Most recent install of Sims 2 Pets has CPU Usage inflating to 100%

omgmizzle · 01-27-2008, 08:03 PM

In Sims 2, there are a few loading screens: starts with plain black, goes to a blue one, then the "EA games one" and the green "morphing" one, if you don't click your mouse.

As some of you who read my HijackThis log board would know, we had a very bad virus on our system that recently required us to completely reinstall windows and clear our hardrive off. Therefore, our hardrive has 95% free space. We reinstalled all the drivers and had Windows do all its updates; we are now good to go and having NO problems at all, besides this one.

Well, the most progress I can get is the plain black screen. This has never happened before, only the most recent install has had Sims 2 going bonkers. I opened Windows Task Manager the first time that it wouldn't load, canceled the process, reopened the program and it loaded scot-free. This second time, today? No. I couldn't get past the black screen, and Sims 2 wouldn't allow me to start on the Sims 2 disc rather than the Pets expansion disc. It gave me an error that said "You are not starting with the correct disc. Start with Pets 2" (different words, same basic message). The other interesting fact that I found was that Pets was making the CPU Usage go up to 100% (this has never happened before, even with tons of programs AND both sims 2 games open, the most it would ever go is 30%). Now, this is interesting because we have extra memory installed, way more than is required for both games to run.

We uninstalled Pets and now it works fine, but any Sims 2 lover would know it's not easy to forego expansion packs after you've grown used to them. Beyong that, my Seasons 1 disc is gone, so I'll be absolutely mental if I can't get this problem sorted out and be able to reinstall Pets so I can play my game and not constantly be deranged about how little extra wallpapers, objects, etc. is on there...

So, tech masters, help please?

omgmizzle · 01-27-2008, 08:16 PM

So, I'm thinking these are the options:
1. Problem with the extra installed memory - corrupt/uninstalled after the system clear?
2. Problem with the game/disc: maybe forgetting to uninstall it when reinstalling Windows set it off
3. Both

I asked a SimMaster to see if they could think of anything that would cause it, but all I had were regular people asking me the same questions I asked before.

Video card is perfectly fine, we SHOULDN'T have a problem with the memory but we do. Tell me if this should be in a different, section, because I feel like it's a mix of both problems which is why I had it in the Gaming section.

P.S.: I remembered to turn off antivirus programs when installing and turning on the games. This may or may not be important.

omgmizzle · 01-28-2008, 04:01 PM

I checked the System Requirements lab (systemrequirementslab.com), and according to them our video card isn't fast/good enough, so we should replace it. However, this doesn't make any sense to me because it's worked in the past, and it even worked with two expansion packs installed.

Here are the specs:

CPU
Recommended: Pentium 4 or Athlon XP equivalent
You Have: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+
PASS
CPU Speed
Recommended: 2.4 GHz
You Have: 1.99 GHz Performance Rated at 3.20 GHz
PASS
System RAM
Recommended: 512 MB
You Have: 894.5 MB
PASS
Operating System
Recommended: Windows XP
You Have: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
PASS
Video Card
Recommended: 128 MB 3D accelerated video card (NVIDIA GeForce 6600+/ ATI Radeon 9700+)
You Have: ATI RADEON Xpress 200 Series (ATI display adapter (0x5954))
FAIL: Sorry, your video card does not meet this recommended requirement. Upgrading to a more powerful video card will make all your applications look better. Click the 'We Recommend' button to see some great options.
Video Card Features - Minimum attributes of your Video Card

Video RAM: Required - 128 MB , You have - 128.0 MB
Video Card 3D Acceleration: Required - Yes , You have - Yes
Video HW Transform & Lighting: Required - Yes , You have - Yes
Vertex Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 2.0
Pixel Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 2.0

Video Card Driver Version (DirectX)
Your driver version number is: 6.14.10.6525
FYI: Your video card driver version is provided for your information, but it is not part of this analysis. But proper video card driver versions are important to the proper operation of your product.
DirectX Version
Recommended: 9.0c (included)
You Have: 9.0c
PASS
Sound Card
Recommended: Yes
You Have: Realtek AC'97 Audio
PASS
Sound Card Driver Version
Your driver version number is: 5.10.0.6270
FYI: Your sound card driver version is provided for your information, but it is not part of this analysis. But proper sound card driver versions are important to the proper operation of your product.
Free Disk Space
Recommended: 3.5 GB
You Have: 138.0 GB
PASS
DVD
Recommended: 8x DVD-ROM. This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some DVD-ROM, DVD-RW and virtual drives.
You Have: TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H552B
PASS, but the Speed could NOT be analyzed.

