More Awesome Than You!

I want to reinstall my computer, but I really don't want to reinstall a million and a half expansion packs. Some programs can be happily transplanted to a new system by just copying the program files and data.  TS2 apparently does not.  I'm not really surprised.

I'm assuming I'm missing some key registry keys.  Does anyone know of a way to backup an existing installation and to restore into into a clean system?

The Sims 2 doesn't just have a few registry keys, they stick them everywhere. You will need to properly install everything to the new computer.
In order to transplant all of your already played game to the new computer, you can just grab the entire The Sims 2 folder in My Documents. You do not necessarily need all of the files there, but that would get everything. Saved Sims has sims that you have downloaded and have made in CAS, Neighborhoods is your actual saved games, Downloads is all of your custom, Teleport is houses you have downloaded that are waiting to go into your game, I believe that Lot Catalog is the contents of the ...well ...lot & family catalog in game ... the list can go on. Anyway, unless you have custom walls, fireplaces, lighting configurations, stairs, camera settings, the CEP or anything in the Bins folder in your Core files, everything you need is in My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2. If you have the custom stairs or what have you, you will have to nab those txt files. The CEP will have to be installed again after you move everything.

I think I figured it out.  Haven't had a chance to test it yet, as I'm not quite ready to reinstall, and I don't have a second computer to test it on.

If anyone is interested, I'll report my findings, once I test it

I am looking to transfer the game between computers.  I believe I have a handle on the no-cd crack use to avoid securom, but I have some questions regarding transfer methods...and exactly which content needs to be transferred.
CC from the downloads folder is a given.  I have burned all 2.4 gigs to cd(s).  That is a task unto itself.  But as unorganized as it is, I could not live without some CC, some of which I would never be able to find again.
I do not really wish to burn the remaining fat lot of the Sims2 folder to disc.  Is there a better/faster/more efficient way to transfer data between computers?  I have googled, but it was a while ago, and I did not understand a lot of it (involving servers and what not).
Moving on to what I would like transferred.  I only play one hood at this time.  I have forsaken all others.  It is the last hood I created, am I to understand that it would be the highest numbered and last created neighborhood in said folder?  This is the only hood I want transferred as is.  Would transferring the file enable the hood to be played as it is now, or do I need to transfer other bits with it, in order to play it exactly as it is now?  Lot Catolog would be everything that is in the family and lot bins?  I have one particular house that I use to make cookie-cutter subdivisions because I love it so much.  I do not want to lose that particular house.  So I would need to transfer the Lot Catalog, right?
The rest, I do not care about.  There are no unused saved sims lurking in the sim bin of CAS that I care about.  No storytelling bits, pictures, video, nada.  I just want CC, my one hood, and one lot-bin house.  And that's all I need.  Oh, and this remote control. /The Jerk.
Oh, the CEP, can I just transfer that file, or do I need to redownload and install?  I can also redownload camera settings/mods.  And marvine's spiral stairs (no apartment life and I can NOT possibly live without these)...would those need to be redownloaded?  I do not care about custom fireplaces or anything else that might be roaming around outside of my downloads folder.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

I'm in the process of doing the same thing.

Both computers are plugged into my router, and I've set up a shared drive on the computer with more space (i.e. the one I'm transferring to).  On the old computer I've copied folders to the shared drive, and on the new computer I've transferred them across to where they need to be.  Makes it much easier and faster to get stuff from one computer to the other when the computers are networked.

I used a program called Aloha Bob when I got Addison to transfer everything from Diva2, my old laptop. It worked quite well and was one of those set-and-walk-away kinds of things. I just had to choose what I wanted transferred from a list after installing the program on both computers (took about 15 minutes on the slow laptop, 1-2 minutes on the desktop). Then I went to bed and everything was done when I woke up. Probably would not have taken so long if the laptop wasn't so ridiculously slow.

The retail version of Aloha Bob comes with a special USB cable.


Yeah, yeah. No shilling.

Therein lies my problem; my understanding of networking my two computers is very, very limited.  Call it no understanding, if you'd like.  Therefore, more traditional methods of transfer (burning to disc) are employed.

