Pentium 4 3ghz
2 GB ram
100 GB C: drive 50% empty
nvidia xfx 8500 gt 512 MB dedicated 756 shared
windows vista ultimate

i have all the expansions and stuff packs until kitchen and bath interior stuff.
i installed updates for my base game and all expansions
i had the problem since before i installed custom content

the pie menu for actions like i press on a Sim or on a object like a fridge almost always disappears the moment it appears. i can still play Sims it just makes it very hard to do so. i couldn't post a picture since there is no way of showing this problem with a picture. the problem occurred the first time i played the game after installation.

Are you using the touchpad on a laptop, and if so have you tried plugging in a mouse? Or using a different mouse?

i have a desktop and i tried different mouses

Have you tried playing with no custom content? I'm not saying custom content is the problem, but it may be the amount.

It happens in my game a little especially when theres either a big lot being played or lots of sims on the lot.

Also going back to what whiterider said i would say also to update any mouse driver files/software.

i tried playing with no custom content.
i have usb plug and play mouses with Microsoft provided drivers.
the game works fine with these mouses on other computers but the other computers are slower and don't have all the expansions.

In order to better solve your problem, please go through the following as listed below:

• General - Do the Game Problem FAQ
  You appear to have not gone through our main Game Help:Game Problem^wiki FAQ. Please go through and do the steps on this FAQ, including any others that it links to (for example the Game Help:Game Problem-Problem Custom Content^wiki FAQ).
  
  Usually, in the vast majority of cases, actually going through and doing the steps (doing, not just reading) fixes issues - sometimes you may be asked to remove custom content, or to patch - please rest assured that all of our FAQs have been tested by our staff and volunteers and we wouldn't suggest you do something unless it's been known to fix particular issues.
  

On occasion you might be asked to do a long FAQ - please make sure you do all the steps and don't just skip over them. You'll often find that these long FAQs have all the details you need. If nothing in the above FAQs fixes your problem you may post again detailing exactly which you have done and which steps failed.

OK, so i have tried everything there: i removed custom content, i removed user files and i updated my game from base to most recent expansion pack or stuff pack. the error did not go away. should i reinstall my game

Don't bother reinstalling.

I have been having the same exact problem for the past three days.

I've updated my drivers installed the latest patches; then I uninstalled the game completely deleted all the remaining folders in My Documents and Program Files, reinstalled the entire game and I'm still having the same problem.


ps

I've found this post about the same problem on another web site, here's the link.

http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/ge...&topic=42652420

It didn't help me any but it my help you. If you find a solution please share.

Let me just make sure I'm understanding.. the same mouse on the jumpy computer works fine on other computers. Additionally, you've tried several other mice on the jumpy computer, none of which have not fixed it, but they also work fine on other computers. I would say in this case your problem is not the mouse.

Are you plugging all the mice into the same port? If you're normally plugging the mouse into a ps2 port can you plug it into a usb, or via versa? Often times newer mice come with adapters..

Maybe an odd suggestion.. but do you have another keyboard you can trade out?

You've installed all patches for all games.. meaning looks like in your case 10 patches?

kayceefrances: Just because you had one experience doesn't mean it's not worth reinstalling. The people who tend to have this "unfixable" jump issues tend to be ones with laptops.. this person doesn't have a laptop.

all my mouses are usb, for some reason they don't work on my ps2 port

i can try a different keyboard, ill post back on that

yes 10 patches installed

Have you tried them in different USB ports?

ya i tried diifferent usb ports

Have you tried changing your mouse settings? Slowing down the pointer or play with other settings? Also exactly what mouse model do you have? Microsoft's mice are plug and play but you can still download software for them. Maybe the software will help.

I think at this point I would recommend reinstalling. Running out of ideas.. First remove your entire EA Games folder from My Docs to the desktop so you don't lose it when you uninstall. Then uninstall and expansions, stuff packs and finally the base game. Uninstall CEP too. Restart your computer and then check under Program Files that your entire EA Games folder has been deleted there. If there's any sims content remaining, delete it. Then do a fresh installation of base game, patch, do not add back your user files! and play the game to see if it's jumpy. If it works go on and install the next expansion, patch, and test again. If installing a certain expansion brings back the jumpy you know it's a problem with that expansion. If at any time installing an expansion brings the jumpy then uninstall that expansion and test your game (make sure the jumpy went away). Once the game works again continue testing with the next expansion. Since you said other working computers don't have as many expansions, maybe it's a problem with one of your disks.