01-27-2008, 08:03 PM	#1 (permalink)
omgmizzle Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 71 OS: Windows Vista	Most recent install of Sims 2 Pets has CPU Usage inflating to 100% In Sims 2, there are a few loading screens: starts with plain black, goes to a blue one, then the "EA games one" and the green "morphing" one, if you don't click your mouse. As some of you who read my HijackThis log board would know, we had a very bad virus on our system that recently required us to completely reinstall windows and clear our hardrive off. Therefore, our hardrive has 95% free space. We reinstalled all the drivers and had Windows do all its updates; we are now good to go and having NO problems at all, besides this one. Well, the most progress I can get is the plain black screen. This has never happened before, only the most recent install has had Sims 2 going bonkers. I opened Windows Task Manager the first time that it wouldn't load, canceled the process, reopened the program and it loaded scot-free. This second time, today? No. I couldn't get past the black screen, and Sims 2 wouldn't allow me to start on the Sims 2 disc rather than the Pets expansion disc. It gave me an error that said "You are not starting with the correct disc. Start with Pets 2" (different words, same basic message). The other interesting fact that I found was that Pets was making the CPU Usage go up to 100% (this has never happened before, even with tons of programs AND both sims 2 games open, the most it would ever go is 30%). Now, this is interesting because we have extra memory installed, way more than is required for both games to run. We uninstalled Pets and now it works fine, but any Sims 2 lover would know it's not easy to forego expansion packs after you've grown used to them. Beyong that, my Seasons 1 disc is gone, so I'll be absolutely mental if I can't get this problem sorted out and be able to reinstall Pets so I can play my game and not constantly be deranged about how little extra wallpapers, objects, etc. is on there... So, tech masters, help please?

01-27-2008, 08:16 PM	#2 (permalink)
omgmizzle Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 71 OS: Windows Vista	Re: Most recent install of Sims 2 Pets has CPU Usage inflating to 100% So, I'm thinking these are the options: 1. Problem with the extra installed memory - corrupt/uninstalled after the system clear? 2. Problem with the game/disc: maybe forgetting to uninstall it when reinstalling Windows set it off 3. Both I asked a SimMaster to see if they could think of anything that would cause it, but all I had were regular people asking me the same questions I asked before. Video card is perfectly fine, we SHOULDN'T have a problem with the memory but we do. Tell me if this should be in a different, section, because I feel like it's a mix of both problems which is why I had it in the Gaming section. P.S.: I remembered to turn off antivirus programs when installing and turning on the games. This may or may not be important. Last edited by omgmizzle; 01-27-2008 at 08:20 PM.

01-28-2008, 04:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
omgmizzle Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 71 OS: Windows Vista	Re: Most recent install of Sims 2 Pets has CPU Usage inflating to 100% I checked the System Requirements lab (systemrequirementslab.com), and according to them our video card isn't fast/good enough, so we should replace it. However, this doesn't make any sense to me because it's worked in the past, and it even worked with two expansion packs installed. Here are the specs: CPU Recommended: Pentium 4 or Athlon XP equivalent You Have: AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+ PASS CPU Speed Recommended: 2.4 GHz You Have: 1.99 GHz Performance Rated at 3.20 GHz PASS System RAM Recommended: 512 MB You Have: 894.5 MB PASS Operating System Recommended: Windows XP You Have: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) PASS Video Card Recommended: 128 MB 3D accelerated video card (NVIDIA GeForce 6600+/ ATI Radeon 9700+) You Have: ATI RADEON Xpress 200 Series (ATI display adapter (0x5954)) FAIL: Sorry, your video card does not meet this recommended requirement. Upgrading to a more powerful video card will make all your applications look better. Click the 'We Recommend' button to see some great options. Video Card Features - Minimum attributes of your Video Card Video RAM: Required - 128 MB , You have - 128.0 MB Video Card 3D Acceleration: Required - Yes , You have - Yes Video HW Transform & Lighting: Required - Yes , You have - Yes Vertex Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 2.0 Pixel Shader Ver.: Required - 2.0 , You have - 2.0 Video Card Driver Version (DirectX) Your driver version number is: 6.14.10.6525 FYI: Your video card driver version is provided for your information, but it is not part of this analysis. But proper video card driver versions are important to the proper operation of your product. DirectX Version Recommended: 9.0c (included) You Have: 9.0c PASS Sound Card Recommended: Yes You Have: Realtek AC'97 Audio PASS Sound Card Driver Version Your driver version number is: 5.10.0.6270 FYI: Your sound card driver version is provided for your information, but it is not part of this analysis. But proper sound card driver versions are important to the proper operation of your product. Free Disk Space Recommended: 3.5 GB You Have: 138.0 GB PASS DVD Recommended: 8x DVD-ROM. This game contains technology intended to prevent copying that may conflict with some DVD-ROM, DVD-RW and virtual drives. You Have: TSSTcorp CD/DVDW TS-H552B PASS, but the Speed could NOT be analyzed.