I've looked everywhere for an answer, so I'm here. I can't even imagine when it began. Lately, when I add new custom content and go into the lot, I would go to a category (such as Windows and Doors) and the game will crash. When I remove the new content, then it will run. I've used Sims2 Pack Clean Installer to check, I've used Delphys Organizer to check, I've used the Hack Conflict Utility program and nothing shows corrupt or duplicate or nothing???? Any ideas as to why this would happen?? Thanks for your help.

The HCDU can only check for certain kinds of direct conflicts. This game is sufficiently complicated that chaos theory applies - there is no way to predict with confidence how any two mods will react to each other under all conditions, or how any one mod will work in every possible system.

The first thing to do is to go back where you got it and make sure that you got the version designed to work best with your game configuration. Also, sometimes, something goes wrong during download, and the file goes bad. So it's worth redownloading the custom content and trying again. Sometimes two mods that appear to have nothing to do with each other with interfere with each other, so if you really like the content it may be worth it to test your game with nothing else in the downloads folder. If the mod is the only thing there, and the game crashes, then sorry, you just can't use it and unless you know a lot about code there's no hope of understanding why. If it doesn't, though, then you know that it conflicts with another mod, do the 50/50 procedure as outlined in the Game Help FAQ to find out which one, and then you can decide which one you want to keep.

Remember, programming glitches don't have to make sense at the macro level where we see them. We all have our stories. A blouse, a mod that adjusted LTA gain and incidentally froze the vacation clock, but only on some computers, on and on and on - into each Sims 2 game, some inexplicable problem must fall.

Thank you. I'll try this route and get back here to report. I did delete some files I thought might be useless so maybe it will help.

Well I'm back. Game still doing this. I've tried all I can to solve this.
Things I've done:
1. Cleared caches
2. Ran Delphys Organisor - Nothing bad showed up
3. Ran Clean Installer - Nothing bad showed up
4. Deleted files that would be no use to me and made sure they did not connect to vital items.
5. Ran Hack Conflict - Nothing bad

What else is there to do? Is there another diagnostic program out there that will help me find out why?
I tried reading the error log from the game, and it doesn't seem to give me a good reason why it's crashing or telling me what item(s) are causing it.
Is it that the game has limitations on how many downloads it will handle based on my computer specs?

My Computer Specs:
Item Value
OS Name Microsoft Windows 10 Pro
Version
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Dell Inc.
System Model OptiPlex 780
System Type x64-based PC
System SKU
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8500 @ 3.16GHz, 3159 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Dell Inc. A15, 8/6/2013
SMBIOS Version 2.5
Embedded Controller Version
BIOS Mode Legacy
BaseBoard Manufacturer Dell Inc.
BaseBoard Model Not Available
BaseBoard Name Base Board
Platform Role SOHO Server
Secure Boot State Unsupported
PCR7 Configuration Binding Not Possible
Windows Directory C:\WINDOWS
System Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version =
Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 8.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 7.84 GB
Available Physical Memory 4.79 GB
Total Virtual Memory 9.09 GB
Available Virtual Memory 5.83 GB
Page File Space 1.25 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys
Virtualization-based security Not enabled
Device Encryption Support Reasons for failed automatic device encryption: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Hardware Security Test Interface failed and device is not InstantGo, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable
Hyper-V - VM Monitor Mode Extensions Yes
Hyper-V - Second Level Address Translation Extensions No
Hyper-V - Virtualization Enabled in Firmware No
Hyper-V - Data Execution Protection Yes


Sims2Exception.log:
Exception time: 04/26/2018, at 13:32:01.
Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION.
Current thread ID: 9056 (0x00002360).
Version information:
Application/module path: C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSBin\Sims2ep9.exe
Application/module version name: The Sims 2 EP9
Application/module version: 1.17.0.66
System version: Windows NT 6.0
System memory: 2048 Megabytes total, 1756 Megabytes free.
Application/module configuration: ReleaseSRT


Extra Exception Data:

Shutdown: 0
HostName: DESKTOP-M59JC8U
MemoryUsage: 786024K
Neighborhood Name: Acorn Bend
Neighborhood Prefix: N174
Lot Name: Classic Terrace-Remodel
Extra Exception Data End:

Exception module: C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSBin\Sims2ep9.exe.
Exception address: 0x0081101d. Section:Offset: 0x01:0x0041001d.

Registers
EAX: 00000000
EBX: 21789980
ECX: 1a6cef3c
EDX: 00000114
ESI: 00000000
EDI: 1a6cef3c
CS:EIP: 0023:0081101d
SS:ESP: 002b:0253f054 EBP:00008000
DS:002b ES:002b FS:0053 GS:002b
Flags: 00010246



Any help is greatly appreciated.

@suzymarie64

There's no real shortcut, the best way to find the problematic content is by following this guide:

Game Help:Finding Problem Custom Content^wiki

Thanks @simsample
I'm also going to try and follow directions here too, see if that fixes it.
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=610641
This looks like this might be more of my problem here.

