More Awesome Than You!

I seem to be getting the "This application has crashed" error all over the place in my game.  I've gotten it on every lot I play and sub-neighborhood lots.  Sometimes I don't even get that message and the game just closes and takes me back to my desktop.  I'm not sure what information you need to help me, but below are my system specs. 

I have all SP's and EP's except IKEA installed. 

I play in windowed mode and skip the launcher. 

I've removed all of my hacks and custom content and still get the problem. 

Also, it always resets my game options (graphic settings, etc.).  For example, everytime I load the game, I get the pop up boxes about how my sims are now in 3d!!! 

I'm playing a custom neighborhood that I used empty templates to build.

I don't think anything is overheating because Everest Home Edition shows all sensors at a consistent 36-37C.

Also, a lot of times it takes me several tries to get my game to load.  I launch the game, the hour glass shows up...then nothing.  I go into task manager and kill the process and try again.  Sometimes it works right away, sometimes I have to wash, rinse and repeat 15-20 times before it will actually launch.

I've attached the latest exception.txt file.

Operating System   Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
OS Service Pack   Service Pack 2
DirectX   4.09.00.0904 (DirectX 9.0c)
CPUID CPU Name   Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6850 @ 3.00GHz
System Memory   4096 MB
Video Adapter   ATI Radeon HD 3870  (512 MB)
Audio Adapter   ATI HD Audio rear output
Audio Adapter   Realtek HD Audio output


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About the several-tries-to-load thing: I was getting that when I had SecuROM on my computer. Maybe that's your problem? About the rest, I have no idea. The best advice I can offer is to try a full reinstall. You'll need someone slightly More Awesome Than Me to help you beyond that.
Good luck though, that must suck.

Have you cleared your cache files? Because that sounds like a cache file problem. I'm sure you've probably already done this, though.
"When troubleshooting a computer, always begin by checking that the computer is plugged in" is what I always say.  :P

It could be Securom - I've never tempted to uninstall it (mostly because I never had any problems until about 2 weeks ago).

I have deleted my cache files multiple times.  I can't find the cigen one to delete it, but I figured the game just hasn't generated one.

Oh. Then it's Securom.  :-[

The cigen.whatever file is generated when you use Bodyshop - if you don't use Bodyshop, it is not surprising if you don't have one.

It's worth a try (before reinstalling everything) to remove SecuROM.  There is a thread stickied in the Podium that has a tutorial on this (you've probably seen it).  Download a "no-cd" crack for your latest EP before you do this.  To keep securom off, you will need to run from the no-cd crack (and not the original .exe) - the tutorial covers this as well.  Get the appropriate no-cd crack for the EP and any patch you have.  (Thus, if you have FT with patch 1 loaded, you need the crack for FT Patch 1).

The securom instructions don't seem to be working for me (it might be because I'm on x64 for Windows).  I'll explore online to see if I can find instructions that work.

Okay, I "uninstalled" SecuRom (I posted the details in the SecuRom thread) and overall the game seems to be more stable.  I played most of the day today and I only had 2-3 crashes with all of my hacks in, which is way less annoying.  Thank you everyone for your help.

Does it seem pitiful to anyone other than me that "only had 2-3 crashes" in a day of playing is considered acceptable for an EAxis game?

I'm not actually going to blame EA for the 2-3 crashes due to the insane amount of hacks I play with.  I've got a total of 510 files in my hacks directory, including the Kitten Killer and ACR.  All of my crashes yesterday came when I tried using the lot debugger to rerandomize sims babies to avoid the first born syndrome.