The Sims 2/Vista/DirectX problem

I have seen discussion about this subject in many places, but none of them has the answer that will finally make my game run.

So I run a PC with a configuration like this: Core 2 Duo E7200, 2GB RAM, nVidia 9500GT, Vista Home Basic.

Today, I installed The Sims 2 and a whole bunch of expansion packs, the last one being Bon Voyage. But when trying to run the game, I get this message:

(i removed it from here, you can now find it in attachments, cause I don't have enough posting account)

Now, I have the latest drivers, it is set running as an administrator and in XP SP2 compatibility mode. My DirectX is 10, as it is in Vista, and I have read that it can't be downgraded. No information about this issue is on The Sims 2 official page. I've also patched both my Sims 2 and Bon Voyage expansion pack. I'm really out of ideas, and I would appreciate if anyone could help.

Well it turned out that this problem was due to me putting the crack in a wrong folder :S

However, now the game freezes up before starting, so I'm trying to find a way to fix that.

A crack you say? Did you download this game or something?

No CD crack, so I don't have to switch the CD's in the ROM all the time.

OK seems like I'm going to have to reinstall everything, nothing seems to work....