Hello!

Around half a year ago I managed to collect every expansion and stuff pack for The Sims 2. I own the discs.
I was able to install the base game and most of the packs quite smoothly, and with the help of Graphics Rules Maker, I could run the game as well without any kind of problems. Unfortunately, that's not the case with Apartment Life and Mansion & Garden Stuff.

The issue itself is that if I try to install Mansion & Garden Stuff while Apartment Life is installed, the installation fails after it reaches the end and the "installation wizard" tries to check if I have the latest version of the game. When I click OK, a message pops up and it says that it's the updated, latest version of the game. Then I click OK again. Everything went the same way when I installed the previous expansion and stuff packs, except the fact that I was informed that the installation was successfully completed.
But when it comes to Mansion & Garden, after clicking OK, an error message pops up. The error message is in hungarian (because I installed the hungarian version of the game), but it says that in order to be able to install the pack, Apartment Life has to be removed. Then the installation collapses and Mansion & Garden gets uninstalled.
I got similar errors before these two packs as well (when I was trying to install Pets and Seasons), but I managed to find a solution. I changed and switched the order I tried to install the two packs in. It worked. So I tried to do the same with Apartment Life and Mansion & Garden. I uninstalled Apartment Life and installed Mansion & Garden. It worked. Or at least that's what I thought. When I tried to reinstall Apartment Life (while Mansion & Garden was installed), an error message popped up again, and it said that Mansion and Garden had to be removed in order to be able to install Apartment Life.

I read multiple times that the packs had to be installed in that particular order they were released, so I tried to do just that. (Even though the installation order of some packs had to be switched regardless in order to work.)
I also read that installation problems are most of the time caused by unpatched game and packs. So I tried to patch both the game and its packs. I managed to patch the base game, but I'm not sure about the packs because when I patched the base game I got a message that the update was successful. But in case of packs this didn't happen. I tried to patch the packs in the order of their release by the way, but I don't know whether that matters or not.

I'm not sure if this is a relevant information, but I have a Windows 10.


Thank you for any kind of help in advance

Download the Sims 2 patch (for CD or DVD depending upon which version you have) from here and install it using the Grumpy Loader.
Patches:
Game Help:TS2 Patches^wiki
Grumpy Loader:
https://modthesims.info/showthread....458#post4051458
Then install your SPs/ EPs.
Also install the Family Fun Stuff patch if you have that SP, as it contains critical fixes!

I've tried to use Grumpy Loader before, but I already had my packs installed (without patches it seems). Firstly, I tried to patch the University expansion pack, but a message popped up saying that I have a newer pack installed and I must patch the newest pack. Does that mean that I have to uninstall all of my packs and patch them one by one in the order of their release? Does the installation order of the packs matter?

Are you using any of the combo packs (Fun with Pets, Deluxe, Double Deluxe etc)?
Could you show a screenshot of the error you are getting? The installation order doesn't matter, but some of the packs require the basegame to be patched before install.

I don't use any of the combo packs, and my base game is patched. I only get errors when I'm trying to patch the packs.
I took three screenshots I can show you about the error and the way the patching process itself looks like on my computer. Some of the texts in the screenshots are in hungarian, but I'll translate them.

With the Grumpy Loader, you tell it 'Yes' to ignore the errors, and it will finish the patching process. After that, you should be able to install your expansion packs without error. Which pack were you trying to install when you had the error about Sims 2 University?

Well, when I tried to patch University I already had all of the packs (both expansion and stuff) installed except for Mansion & Garden of course. I can't remember if I tried to patch University without having other packs installed.
I tried to patch University first (while other packs were installed) because at that time I thought that the installation order of the packs mattered and I assumed that it was the same with patching, and University is the first pack on the list. Do you think I should try to uninstall my packs, and then reinstall them? When one got reinstalled I could try to patch it with grumpy loader, and then I could move on to the next pack, install that, patch it, and so on?

The main one that affects the install of the later patches is the basegame patch; if you get that one applied then you should be able to install Apartment Life and M&G.

I don't know what's the problem then. The base game is patched, that's 100%, but I still can't install M&G if Apartment Life is installed.

In that case then, try uninstalling the disc versions and installing a digital version. Details here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sims2help/...al-information/

Hello again!
After I uninstalled my packs and the base game, I wanted to give one last chance for the discs to work because you gave me an idea that I thought might work. I installed and patched every single pack in the order of their release successfully! And I did it with Grumpy Loader. I started with University of course, and when it got installed I patched it immediately using Grumpy Loader, and this time it worked! Then I moved on to the next pack, installed it, patched it, and so on. I'm so happy! Thank you so much for helping me! :D

That's great to know, well done! I've never found the installation order to matter- but many have insisted this is the case. I'll bear that in mind, well done for fixing it!