Member Avatar for tez

Having recently installed XP Home on my PC I now find I cannot install daughter's original SIMS game although the Expansion Packs would seem to be OK- if the original Sims could be installed. I know it cannot as it relies on DOS but is there a patch, file, cheat or whatever to permit the installation, or are all the Exp packs now useless?
Thanks, Tez

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Dani AI

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: quick clarification before troubleshooting — the original The Sims is a Windows 95/98–era Windows program (not a pure DOS title), and later re-releases (the "Complete Collection") were packaged with explicit XP support. That mismatch (old Win9x expectations vs. a newer host OS) is why the installer or the engine can fail on some machines. (en.wikipedia.org)

If you want to keep using the original discs, try these non-destructive next steps (they complement the hints from and ): run the game installer through the Program Compatibility Wizard and test a Win98/Windows 2000/XP compatibility setting; install the base game first (expansions look for the base install/registry entries); copy the disc to a hard-folder and run setup from there if the CD is flaky; and make sure any required DirectX/redistributables from the game folder are installed. The Compatibility Wizard documentation is a good reference for the exact steps. (learn.microsoft.com)

If those fail or you are on a 64‑bit host (where old 16‑bit installers or subsystems aren’t supported), the most reliable approach is to create a small virtual machine, install a 32‑bit Windows (98/2000/XP), and run the Sims + expansions inside that VM — VirtualBox is a free option many people use. Note: 64‑bit Windows does not include the NTVDM 16‑bit subsystem, so virtualisation is the safer path on newer or 64‑bit systems. (virtualbox.org)

If you tell us which Sims disc (base or Complete Collection), what exact XP build (32- or 64-bit), and whether the expansions are original discs or the Complete Collection, I can give a short step‑by‑step for whichever route you prefer.

Recommended Answers

All 14 Replies

Member Avatar for Catweazle

The original Sims game requires administrator rights in order to run. Are you using a restricted user account on that system? If so, the game will not run within that environment. It has to be installed and run from an account with full administrator provileges.

Member Avatar for kingy55

hi yeah you my need to patch the game or try reinstalling the original sims but take off any expansion packs first

Member Avatar for jbennet

No it should work fine. Works fine for me on XP, just remember you have to run it as an admin.

Member Avatar for neebski

Hi, I was wondering how I could patch the game to allow it to be run with out administrative rights. I keep my sisters computer locked down so she does not mess anything up considering she has had several viruses on the thing.

Your help would be greatly appreciated and will get her off my back,

Thanks again!
- Kevin

Member Avatar for jbennet

You cant really, its just because it was designed for DOS, not NT.
Most games need admin rights (generally because of copy protection)

Member Avatar for neebski

You cant really, its just because it was designed for DOS, not NT.

Even Sims 2? Sorry for not specifying before. Also is there any word with Sims 3 - will it have this issue?

Thanks again,
-Kevin

Member Avatar for jbennet

Sims2 and Sims3 are designed for NT, but still require an administrator account due to the copy protection employed.

Member Avatar for neebski

EA really needs to change that... It makes it impossible to deal with!

Well thank you for the help. I guess I'll try and find some sort of work around that I feel comfortable with.

-Kevin

Member Avatar for jbennet

Its because SecuRom and SafeDisc need to install and communicate with a kernel-level driver for thier anti-copy crapware

Member Avatar for Malagosto

On my computer, I have the sims deluxed editon, and the sims unleashed expansion pack installed. When i click on it to go into it, it will go through all the loading, but right before it lets you start the game, it exits out, and closes. i've tried restarting it, i've tried uninstalling it, then re-installing it, nothing works.

Does anyone know what's wrong?

Member Avatar for jbennet

Are you an administrator?
What are your system specs?

Ive run Sims Deluxe on XP Sp2/Pentium 4/1gb ram/ATI x600 256mb with no problems

Member Avatar for Malagosto

what's a administrator?


i have windows xp

Member Avatar for jbennet

If you are the only user on your computer, you will have an administrator account.

If not, you may have an account with limited privileges to install software, change system settings etc...

Member Avatar for Malagosto

ya, it's a administrator account. I also have 2 other accounts on my computer, but they won't delete, and they don't work.

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