The sims 2 - not the usual directx 9.0c problem...

[hubs 0]

Hey i would really appreciate some help regarding this as ive been scratching my poor little head for weeks now without any resolve.

 

Ive been playing the sims 2 on my laptop for 1 and a half years now all expansions (its a specific gaming lappy b4 anyone says laptops arnt god for games!) she runs like a dream ive never had any problems runing the game before.

 

I stopped playing for a few weeks, deadlines for final yar uni work and stuff, nothing new added to the pc and i turn on the game and low and behold i get the messgae

 

Failed to find any Directx 9.0c compatible graphics adapters in this system! Please make sure you have a Directx compatible graphics adapter and hve installed the latest drivers provided by the manufacturer. The application will now terminate

 

Obviously my research has told e to install directx, my card doesnt support it blah blah .... well none of this is relevant to me because obviously i have beeen running it no problems for well over a year. There is no help i can find as to why i suddenly cant play anymore.

 

I have tried to reinstall direct x, and also my graphics card driver nothing seems to work and im so confused id love to get my game going again anyone suggest anything that might help??

 

My lapy is a QT64, running windows xp

I have an ATI mobility X700 card, 256 mb.

 

i also have an AMD Turion 64 proc, 1gb ram.

[Myke 0]

Try uninstalling directx, then reboot, then reinstall it. Do the same with the card's driver. If none of those work, uninstall the game, reboot, and reinstall. If you don't reboot after uninstalling something, whatever is corrupt could still be lurking in the background. Rebooting flushes the cache where it could still be stored.

 

Also, check the event viewer, which might provide you with some additional information.

[hubs 0]

how do i uninstall directx? sorry im not great with computers

 

I did try to reinstall the cards drivers but i cant, i get a message telling me it cant reinstall the driver and i need to reinstall the VGA driver first?!? whatever that means?

 

 

[Myke 0]

To uninstall DirectX, you have to use a 3rd party program, like this one: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4347.html

 

After that, reboot your machine, then install DirectX 9.0c again.

 

 

Have you tried up[censored] your machine with Windows Update? It might be able to help you with drivers. It's not always as intuitive as it should be, but it's a start. If you still need to install the drivers after that, go to the manufacturers web site. If you aren't sure where to go, look in your System Properties (hold Windows key and hit Print|Break) and look at your device manager under the Hardware tab. You should be able to find the information in there.

[Witt3439 0]

VGA = Video Graphics Array. Your video card drivers.

[hubs 0]

ok well i downloaded the programme it says i cant uninstall:

 

DX BACKUP FILES CAN BE FOUND, CAN NOT OPERATE

 

i dont really know what else to do?!? I already have my drivers ready to reinstall for the grahics card, but as i said i cant because i get an error message for the ati display driver - says cant find any driver compatible with current hardwere operating system and aslo setup was unable to complete the insilation please try to set up ur display adater with a standard vga driver before runnng setup?!

 

maybe i need to wipe my pc? and start over from factory settings?

[Myke 0]

I don't know if you really want to do that. It's a pain in the neck to start from scratch. You should definitely try to install the VGA adaptder. Maybe even try rolling back your driver. Go to your Hardware Manager and look at your display adapter. It will have a Driver tab, where you have the option of rolling back. See if that helps.

[hubs 0]

Originally Posted By: Myke

You should definitely try to install the VGA adaptder.

How do i do that?

Thanks for all ur help i really appreciate it, i know i dont really want to do a reinstall, ive had to do it once b4.....ill try roll back.... cheers

edit: well i did that and its asked me to inser the ATI technologies disk... I dont have that, it didnt come with it

[Myke 0]

Go to their website and download the software that takes care of that. It will include the drivers and such.

 

Do you happen to have the original disks that came with the machine? Those usually have the original drivers that came pre-installed on the computer, which is really helpful for situations like yours.

[hubs 0]

I have the windows disk and the drivers disk, but i have tried this again it asks me to insert the ati technologies disk which i dont have?!