Hi simmers

Been experiencing a new issue playing Sims 2 UC this week - after selecting a neighbourhood to play, the game appears to load as normal (the blue bars move along the top), but then just before loading into the neighbourhood, the whole thing freezes (the cursor stops spinning and the music stops). The neighbourhood never loads and the game crashes. I can tab out to my desktop, but can't close the program or even kill it with task manager, I have to restart my laptop.

I have found that if I go to Origin and repair game, it then works (but I then have to manually put in my screen resolution in the 'Graphics Rules' file to get 1920x1080 back). If if turn off my laptop and then want to play Sims again, I have to repair (and reset my resolution) each time... this is a pain... I'm glad I can play but would like to not have to do this each time! Anyone else experiencing the same?

I've tried:
- running the game without my 'Downloads' folder (same issue)
- running the game without my user data (same issue)

I considered a fresh install, but am wary - it took me a whole weekend to get the game to work after Windows 10 last updated and I'm not sure if I would have to repeat whatever it was I did to get it to work again!! (plz no)

My system (on a laptop):
Windows 10 Home v1903
Processor - Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6500U [email protected] 2.59 GHz
Ram - 12GB (11.9 GB usable)
Graphics card - NVIDIA GeForce 940MX, driver - NVIDIA 04/12/2017 v23.21.13.8857

Big love to anyone with the same issue/ideas xxx

Have you tried running in windowed mode instead of full screen?

Did you add or change anything in the install files? For example, adding a lighting mod.
Could CC be hiding in the Saved Sims folder?

Have you tried deleting the groups.cache file? Your symptoms are similar to a problem that I would sometimes see before I started using a read-only zero-byte groups.cache file. When that file becomes corrupted (happens when changing/adding/deleting CC files), it can cause a multitude of odd errors especially when first starting the game.

Hi, thanks for the suggestion

I deleted the groups.cache, accessory.cache and content registry but sadly didn't help

Hi I don't believe I have any mods (I know, basic), just custom content for stuff like hair and clothes.

I don't seem t o have a Saved Sims folder at all!

Hi have been working on this one! The good news is that running in windowed DOESN'T cause my original crashing, all looks normal. Problem is that it opens in a tiny window that I can't get to change!

I've been searching on this site and tried:
1) putting the resolution in the properties after '-w' (no change)
2) making sure it's running on my NVIDIA graphics card (not the built in one) (no change) and
3) putting the resolution back up to 1920x1080 in the graphics rules file (this makes the game fail to even launch - comes up with a graphics card error)

Bit stumped, I'm either left with playing in a tiny window or continuing to repair my game every time.... does the fact that the game loads properly in windowed mode mean anything to anyone?

Is your anti-virus set to ignore all Sims 2 files? These have been known to create havoc.

I've set it not to scan the game files is that what you mean?

I'm now playing the game in Windows 7 compatibility mode as an administrator and ALL SEEMS FINE! Concluding that this week's Windows 10 update has something Sims 2 unfriendly in it...

Unfriendly updates can be a thing to, make sure nothing updates automatically.