Hey,
I have been researching this issue all night and day and I haven't been able to get any help with this one. I just bought the SIMS2 and it comes up with that error message about the directx driver 9.0. As you know there seems to be an issue with that. I have done the following things and nothing has worked.
I changed it to a 16 bit then tried to get the game to run by right clicking and putting the space then the -w and it didn't work for me. Then someone said that they unistalled their driver and reinstalled. I did this which gave me bigger problems so, I restored my computer. Now, all of the programs I deleted show back up but none of them will work.but I can't seem to uninstall them or reinstall them. the DVD's play, and the Music CD's work. My husband plays Civilization 4 or 5 (the latest one) on the computer and he had no problem. I am going to list my computers components so maybe someone can decipher this mess. Anyone willing to help the clueless? Oh, and when I had the computer built I told them it was for gaming so, I think that it should have whatever it needs. It's about 2 years old. From DELL
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/2/2008, 17:00:27
Machine name: LA-A2AC69E4E96B
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DV051
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Memory: 502MB RAM
Page File: 378MB used, 849MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: The system is using the generic video driver. Please install video driver provided by the hardware manufacturer. Direct3D functionality not available. You should verify that the driver is a final version from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.
--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name:
Manufacturer:
Chip type:
DAC type:
Device Key: Enum\
Display Memory: n/a
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (1Hz)
Monitor:
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: vga.dll
Driver Version: 5.01.2600.0000 (English)
DDI Version: unknown
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/10/2004 06:00:00, 9344 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: vga.sys
Mini VDD Date: 8/10/2004 06:00:00, 20992 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B70EE0-4340-11CF-B063-282AAEC2C835}
Vendor ID: 0x0000
Device ID: 0x0000
SubSys ID: 0x00000000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Not Available
D3D Status: Not Available
AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run
-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: SigmaTel Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8384&DEV_7690&SUBSYS_102801C4&REV_1022
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: sthda.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.4548.0000 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 6/6/2005 03:40:48, 180736 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: SigmaTel
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xB5B
Min/Max Sample Rate: 44100, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run
---------------------
I have been researching this issue all night and day and I haven't been able to get any help with this one. I just bought the SIMS2 and it comes up with that error message about the directx driver 9.0. As you know there seems to be an issue with that. I have done the following things and nothing has worked.
I changed it to a 16 bit then tried to get the game to run by right clicking and putting the space then the -w and it didn't work for me. Then someone said that they unistalled their driver and reinstalled. I did this which gave me bigger problems so, I restored my computer. Now, all of the programs I deleted show back up but none of them will work.but I can't seem to uninstall them or reinstall them. the DVD's play, and the Music CD's work. My husband plays Civilization 4 or 5 (the latest one) on the computer and he had no problem. I am going to list my computers components so maybe someone can decipher this mess. Anyone willing to help the clueless? Oh, and when I had the computer built I told them it was for gaming so, I think that it should have whatever it needs. It's about 2 years old. From DELL
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 3/2/2008, 17:00:27
Machine name: LA-A2AC69E4E96B
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.070227-2254)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell DV051
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A03
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Memory: 502MB RAM
Page File: 378MB used, 849MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode
------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: The system is using the generic video driver. Please install video driver provided by the hardware manufacturer. Direct3D functionality not available. You should verify that the driver is a final version from the hardware manufacturer.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.
--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name:
Manufacturer:
Chip type:
DAC type:
Device Key: Enum\
Display Memory: n/a
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (1Hz)
Monitor:
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: vga.dll
Driver Version: 5.01.2600.0000 (English)
DDI Version: unknown
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/10/2004 06:00:00, 9344 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: vga.sys
Mini VDD Date: 8/10/2004 06:00:00, 20992 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B70EE0-4340-11CF-B063-282AAEC2C835}
Vendor ID: 0x0000
Device ID: 0x0000
SubSys ID: 0x00000000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Revision ID: 0x0000
Video Accel:
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Not Available
D3D Status: Not Available
AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run
-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: SigmaTel Audio
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_8384&DEV_7690&SUBSYS_102801C4&REV_1022
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: sthda.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.4548.0000 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 6/6/2005 03:40:48, 180736 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: SigmaTel
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xB5B
Min/Max Sample Rate: 44100, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run
---------------------
