Thanks for letting me know.  I'm just looking for something that eliminates homework, and there doesn't seem to be a hack like that.

This mod is mentioned on several sites, but it is not available at MTS anymore.  Does anyone happen to have it?  Or know of another no homework mod?  Thanks!

On the off chance you'll see this, you could try using Inge's automatic cash register:

http://www.drealm.info/simlogical/sl/Sims2Pages/Sims2_OFB.htm

It does sound like you have some kind of serious conflict, though.  Have you tried making the cash register clerk selectable to see what's in their queue?

One of the Sleep On Community Lot hacks caused this, and had to be updated.

You can narrow it down by temporarily moving all of your hacks out of the game, then playing a spare neighborhood you don't care about.  Then you'll know if it's a hack, or a CC object causing the problem.

Thanks for the help.  I don't want to corrupt my neighborhood, but I'm always open to a few harmless side effects.

I'm planning to move a large number of sims onto a lot with Inge's teleporter.  I have everything up to AL, so that's safe, isn't it?  I just want to double check.

While you're at it, be sure to put the dried out tree next to the fireplace, and surround it with cardboard boxes wrapped in paper.

Carrigon has a hack to prevent the tree from catching on fire:

http://www.sims2workshop.com/viewtopic.php?t=143

Changing the lot names requires going through the whole complicated process.

I found that editing hobby lots wasn't a good use of my time, because I rarely use them.  If you decide to try it, practice with a test neighborhood first.

You can read about the process here:

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,11323.msg345422.html#msg345422

Basically it involves:

Send a sim to visit each hobby lot you want to edit. 

Send the sim home, exit the game.

Open SimPe, and find the hobby subhood.

Edit subhood to un-hide it.

Edit hobby lots to un-hide them.

Fire up game, edit lots.  You can't make new lots, you can only modify the existing ones.  At this point you change the lot names.

Close game, use SimPe to re-hide subhood and lots.

Thanks for sharing those pictures.  Rocky makes me think of a muppet, a mean muppet, obviously.

This will be an owned business, so OCD is fine.  I'm going to lock customers out of the bathroom.  My idea is for them to play golf a while, then leave.

I can do basic things with SimPe.  I have some mini-golf items made from the aspiration reward.  As far as I've seen, sims won't autonomously use them.

Is this a simple thing to change?  Is it covered in any of the tutorials?

Thanks for the fast replies.  I forget sometimes, so that's a relief.

Sorry if this has already been discussed.  I know it's necessary to roll the pacifier to prevent children with identical personalities.  Is it technically necessary for the first child born? 

Have you downloaded any camera mods?  I find that some of them act strangely on my new computer.  Gunmod's cameras worked perfectly when I had XP, but were a little odd with Vista.  I downloaded some by Tom420, and they work much better for me.  I do still use Gunmod's live camera, which seems a little more precise than Tom420's.  (link - http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=312294)

If you haven't downloaded any camera mods, you might benefit from trying them out.  Just back up the original files, so you can go back to them if you need to.

Is there any estimate or guesstimate about what the maximum number of files is?  I have a lot of downloads, and know of people who have even more.  So I'm assuming it's a very high number.

That looks like it, thanks! 

Yes, yes, point and laugh.  Ages ago, Pescado showed off his dance controller in his stories.  As I remember, he also posted the link for it.

I wanted it, so I did the logical thing.  No, sorry, I didn't.  I decided I'd come back and download it later.  Now I can't find it.

Is it still available?  Does it work with Apartment Life? 

I checked, and rosesforme is correct.  The links for BV, FT, and AL lead to "Empty" templates. 

This means no familes in the bin - no Traveller family, no Julien Cooke.  Has anyone even made "Cleaned" templates for those EPs?

Looking over that first post, BV, FT, and AL are only referred to once.  I seem to remember being confused, when I wanted to create an Empty hood, I had to use those links, which are labeled "Cleaned-up."

I wasn't able to post this on Simwardrobe's support forum.  He doesn't update or support that forum any more, and for all I know he's disabled posting.

I decided to post this information in a couple of other places.  I can easily imagine someone with this problem searching this forum for help.

