Sims 2 won't start after university expansion installed!

After i installed the university expansion pack,which i received today,the sims 2 won't start!I get a message along the lines of...

Failed to find directx 9.0c compatible graphics adapter and have installed latest drivers from manufacturer.The application will now terminate.

The sims 2 deluxe edition(one with nightlife and bonus dvd) was installed saturday when i received it and it worked fine then.Failed after the university exapansion was installed today.I also updated my ati drivers from 9.5 to 9.6 yesterday evening although i don't know if there is any connection.I've tried running in xp compatible mode and as administrator,but no dice.Thanks for any help you can provide me.

I'm going to try rebooting to see if that helps.

I have E8400,4GB RAM,ATI Radeon 3850 512MB,Gigabyte GA-EP45T-UD3P mb,Vista Home Premium 64-bit.

I tried rebooting,but that failed to do anything!It seems that the sims 2 can't find my video card and/or the driver!Don't know if yesterdays update of my ati drivers from 9.5 to 9.6 caused the issue or installing university expansion pack.Don't know what to do need some help.

I'll go check and see if i installed the wrong drivers,but i suspect not or they wouldn't work!

I uninstalled university expansion pack and tried running only the sims 2 deluxe and it failed also.Must be my drivers.I'll try reverting to 9.5 and see what happens.

try downloading the newest directx files you might be missing one.

link below

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&displaylang=en&Hash=SFPYpa%2bGLW7dEl4LeKnPKvIh1Ya57VWtwVWp6SF92TfYGLndaINh74g2qZn%2bZDgblvy%2b%2baxLiKpMdylaKcQzlg%3d%3d

I uninstalled ati catalyst 9.6,but had a blue screen event.Don't know what happened because i had to rush to the bathroom and missed whatever messages passed by.Typical....anyway,i uninstalled the 9.6 drivers since a bluescreen event occurred and it probably didn't finish the uninstall.After i uninstalled 9.6 drivers,i installed the 9.5 drivers from my c:/ati/support/9-5_vista64_win7_64_dd_ccc_wdm_enu/driver directory using the setup.exe icon there.

Well,i got this message after the 9.5 drivers were installed....

No ati graphics installed or the ati driver is not functioning properly.Please install the ati driver appropriate for your ati hardware.

I uninstalled the 9.5 drivers and am currently driverless.Only using whatever basic graphics driver came with vista.I wonder if my video card is broken?Unfortunately,i'm hungry,so i'll have to open my computer case and inspect my card later.I'll be awaiting any replies and will return in an hour after opening up my case and seeing if something is loose.

Here's the bluescreen event info if it can help anyone.This happened during uninstallation of ati catalyst 9.6 drivers.Now back to my meal.....


Product
Windows

Problem
Shut down unexpectedly

Date
6/29/2009 6:21 PM

Status
Not Reported

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.0.6002.2.2.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033

Files that help describe the problem
Mini062909-01.dmp
sysdata.xml
Version.txt

Extra information about the problem
BCCode: 19
BCP1: 0000000000000022
BCP2: FFFFF88009580000
BCP3: 0000000000000001
BCP4: 0000000000000000
OS Version: 6_0_6002
Service Pack: 2_0
Product: 768_1

I checked device manager and notice under display adapters that the icon for the standard vga graphics adapter has a yellow sign with exclamation point.Selecting properties i see under the general tab that device status is "this device cannot start.(code:10)".Don't know if this helps or not,but i put it out there for anyone in the know that can help me resolve this issue so i can get the sims 2 going again.

I opened the case and looked at the video card and it looks ok.It was firmly mounted and the power cable to the card from the power supply was firmly in place as was the video card fan cable between the video card fan to the video card board.Nothing i can find out of place.

I should note it's 92 right now temperature wise.It was around 100-105 today and the case is HOT from use since around 8am to now!I have a funny feeling it died in the head.Why?I don't know.My old computer had a x1800 video card that lasted in this heat for over 4 years.Maybe the 3850 i got was somewhat defective.

In device manager where the standard vga adapter is i just updated driver and my 3850 is recognized.Now to try the game and see what happens.

Nope game didn't start! Still get....

Failed to find directx 9.0c compatible graphics adapter and have installed latest drivers from manufacturer.The application will now terminate.

I am using driver version 8.5 that was installed using device manager so my 3850 would be recognized since it wasn't before.I give up for now!If anyone can help me please do so!I'm stumped.All i can do is retry installing ati catalyst 9.6 and try again and maybe reinstall the sims 2 all over again.

try downloading the newest directx files you might be missing one.

link below

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...laKcQzlg%3d%3d

According to the directx web installer....

Directx setup has determined that a newer or equivilent version of directx has been installed already.No installation is necessary.

I'm up to date,unless something is wrong somewhere with a corrupt file(s) or registry entry.

I tried installing ati catalyst 9.6 and had a bluescreen event.I noticed the word "bad pool header" before my computer rebooted.Any idea what this is?I'll try reinstalling ati catalyst 9.5 and see what that does.

I successfully installed ati catalyst 9.5,but the sims 2 doesn't start.

As it stands i have the most current drivers and directx.I have the sims 2 deluxe edition and university expansion pack installed.Nothing starts up.Why i have no idea!Maybe i need to mess around with the ati catalyst settings.I'm going to try running the sims 2 again with xp sp2 compatability and administrator.Might try disabling visual themes and desktop composition also.Disable display scaling on high dpi settings may be worth a try also.

tried running with xp sp2 compatability,run as administrator,disabled visual themes ,disabled desktop composition,and disabled display scaling on high dpi settings.No go.I'm fresh out of ideas(and energy).It's up to you folks to find the answer.I'm too tired now.I'll see you tommorroww.

http://www.vistax64.com/graphic-cards/234944-i-got-clistart-exe-bad-image-error-message.htmlI'm going to start a new thread in the graphic cards section since it seems i have a graphics card problem probably not specific to the sims 2 and will get wider attention than focusing on just folks that play sims 2 and check my thread out.

http://www.vistax64.com/graphic-cards/234944-i-got-clistart-exe-bad-image-error-message.html

FYI,i installed ati catalyst 9.2 and sims 2 and expansion packs work at last(mine being university and open for business).I noticed 9.3+ had besides win vista64bit drivers also served, apparently, as win 7 beta or win 7 drivers(i think that's why the sims 2 didn't work..pure guess).If your an ati vid card owner try ati catalyst 9.2 and see what happens with the sims 2.Some of you may have no problems with the latest drivers,but not me.Again ati catalyst 9.2 if your having problems with the sims 2 and the latest ati catalyst.Hopefully,this stands and i don't have any further problems.