If the game crashes at a particular category (doors or deco/misc or small electronics, etc.) chances are you've downloaded a bad piece of CC. Don't always trust the conflict detectors to find these peices of CC, because they may not always do so.

The piece of CC can seem quite harmless, but perhaps it's an old piece of CC that isn't compatible with a certain EP, or it's got some bad code, or similar.

If you keep all the new downloads you haven't playtested in a separate folder, it's a lot easier to find problem CC.

Also, try to delete the cache files when you add or remove a lot of CC, because those files can potentially be the main cause of the game crashing.

The hack conflict detector is for mods(hacks) using the same line of code, CI shows you what something is not if it's corrupt and same for those other programs. Unfortunately we don't have a program that shows corrupt CC, would make finding it much easier.

All we have is the good old-fashioned search. If you have something in build crashing your game you need to find and remove it and the only way to tell if it is; is to load your game with just that item and test then load your game without that item (nothing) and test. That is the only way we have of knowing If something is a bad piece of CC, player testing. If you have no idea where in your download folder the bad cc is its time for the 50/50 search, a good book and some chocolate. We have all done one or two or... three.

Didn't want to delete this thread, but issue is solved. Thanks for all the help.

What was it?

Fixed it with the 4GB Patch, Standy Memory was not being used for game, so Jessa's post on fixing that helped.

Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION

Don't know if anyone else noticed that in the post with OP's computer specs. I bet it had to do with memory and doing one or more of the steps in the "How to Stop Sims 2 Crashing (Memory Allocation Fix and 4GB Patch Repair)" thread fixed it.

Edit: Wait. What? Who snuck OP's reply in before this post?!? I SWEAR that wasn't there when I posted this! (But I *was* right!!!)

ok, I'm back. Still crashing after installing new content. It was just a set of windows and crashed. If I take it out, it runs again. Strange.

Now I have a question about Virtual Memory. After trying the 4GB patch, still game is not reading 4096. First, is that patch made only for Ultimate Collection? I'm running on CD's.

Next, Virtual Memory. I'm looking at mine now and it reads.....

Minimum allowed: 16 MB
Recommended: 1899 MB
Currently allocated: 1280 MB

Is it safe to bump this up and to what size for Windows 10 with 8GB Memory? I think this may be my problem with crashing. Can't see it being anything else.
I am uploading my recent Crash Log. How do you tell what it is crashing from in it?

I don't think the game can access more than 4 GB with the patch, because of how the game is built up. Most personal PCs back in 2004/05 didn't have that much memory, and those that did were expensive. XP was also a preferred OS back then, and it didn't have the issue the pach fixes (My 512 mb memory XP laptop would frequently throw a message something like "out of memory, accessing virtual memory" meaning it would access slower virtual memory from the harddrive or some such). From what I gather, the patch makes the games behave more like they'd do on a computer with XP installed. The game was only ever meant to be used with a max of 2 GB memory. This is a problem with newer Windows versions, because the way memory was handled was changed in later OS versions, starting with Vista.

I still think there's a bad piece of CC lurking in your downloads, since trying to access windows get the crash treatment. It does seem like you've got a problem with windows (not the OS, but the CC kind). If that set of windows crashes your game, don't bother with them. If you absolutely do want them in your game, do you have a link? Maybe someone can figure out why they don't work for you.

If it's not those windows, it's possible you've downloaded houses with bad CC, and the issue might be there (I had a borked fire alarm that caused crashing in the small electronics category, and found that culprit in both CC folders for houses and as a separate download - I really liked the look of it, so I made it deco, but removed the working versions, which fixed the problem). Also keep in mind that if the set of windows was added in a house and you download an updated version, the two different versions can potentially make the game crash. You should do a 50/50 seach if you can't find the piece of CC in other ways.

@simmer22 Thank you. Your advice is well noted, but, still, how do you tell in this log what crashed the game? Delphy's and Clean Installer is not showing me any corrupt or empty or orphan downloads. Which Program does?? How can I tell what CC is causing this? I've added other CC to my game before the windows and they all do the same thing. When I add the CC the game crashes. When I take them out it runs again.

Stuff I've added and had to take back out:

Window Set just downloaded today
Free No Obligation Windows
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=584075

Imagine That Fire Escapes
https://rdnussimaginethat.blogspot....excape-set.html

TSR Living Dead Girl's High Voltage Cabinets:
https://www.thesimsresource.com/art...oxes/id/872205/

TSR-Spaik Curved Staircase:
https://www.thesimsresource.com/dow...-set/id/668863/

From here Sup@tramp House Numbers:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=93932

These are just a few of recent downloads, there are many others that I have had doing the same thing.

how many downloads do you have? maybe you've reached your limit? (you can test: if you're doing your downloads somewhere safe and install only the new content, running the game (test hood, not your hood your playing with) and when with the new content the game runs, the cc is okay.) Just a suggestion, how i test sometimes-
and backup files before doing anything is alway recommended

I'm guessing, mostly because you say the crashing happens when you put in the downloads and stops when you take them out. Unless you're putting in a huge amount at a time (several GBs worth), a few items shouldn't cause memory crashes on their own (unless you already have a very full CC folder, and those items are the drop overflowing the glass, memory-wise).