Also, if your mouse is one of these fancy programmable mice that runs a little program in the background, try switching that off (usually these programs show a little icon in the taskbar). My brother had an issue on his PC with a mouse not functioning in game correctly and this worked for him, so it's worth a try.

Is your meeses (mice) compatable with windows vista ultimate?
Also have you tried the manufacturers latest driver files?
NOT standard microsoft driver files..
Also if you are using a optical mouse with a nice blinding light coming from the bottom of it try putting something dark underneath it as a mousemat and see what happens.

OK i reinstalled, this time when i tried the base game only with its patch (its not compatible with windows vista ultimate without the patch) i had the same problem. i didn't install anything else, i actually reinstalled it many times.

my mouses are just standard plug and play mouses, no driver supplied and i don't think updates are need, i changed the mouse settings. i even got a new keyboard and mouse and still the problem is still there.

every time i try something new, it seems to work but after a few seconds it disappears. the pie menu sometimes disappears quickly and sometimes it remains there for a few seconds before it disappears so i can still play if im quick.

since nothing is working i think it my be my cds, they could be corrupt, i think ill just get a new copy. ill post back if the problem consists.

now im mad because i just purchased a Sims 2 base game cd and i still have the problem, it wont go away, i ran out of things to do, the problem is somewhere in my computer but i don't know what it is.

Well that graphics card is unsupported and known to have problems with the game but it would be a really odd error to have to do with a graphics card.. But since I'm running out of ideas too why don't you try updating your video drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

Can you try installing Sims on another user account?

Also I've known Sims not to work properly on Vista 64 bit and Ultimate but again not familiar with this particular problem. You know your computer specs are really not ideal to be running such a needy operating system, and you're getting ZERO benefit from Vista over XP. In fact, you would get far better performance with XP.

ETA: In fact.. Your p4 suggests you didn't always have Vista installed, correct? When you installed Vista did you do a fresh install or an upgrade install? Where did you get your Vista chipset drivers for that old motherboard? I think your problem is essentially your operating system/hardware/driver combination. I think your best bet is going to be totally reformatting your hard drive and do a fresh install of XP.

i can run vista pretty well, i just prefer it since it has more options over vista it is quite hard to go from vista to xp. i guess i just got used to a certain standard. i did have xp a while back but i switched to vista with a fresh installation.

it could be my video card since nvidia and windows vista keep telling me there are errors involving my video card.

my MSI motherboard drivers are supplied by MSI not Microsoft, they might be kind of old so ill see if i can update them.

i would switch to xp but only as a last resort but i don't mind reinstalling vista.

i think the problem may be solve, im worried it might return but for now its gone

i tried the game on a different user account and it worked, the pie menu stopped disapearing.

please do not lock this thread for another 3 days so if the problem returns i can post back.

thanks for your help callistra, mike19, simsample and whiterider

That means there's something installed on your other user account that's not on the newer account. That something is conflicting with the game. It would be something you could have installed or maybe just updated.. like an antivirus program... and had the issue occur after. That time line might help you narrow down what it is.

This post on using msconfig to remove all unnecessary background processes scheduled at start up might help get rid of it: http://modthesims2.com/showpost.php...45&postcount=21

If you have Norton AV or McAfee I recommend uninstalling it and install Avira or Avast!. Norton and McAfee have a lot of problems and don't protect as well either.

There are so many settings that are profile based, it would be difficult to guess what the cause was. It'll be interesting to see if this reoccurs.

well i cant narrow the problem down to anything since the problem was always there, it didn't just start after i installed something. either way my computer started having issues due to me trying to copy my settings to the new account. i had already backed up everything so i just formatted and installed vista ultimate. i haven't tried the game yet but im hoping the problem doesn't occur again.

Good luck, let us know how it goes!

Hey, I'm having the exact same problem.

Um, in my research, it seemed that this problem is happening to those who have Dell Inspiron 1501. It doesn't matter whether you have Vista or XP. And it seems most likely that some sort of Microsoft update triggered this bug.

I have found this "guaranteed solution" posted on one forum:
http://uoem.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15663.

A complete OS reformatting? Ugh. I've done a system restore to undo the damage done by recent Microsoft updates, but it hasn't worked. I really don't want to reformat just because of a game, but these updates make me wonder what else is wrong with my comp.

Anyone else has $0.02 to contribute?