"The Sims" (safedisc 1.40.004)

[201flyer]

I'm pretty much a beginner when it comes to games, but I know something about computers....but I'm really stuck here.

I have two almost identical Dell Optiplex computers...my daughter's is the problem. Both have the same videocard (an ATI Radeon 128MB X600SE) and are WinXP SP2. The major difference would be that her's has the original DVD drive, and mine has an NEC DVD-RW. But of course there is different software on the two machines.

"The Sims" will load and run perfectly on my computer. Initially the program would not even load on hers. i.e., autorun would not launch the game to be loaded until I started the computer in safe mode. I then started it up normally and disabled all the startup items (using msconfig). The CD then allowed the game to be loaded. However, after loading it simply will not run. As soon as the game is launched it crashes (within a second) and I'm offered the lovely "tell Microsoft" window crap. This is with all the startup programs disabled. I've also tried various settings by right clicking on the .exe file and changing some parameters. If I select change screen resolution it slows the crash long enough to change the resolution first.

I don't know if this is a SafeDisc problem...the disc I am running is the original and it appears to be in flawless condition (and it runs perfectly on the sister machine).

Any and all ideas will be greatly appreciated!!

[201flyer]

OK - I think I solved my problem. I'll post it here in case anyone else runs into a similar issue.

1. go to "world wide web".macrovision.com/promolanding/7352.htm

(I had no version of Safedisc on my WinXP...not sure why)

2. I must disable Spybot Search and Destroy to get the game to load.