Sims 2 won't start

[masteroftheclaw]

"Failed to find any directx 9.0c compatible graphics adapters in this system! Please make sure you have a directx 9.0c compatible graphics adapter and have installed the latest drivers provided by the maufacturer." This is the error.

The game had worked on this same computer before. But then the computer itself stopped working so a friend came over and fixed it so it works again now. I do not know what he did, however.

Now I try to install the Sims 2 and this error pops up. I don't know exactly what to do now, because it had worked before. I'm sure I should put some technical specs here but I don't know what I should put down.... so I'll do what I can:

OS: MIcrosoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600)
Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dimension 8400
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 AO3
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.40GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 1022MB RAM
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

 

[mailpup]

What graphics card do you have?

 

[camuss15]

I had this problem once. If you have integrated graphics, you may need to do this and see if it helps.
Right click the shortcut for the sims 2 on your desktop and in the box that says target, add a "-w" to the end without quotes should look like this:

"C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2\TSBin\Sims2.exe" -w

Exactly that. With quotes. Try that and see if it helps.

 

[masteroftheclaw]

Okay, thank you for trying to help but in the end I just asked a friend instead. lol

And what I had to do was download an update to the computer's graphics driver from the appropriate website. Mine was a Radeon X300 version so I went to Radeon and got the update. Then I restarted the computer, double clicked Sims 2 icon, and it ran.

Awesome.

 

[camuss15]

O ok. adding "-w" to the shortcut can help people with integrated video, but in your case, because you have a dedicated card, you simply needed the newest catalyst drivers.
You should always make sure you have the latest drivers for video cards. Have fun playing the sims 2.
It lags pretty bad on my computer with a 9600GT and 2 gigs of ram! So I so good luck as well. But I set all settings at the highest possible and full antialiasing....