If weather is the problem and you can't solve it with new drivers, try the Seasons & Weather Controller from
www.simwardrobe.com. You can then just turn the weather completely off on your legacy lot (but you can also create weather when your sim has a want to "see snow" etc. However, if this is not acceptable in the challenge you are playing, I guess there are other ways of getting rid of the weather that are acceptable, just more fiddly.
You also mention having some CC from Maxoid Monkey. I believe there was a problem with some of the things, I seem to remember an issue with the topiaries and the computer, so it might be worth checking this out.