The scanning tools might not pick up on small things, like a line of missing code or a wrongly linked slave recolor (slaved meshes can crash your game - I've had my game crash more than enough times because of a missing line or a bad reference or some such). They may not pick up on all items that aren't compatible with your setup of EP/SPs, either. These objects will often make the game crash on startup (when the game is loading in the object and finds a big error), when trying to access a lot with the object present in them, when opening the category or getting to the sequence of where the object would be visible in the buy/build/CAS thumbnails, when clicking on the object and trying to place it, or when a sim tries to use the object or you try to apply the CAS item to them. The object can also work fine on one lot, but crash on another because it detects a conflict within that lot (another object, or maybe even undiciplined pets wanting to tear them up if they're not Pts compatible).

I don't know what's causing the crashes in your game, but I have a few possible theories.

One of LDG's meshes kept crashing my game (the fire alarm from a school set), so there's a possibility the culprit is there. The items are clones from a table and the Chimes sculpture, so they don't immediately look like troublesome items (can't understand the logic of making them tables, though).

The staircases are old, pre-AL/M&G by the looks of it (may 2008, from the first comment), so they might not be supported by AL/M&G (came out in August and November 2008). AL/M&G c hanged quite a bit of things, so it's not certain modified build items are fully compatible. The download also says that "problems with FreeTime has been reported".

The windows - you said above that your game would crash when accessing a particular category (like windows/doors), but the game would work fine when you remove the items - so I'd guess the latest added CC that goes into the crashing categories are likely to have issues, if the game crashes there every time you open the categories as long as the CC in question is in. If the crashing seems more random, memory crashes can be the problem.

You can also have an issue with a mod/hack interfering with the items. The mod would work fine on its own, but paried with incompatible CC it could cause crashes.

Test the CC items one by one set at a time. Then you might find the issue faster.

You may want to check your Thumbnail folder (same location as Downloads) to see if any of the files are getting big. If they are getting into the 50k category, consider deleting them. It will make the categories load slower, but it clears out cache junk from old items you no longer have in your Downloads (and potentially fixes broken category thumbnails).

so, i have taken my downloads folder somewhere safe, downloaded the stuff suzymarie64 linked to and test it in my test hood. No problems at all. ( Everthing shows up, i can take everything and place it, no crashes) I have all Eps and all sps. Hope this information helps?

@KaterMikesch77 I have 5.53GB of downloads. I didn't realize there is a limit. I'll try your method to see if that works. Thank you.

@simmer22 I'll backup my downloads, then remove them and put only the windows in to see if they work. Then I'll remove all my mods and hacks and leave the windows in and try again. Glad for your advice, I'll come back soon to update and let you know what happened.

sadly, there is a limit, but it depends what you pc can handle and the cc you have. Some people can only have 2 Gb for example, others can have 20 Gb or more, for some simmers the loading time is only 10 minutes , others wait for 45 minutes. Here is a intersting thread, if you're..interested http://gardenofshadows.org.uk/garde...c1&topic=1564.0
And when i reach my limit the games crash in build(windows/door) mode immediately, in buy mode it takes a bit longer before crashing.
And it depends what kind of cc i have how high my limit is. This only my experience.

There are times when a piece of CC can work fine for everyone else, but disagree very much with your game. I'm still not sure why that fire alarm didn't work for me, because it was used in at least 2-3 different lots I'd downloaded, so it clearly worked fine for the lot builders.

You may want to put in all the new items in an otherwise emoty Downloads folder, and see if those work. Then, put in your mods/hacks (if you have them in a separate folder), and if you then experience crashes, then something in that folder is causing the problems. If they work fine, put in small test portions of your downloads, run the game, and see how it works. Tink of it as a reverse 50/50 method. If your game suddenly starts crashing, something in the last added folder may be the culprit. Then you test that folder plus the downloads, and do the 50/50 method the usual way.

And as said above, there's a possibility you've stumbled upon the CC limit your game/computer can handle - though 6 GB doesn't sound like a lot. I'm still more leaning towards it being a CC item, or a bad combination of two or more CC items.

Yeah 6GB sounds pretty small (unless you're on a Mac I guess) - who is it round here who has 70+GB? Digitalsympathies?

if the game is disc version, some chance that the new content requires a pack not currently installed.

if the game is the Ultimate Collection, not sure what the cause would be; but repair option at Origin site might fix it.

The only limit is your computer. You might want to also check the sticky post on memory allocation. Some of us were having issues with Radeon cards. Sorry if I missed your card, I didn't see it in the list. Basically, my game wouldn't save on more than 4BGT of cc. I have since got a new Nvidia and am once again saving my 12 GBT of cc just fine. So it isn't always a game issue or even a CC one but can be a hardware one.

@joandsarah77

I'm buying a new graphic card today. Dell Geforce GT330 1GB, on the compatibility chart it says Yes across the board. Hopefully, this will help.