On to the problem.  If you try to run the NPC replacer with Vista, it may crash.  Vista is missing a dll the program needs.  If you have 32 bit Vista, use his instructions here to fix the problem.

http://s3.freepowerboards.com/simwardrobe/simwardrobe-about27.html

If you have Vista 64, you need to do something slightly different. 

1.  Download dx8vb.dll from the above link.

2.  Copy dx8vb.dll into this folder - C: -> Windows -> SysWOW64

3.  Open the Command Prompt as administrator:
    Click on Start menu -> All Programs -> Accessories ->
    Now RIGHT CLICK on "Command Prompt," scroll down and select "Run as Administrator"

4.  It will probably ask for your permission to continue, click on "Continue"

5.  Type this in the Command Prompt box:

    regsvr32 C:\Windows\syswow64\dx8vb.dll

    Press enter

Notice those are back slashes \ not forward slashes /

You should get a message saying it finished sucessfully. 


Technical notes

Vista 64 bit uses the System32 folder for 64 bit dll's, because Microsoft is crazy.  Sorry, I mean, for backwards compatibility.

SysWOW64 is for 32 bit dll's. 

ReadyBoost is a Vista feature that uses a flash drive to supplement RAM.  This can be helpful, since Vista is such a memory hog.  You can set aside from 256 MB to 4 GB for this.

Using ReadyBoost hasn't made a dramatic difference in my game, but it does help.  Especially when scrolling around the neighborhod - I get a lot less lag.

I cheated and copied these instructions from the Windows help screen:

1.  Plug a flash drive or other removable media device into your computer. This should automatically open AutoPlay.

If AutoPlay does not open, it might have been disabled. For more information, see Troubleshoot AutoPlay problems.

2.  Under General Options, click Speed up my system.

This will display the Properties dialog box for your flash drive or other removable media device.

3.  Click the ReadyBoost tab, and then do one of the following:

To turn ReadyBoost off, click Do not use this device.

To turn ReadyBoost on, click Use this device, and then move the slider to choose how much of the available space on your flash drive you want to reserve for boosting your system speed.

4.  Click OK.

It takes forever to load my game - at least 45 minutes just to get to the neighborhood chosing screen.  That's when I catch up on my soaps.

I do wonder why you're having problems.  I have a dual core processor, and never bother to turn one off.  I have a Gateway M6862 notebook, if you want to compare the specs. 

http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/2008/Tempest/1015594R/1015594Rsp2.shtml

One difference I spot between our computers is the graphics card - I have ATI. 

As a longshot you could try usinging a flash drive and ReadyBoost.  I find it helps my game run more smoothly, maybe it would help you out.

- poke, poke.  (Hey, you asked for it.)

I'm also on 64 bit Vista, and have 8.74 GB of downloads.  I don't have any crashing problems.  I suspect you have a file that became corrupt.  This happens all the time.  I fear it's time for the "binary search" dance - split your downloads in half, see if the game crashes.  If no, test the remaining half.  Then split in half again and repeat.

It's a longshot, but you might also try dividing your downloads up into more folders.  I have 234 folders, and some of those have subfolders.  Vista seems to have trouble with folders containing lots of files.  However, since you had this problem with XP, that's probably not the issue.

An unrelated issue to be aware of when moving to Vista - some items in sub-sub-sub folders may not load.  Sometimes a file path that worked fine in XP is too long for Vista.  

That's funny, I've had the same problem.  It just sits there forever, and the loading bar doesn't move.  Glad to hear that's all it was, and that you don't have a problem.

For the lot that won't load:

From the neighborhood screen, press Cntl-Shift-C to open the cheat box.  Enter "boolprop testingcheatsenabled true" in the box, then press enter. 

Try to enter the problem lot.  A message should come up telling you there is a problem and giving you options like "reset" and "delete."  Choose "delete."

The lot should then load normally.  Enter "boolprop testingcheatsenabled false" in the cheat box.

It sounds like you have a corrupt object in the decorative-curtains section.  It's possible it was fine before, and has become corrupted.  The best way to find a bad object is to remove half your downloads, then see if you still have the problem.  If so, remove another half and test again.  You can quickly narrow it down this way.