HELP! I haven't played in almost two months

[lizzycat]

and when I load the game (w/no custom content) it goes to the chosen neighborhood screen and it is totally grey!

I can mouse over and see lot names but if I try to enter I get the spinning hourglass.

What can I do?

[Emma]

Start a new neighbourhood.

[notveryawesome]

Is it one of the three standard Maxis neighbourhoods, or is it one that you've created?

[ZephyrZodiac]

Have you tried to load that neighbourhood in SimPE?

[jolrei]

Delete groups.cache - it's so simple it just might work.

If problem persists, delete your neighbourhood and replace with the last backup and try again (you did keep a backup?)

If problem persists build new neighbourhood.

[ZephyrZodiac]

Also, in case you haven't done so, clean up your registry with a registry cleaner, clear out your IE cache, and defragment your hard drive (don't take any notice of Windows telling you it doesn't need it, have a look and if there are a lot of red bits, defrag anyway!)  At least then you'll know whether it's a game issue or a computer issue, if your HD is very fragmented the game will have problems accessing information.