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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 1:32 PM Last edited by Priotess : 5th Mar 2015 at 1:47 PM.

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Bon Voyage, Free Time
Default This application is not compatible with the installed operating system. Please upgrade to Windows 98SE, Windows 2000 or better.
Hey, i ran into a problem, last night i was playing free time perfectly fine on my Windows 8 operating system. I installed Teen style and H&M stuff, prior to going to bed, and now i get this error message, there's no way for me to enable admin mode on the Free time desktop icon because there aren't any tabs for the Expansion icons, only for the original Sims 2 game. Is there a patch or something i can use that can fix this? Cos this game was working fine and i spent like 12 hours getting all this installed.

Well i uninstalled Teen Style stuf and H&M stuff and the error perists now :/
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Née whiterider
retired moderator
#2 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 2:08 PM
Did you follow the Win8 install instructions, including installing and running in XP SP2 compatibility mode?

I'm not sure what you mean about "tabs for expansion icons" - could you explain a bit more?

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 2:26 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Nysha
Did you follow the Win8 install instructions, including installing and running in XP SP2 compatibility mode?

I'm not sure what you mean about "tabs for expansion icons" - could you explain a bit more?


When you right click a desk-top shortcut and you have tabs like general, details and compatibility, only the original Sims 2.exe has that option to change compatibility.

On a further note, after uninstalling Free-time and Bon-voyage, the game up to Pets expansion works flawlessly, i'm gonna reinstall. How do i install anyway with compatability mode for windows 8? just click the autorun and make sure its in compatibilithy mode for what OS? I've never really downloaded any of the patches also, because after installing it always seems to say that the game is fully updated.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 2:49 PM
Honestly i give up with this crap, spent an entire day trying to get this to work. well it was working untill i installed the two stuff packs. Just gonna uninstall all these games and move on from the series. I never cared for any of the games beyond Sims. Eh, RIP Sims series for me.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#5 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 3:04 PM
There are detailed instructions in the "How to make Sims 2 work in Windows 8" sticky at the top of this forum, if you change your mind.

I suspect the reason that you didn't have a Compatibility tab for some EPs is that you weren't looking at a direct shortcut to the game exe. The easiest way (imo) to fix that is to find the .exe, right-click it and hit Create Shortcut, make the changes you want to make (compatibility, admin mode, windowed mode) to that new shortcut and then drag and drop it to your desktop, or wherever else you want it to be.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#6 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 3:13 PM Last edited by Priotess : 5th Mar 2015 at 5:35 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Nysha
There are detailed instructions in the "How to make Sims 2 work in Windows 8" sticky at the top of this forum, if you change your mind.

I suspect the reason that you didn't have a Compatibility tab for some EPs is that you weren't looking at a direct shortcut to the game exe. The easiest way (imo) to fix that is to find the .exe, right-click it and hit Create Shortcut, make the changes you want to make (compatibility, admin mode, windowed mode) to that new shortcut and then drag and drop it to your desktop, or wherever else you want it to be.


Like i said, none of the expansions have any sort of tab for compatabilty, only the base game does, i even looks in the TS/Bin for the ex and still they dont have any form of tab. I didnt have any of this issues on my windows 7 computer. But my windows 7 computer is wank.

But on my other computer i get the Direct X error INVALIDARG message.

Also What if i follow exactly what the installing on windows 8 guide and i get the Direct X error INVALIDARG message? how am i supposed to fix that?
Field Researcher
#7 Old 5th Mar 2015 at 9:50 PM
Sometimes Direct-X -error messages depend on old settings in My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Config\userProps.xml., which is generated by the game at installation time and contains among others graphics cards information. It is completely safe to delete it as the game regenerate it if missing.
Test Subject
#8 Old 7th Sep 2015 at 2:42 PM
I know this is a while later, but I'm having the same problem with windows 10. I tried using the userProps as clsve suggested.
Top Secret Researcher
#9 Old 7th Sep 2015 at 3:19 PM
I read (elsewhere) about deleting the userProps.xml, and removed it from my config folder (because of a flashing pink lot) and I lost a simweek of gameplay, DO NOT DO THIS without at least making a backup copy of your entire Neighborhoods folder. All the premades were reset like the hood had never been played, those that didn't originally live on a lot were even back in the family bin like I had never played them! All lots appeared to be empty, and loaded in buy/build mode, no idea where the sims had gone (the Characters folder was still full).

Restoring that userProps.xml file didn't help either.
I had just finished playing the household's week, that's why I didn't have a backup yet. Luckily, I only lost a week of gameplay and no major events had happened anyway (no newborn sims or such).

Edit: I'm sorry I don't have a clue about W10 issues, just wanted to warn about that userprops.xml thing. It does regenerate, but it's like a cheap resurrection, your hood might not be back to its old self exactly
Mad Poster
#10 Old 7th Sep 2015 at 8:36 PM
For Windows 10, there are steps to follow depending on which graphic card you use - it will be something like this:
Download the latest driver for your graphics card (it will be compatible with Windows 10, the current one will probably not work).
Run the game in compatibility mode for windows 8
If your game is stuck in a single resolution, you will have to edit your graphic rules for your graphic card.
(I have been playing for a number of weeks on Windows 10 now. These might not be all the answers, but it worked for me).
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