Vista - the sims 2 has stopped working ?! :[ helpp

i had my sims 2 cd installed for sometime now on my Dell Inspiron 1545
but whenever i want to start it up so i can play, only the splash screen comes up and a box right after saying . .

"The Sims 2 has stopped working.. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available."

i have already tried downloading the patch on the sims 2 website
and i also tried running on administrator. but still it doesnt work.

DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW TO FIX THIS? =[
i been searching for a solution for a while. i just want to play my gamee

This is what I have . .

Windows Vista Home Premium
Inspiron 1525
Intel Pentium Dual CPU T3200 @ 2.00 GHz
2.00 GB
32-bit Operating System

hello xx1talysfineztx.
has the game ever worked on this computer or has it crashed since the install ?, do all your other games run ok, if it has never ran then i would try re-installing and patching and see if that helps, if nothing else it gives you a clean copy to work with and try to fix, if you have been searching for a solution you will have done the drivers and admin thing so i wont bore you with that.

We had the same problem with a Dell Studio 15 but after going to the Sims site and doing the patch it still would freeze when creating Sims characters. I read multiple forums and did one thing I came across that worked. Update graphic card from manufacturer site not from Microsoft Update Driver wizard because the manufacturer site is more up to date with drivers. It worked!!!