I have just put Sims into my computer to install it but nothing seems to work, nothing loads up and i've found it in the D drive but it wont open. I wondered if this was something to do with me having windows XP?
If the drive won't open it's probably a drive malfunction.
Can anything be done about it?
Well, first of all, right-click the disc drive in the "My Computer" folder, then choose Properties and check the status of the drive. It's usually located at the bottom of the "Hardware" tab.
Ok it says its fine, no faults or anything.
Do you mean the drive door won't open or do you mean that it won't open the program? If it won't open the program then you need a no-cd patch like [URL="http://www.gameburnworld.com/gp/gamefixes/sims.shtml"]this one[/URL] be sure to scan before & after applying it though.:D:D
If it's the cd drive refusing to open though... unplug any sources of power to your PC, pop open your computers panel, grab a screwdriver and remove the screws that keep the cd drive in place, remove it from where it is & send it to a tech place or order a new cd drive
Its the programme itself that won't open, i'll try the patch. What do I do with the patch once I've downloaded it?
Which Sims game is it? If it is the first, it's possible it doesn't work with XP, in which case you'd have to change the compatibility for the game.
About the patch: Once you've downloaded it, then you simply install it. The patch will automatically search your computer for the game data, and then make the corrections.
If the auto play isn't working, then right-click the D drive icon, then click run auto play.
If that doesn't work, right-click (again) the D drive icon, and then click open disk folder. This should display the CD's contents like an ordinary file on a computer. Look for an executable that says auto play or game, or something of that nature. Not to be patronizing, but an executable is anything with a ".exe" at the end of its name.
Usually with some patches like this, you run it and it applies itself. If it doesnt then extract the zip or whatever it is you downloaded, copy the files that are in the new folder, then browse to your sims folder and hit paste when you see files with similar names...
Or you see an MS-Dos window saying 'system32' and then your computer dies.
So if you go into the D: directory (your CD drive I presume) and double-click on the Setup.exe, the installation does not come up?
Sims should run just fine in a 32 bit version of Windows XP. If it is a legit copy of the original Sims, you don't need a no-CD patch.
If you cannot get the setup.exe file to work, it might be that the installation file is not getting the admin permisions it needs. Do you know if your account is an administrator on your computer, or do you have a separate administrator account?
When I open the Sims folder and click on the Setup.exe still nothing happens.
It's a legit version of the Sims. My account on the computer is an administrator account.
Ok, try this:
Right click on setup.exe and click "Run As..." in the menu. In the window that comes up, click "The Following User" and log in with your Windows account.
Tried that and still no luck.:(
Hmm this is quite a pickle. = \
I did some further digging and I found out the setup.exe file isn't the true installation file, it is just brings up the auto play. The TRUE installation file is _s327.exe. However simply double clicking _s327.exe does not work, because if you try it tells you to use the auto play installer.
So, try this:
go into the D: directory again and in there, go into the Setup folder. Right click _s327.exe and copy. Go out to your desktop, right click and "paste as shortcut". Then right click on the shortcut you just made and go into properties. In the target box where it says "D:\setup\English\_s327.exe", type a space after .exe and put a 1 so it now looks like "D:\setup\English\_s327.exe 1"
Then click ok, and double click on that shortcut.
Nothing seems to be working. Thanks for your help anyway, I might try and install them on my parents laptop and see if that works.
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Hey I got a new laptop and Sims is now working :)
Good. Now I can go to bed.