Problem's I've been having with Pets

[Craigsters]

   Thought I'd mention this incase other people have also been having the same problem, and haven't reported it!..

 My Pets game wont start at times, it just launch's the wallpaper with the white back ground and wont go any further,  I double click on the pets shortcut it installed on my computer's  desktop and it still wouldn't start, I would turn off my PC for a hour and my game still wouldn't start, I un-installed the Pets, then re-installed it, and it start up ok, but then a few day's later same problem happen's!..

I bought my copy of pets over a month ago and lost the damn receipt, so yesterday I went to buy a new copy of Pets, and it did the exact samething on the new copy of Pets!..

 I've had the same OS since January 17th of this year, and I was also having PC problem's with clearing online address, passwords and usernames, windows would stop responding when I'd try and clear them, and my PC was getting slow, so  I backed up everything to my backup hard drive, and opened up my PC and disconnected my SATA backup drive from my motherboard  because Dell tech told me too!, and reformatted my main onboard hard drive that came with the PC and installed everything Brand new!..

Online program's I had on my  PC was netframe 2,  I think for some Sims 2 program that required it for use and I also had Ad-Aware SE Personal and spybotsd14, wouldn't run both at the sametime of course, and I use wordweb dictionary, and Eraser, eraser suposed to supposable  delete anything permanently from your computer  by writting over it with zero's and one's 31 times tell it's gone, same procccess it claim's the CIA uses!, and a program called readplease 2003, you paste text into readplease and it would read to you!, and finally I'd use mailwasher the free version before launching my Outlook Express to check for Spam mail!, don't think any of these have been the cause of my problem's, used them all for the last three years and this is the second PC I used them on!..

 My current PC is a Dell Dimension 8400, with a 3.4 Ghz Processor  Intel Pentium 4,  the video card is ATI 300x and I maxed out my Ram to 4 gigabytes of DDR2 ram,  damn Ram cost as much as a new PC, one hundred and seventy nine dollers plus  fifteen percent Canadian Taxes per 1 gig Stick!, installed all four Stick's last year, had a professional tech confirm that the Ram's installed right!, sorry don't know the front bus information of my PC!..

 If after this reformat I have the Same problem's with my Pets, I well have no choice but to buy a new PC!..

 

[Rose Outlaw]

I stopped reading after the second paragraph, but did you ever try the beloved delete groups.cache procedure to solve your problems?

BTW, wallpaper with white background? White? 

[Craigsters]

I meant White Splash Screen, that pop's up at beginning of the game launch!...

[ZiggyDoodle]

If after this reformat I have the Same problem's with my Pets, I well have no choice but to buy a new PC!..

That's certainly twisted thinking. 

I have the same computer:  Dell 8400, same processor, ATI X850XT graphics card, less RAM [2Gb] .NET Framework 2.0, all the EPs, and Pets plays perfectly.  What you did not name is the OS nor did you make any mention of running antivirus software.  Virus or Trojans could be the source of the system slowdowns.

The graphics card that is installed in that system stinks; it's an OEM card and you can save a lot of money by installing a new card over buying a new computer, however, you'll also have to upgrade the power supply unit and add a new card fan - visit and read the entire "Building/Upgrading a PC for TS2 - Update, 08 September 2006." And make sure to read the Dell Handbook which is (was) installed on your hard drive.  If you can't find it, visit the Dell Community Forums and download another copy.  http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/

Edit: Did you by chance update the driver on that X300 card?  http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

[theisz]

Buying a new PC is a bit extreme, well actually very extreme.  If updating the video drivers does not work I'd look into upgrading to a newer video card.  What you have is ok, but you could do a lot better.

Hell, if you can afford a new PC why not just upgrade to a BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express Graphics Card and a BFG 800-Watt ATX CPU Power Supply because you need this power supply to handle it.  It's what I have and well, let's say I'm more than happy with it.

It all depends on how much you want to spend.

[Craigsters]

If after this reformat I have the Same problem's with my Pets, I well have no choice but to buy a new PC!..

That's certainly twisted thinking. 

I have the same computer:  Dell 8400, same processor, ATI X850XT graphics card, less RAM [2Gb] .NET Framework 2.0, all the EPs, and Pets plays perfectly.  What you did not name is the OS nor did you make any mention of running antivirus software.  Virus or Trojans could be the source of the system slowdowns.

The graphics card that is installed in that system stinks; it's an OEM card and you can save a lot of money by installing a new card over buying a new computer, however, you'll also have to upgrade the power supply unit and add a new card fan - visit and read the entire "Building/Upgrading a PC for TS2 - Update, 08 September 2006." And make sure to read the Dell Handbook which is (was) installed on your hard drive.  If you can't find it, visit the Dell Community Forums and download another copy.  http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/

Edit: Did you by chance update the driver on that X300 card?  http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html

  I have windows XP SP2 on my pc and  I've been buying a new store bought copy of Norton AntiVirus for the  last  2 years in a row, I  was also using LimeWire Pro on my PC because I liked sharing my music, yea I know  that's a bad ideal, probably wont  re-install LimeWire Pro this time, sense all the mp3 album's are corrupted  at LimeWire!, and I use the free zone alarm because I'm used to it and I'm not sure about using the one provided by XP SP2!..

[gypsylady]

Try deleting the Groups cache

[Craigsters]

Try deleting the Groups cache

I haven't installed any games on my PC yet sense reformatting it, next time I'll try that!.. thx

[ZiggyDoodle]

I use the free zone alarm because I'm used to it and I'm not sure about using the one provided by XP SP2!..

That's good thinking since the XP firewall sucks.  What I really like about ZA is that you can instruct it to stop all Internet activity; nice option if you're hooked to cable/broadband and playing the game.

Just as a note, I have an older Dell w/ME installed that the kids use.  Can't recall what video card is installed (too lazy to boot it right now), but that system runs TS2 and Pets just fine as well.

You sure have jumped through some hoops trying to get things back together again; hope your efforts are rewarded.

[mistymage]

I'm hoping someone knowledgeable answers cos I'm having the same problem.  Checking taskmanager shows both the ~e and the simsep4 running but nothing happens .. at least not unless I open and close my disc drive.

Once running, everything else is smooth .. well except for not being able to get my pet a job in the newspaper .. monique's pc works in that regard. I'm off to poke around and look for a fix cos I don't always want a pc right off the bat in a house.

~misty

[Craigsters]

I just got off the phone with Dell tech, got them on this side of the world for a change , instead of outsourced Indie Dell tech, and the guy confirmed that there was a video drivers update for my video card, but I had to go to support.dell.com to install the drivers update sense Dell installed my OS and video card, at support.dell.com, if your un-assured   as to what to do, Dell tech well help you over the phone to get the proper driver's for your video card!, and that's if you own a Dell...