@Zazazu, yes I read about transfer via USB and "special programs" which may or may not be sold in a retail setting.  I was trying to avoid paying for something I do not already have.  Alas, I am also looking for "easy".

If you have a router, plug both PCs into the router and they are networked. If you don't have a router then you would require a crossover Cat5 cable.

External HDD? 

500gb or even 1tb drives are hella cheap these days.  Plug into USB port, drag & drop onto the hdd and then move it to the new computer and drag & drop into sims2 folder.

cheaper than cds (if you're using a lot of them often) and more convenient sometimes.

I use an external HD for moving, but I also back up files on it, so for me, it's really not more work to just put the files on it and then pull them off later. Everyone else probably has better ideas.

2. You can just grab that one hood if that's all you want, the only effect that should be had on it, is downloads that you may decide that you don't want anymore(that you haven't put back) and the last one created would have the highest number. Unless you have been making them, then going back after making one or two, deleting one of the much earlier ones, and then making a new one.

3. Yes, LotCatalog has the bin families and houses. If you want to make sure that I am correct, you can run clean installer on it, it will show you every house in there. ;) You can do that with the neighborhoods as well.

4. For the CEP ...well, actually, you can just grab it(plus the CEPextra files), but there is also a CEP file in the core files that it uses to work. It is the _EnableColorOptionsMMAT.package. It is found in PROGRAM FILES\EA Games\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Sims3D, it will have to go back there.

USB "thumb drives" are reaching commodity price levels ($15-$20 can get you a few GB's worth of storage)and then your neighborhood and suchlike can be transferred quickly and easily - exactly what I did in a similar situation.

Wouldn't it be easier to just reinstall CEP?

That's why I said to reinstall it in the first answer I gave. Snowbawl was asking if she could just transfer though, so I thought that I would be more specific in exactly how many files there were and where they were. To me, moving that file would be the same as re-installing anyway because I do the manual install. There is more then one way to install it. Moving one extra file and dropping it back into it's correct location is hardly any more of a process then redownloading it and reinstalling it with the installer, unless you use the lighting config that comes with the installer as well.

Unless their operating systems are different. My XP desktop can't see my Vista laptop.

My Vista machine can see my XP machine, my Linux machines and my Mac. The problem is with your settings.

They should, the only complications that should arise is with moving things from the Vista to the Xp. The Xp to the Vista should be fine however ...unless I am thinking of something else.

On your Vista rig, you need to manually set the folders you want to see to "Shared."  And if you have Norton firewall, shut it off (I've heard it's worthless anyway.)  ;D

Are you intending to reinstall the game on your new computer?  I assume yes.  If so all you need to transfer is everything from your document folder that is in EA Games\The Sims 2.   This way you are assured that have absolutely everything.

The absolute easiest way to transfer is to purchase a USB drive and transfer everything you want on it, and then back to the new computer.  A USB drive is a darn useful thing to have around, if for nothing else than backup/offline storage.

If you want to do it through a network, you must be ON a network.  For example, both your machines must be connected to the same network, typically the same router.  If you do not have a router, you can use a special cable called a cross-over cable.  However everyone who connects to the Internet should have a router, as it's an important security measure

In any case, you do not need to google anything.  Windows comes with a wizard that can set this up for you.  it's located in "my Network Places".  The wizard is called "Set up a Home or  or Small Office network".  It should set everything up for you.  Not sure how this will work between a vista and xp machine however, as the wizard was written pre-vista.  However if you set up the home network, you should at the very least be able to access your xp machine from Vista, if not the reverse.


Note:  If anyone is interested, my plan to reinstall The Sims 2 without having to reinstall a million CD's, worked beautifully. I just copied over the files, and imported the necessary registry keys and voila. 

I don't use Norton so I can't say much about it, but I use Mcafee firewall, and when it detects a new network, it asks if it should trust the network.  If you say yes, it will allow file sharing, among other things, within the internal network.  However, never choose to trust a network, unless it's your own, properly locked down, and secured router.  You should never do that in a cafe for example,  or if you (gasp) connect straight to the Internet without a router, or if you did not lock down your own wireless router.