit ready
Multi-core (2 total)
Not hyper-threaded

Main Circuit Board b
Board: Dell Inc. 0U990C
Serial Number: .4XNRYG1.CN701668AE02JZ.
Bus Clock: 200 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Inc. A13 06/27/2008

Drives
247.33 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
148.96 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

TSSTcorp DVD+-RW TS-L632H ATA Device [CD-ROM drive]

WDC WD2500BEVT-75ZCT2 [Hard drive] (250.06 GB) -- drive 0, s/n W -DXW8E80VF4233, SMART Status: Healthy

Memory Modules c,d
3062 Megabytes Usable Installed Memory

Slot 'DIMM_A' has 1024 MB (serial number 1A140B22)
Slot 'DIMM_B' has 2048 MB (serial number EA91022A)

Local Drive Volumes

c: (NTFS on drive 0) 236.85 GB 143.82 GB free
d: (NTFS on drive 0) 10.49 GB 5.15 GB free

Network Drives
None detected

Users (mouse over user name for details)
local user accounts last logon
Hanna 10/19/2009 10:45:05 AM (admin)
local system accounts
Administrator 10/14/2008 5:38:13 PM (admin)
Guest never

DISABLED Marks a disabled account; LOCKED OUT Marks a locked account

Printers
HP Photosmart C6300 series on HP_192.168.2.120_MY95H9F0200544
Microsoft XPS Document Writer on XPSPort:


Controllers
IDE Channel [Controller]
Intel® 82801HEM/HBM SATA AHCI Controller
Intel® ICH8M Ultra ATA Storage Controllers - 2850
Ricoh Memory Stick Controller
Ricoh SD/MMC Host Controller
Ricoh xD-Picture Card Controller

Display
Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family [Display adapter] (2x)
Generic PnP Monitor (15.4"vis)


Bus Adapters
Microsoft iSCSI Initiator
Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2830
Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2831
Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2832
Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2834
Intel® ICH8 Family USB Universal Host Controller - 2835
Intel® ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 2836
Intel® ICH8 Family USB2 Enhanced Host Controller - 283A

Multimedia

Intel® High Definition Audio HDMI
SigmaTel High Definition Audio CODEC


Communications
Conexant HDA D330 MDC V.92 Modem


Dell Wireless 1395 WLAN Mini-Card
Gateway: 192.168.1.1
Dhcp Server: none responded
Physical Address: 00:23:4D:A9:33:55
Marvell Yukon 88E8040 PCI-E Fast Ethernet Controller
primary Auto IP Address: 192.168.0.167 / 24
Gateway: 192.168.0.1
Dhcp Server: 192.168.0.1
Physical Address: 00:21:9B:F5:03:21
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter (2x)
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #6 (2x)
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #7
Microsoft ISATAP Adapter #9

Networking Dns Server: 192.168.0.1


Other Devices
RICOH OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller
Microsoft AC Adapter
Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Control Method Battery
HP Photosmart C6300
Laptop Integrated Webcam
Standard PS/2 Keyboard
Dell Touchpad [Mouse]
Photosmart C6300 series
SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller
USB Composite Device
USB Root Hub (7x)
Generic volume shadow copy

[madmatt2006]

Yay we got it!! it's a "Mobile Intel® 965 Express Chipset Family [Display adapter] (2x)" download and install this driver http://support.dell....1&fileid=245580 also download direct x and install from here http://www.microsoft...&displayLang=en and then reboot the laptop and try out the sims2 and see if the problem is still there

[hanna]

thanks so much! i'll check it out and let you know how it goes!

[madmatt2006]

great please post back the result

[madmatt2006]

Also found this http://thesims2.ea.c...&languageCode=2 patch that fixes a few issues with this game I'd install this after the other updates

[hanna]

well, there are still some glitches but a lot less than before, it's definitely better than before. thank you so much!

[madmatt2006]

No problems Hanna what where the other glitches we maybe able to help with those to! If any of your friends or family have PC problems remember to send them here.