Sims 3 Crashes out my computer, HELP

You cannot disable BIOS shadowing - and it's not the problem.  The 2200 simply doesn't have the video horsepower to run this game; if you want to run it, you need a notebook with better video (no, yours cannot be upgraded).

My daughter's system has the same problem. It has crashed her XPS 1710 a dozen or more times since late yesterday.

She has dual core 2.0Ghz, 2GB RAM, 7950GTX video card which should be more than enough.

I have updated the Video card driver, updated DirectX. I do not know what else to do. Never had this problem with Sims 1 or 2. Anyone know of an answer? The game will have to go back if nothing can be fixed with a patch. It is a darn good laptop with good specs, OK it is 2 years old but it isn't out of date and the card is listed as compatible.

If other apps crash the system, run the Dell diagnostics. If it's just that game, on your hardware, I'd suspect the game is at fault - contact the publisher to see if they have a fix (or wait to see if there's a bug fix - it sounds like the game was released before it was ready).

Thanks for that, The XPS m1710 has been brilliant, it is so stable. OK my daughter is only 13 and hasn't exactly pushed the envelope but Sims 2 NEVER had any issues.

Apparently it keeps on happening in creation of a new character and the XPS comes back with the message about "Fan overheating". Having checked around some other forums it would seem we are not the only ones and that it is a common occurence. OK I can understand it crashing some 1GB RAM or 1.5 Ghz single core laptops but it just plain shouldn't do this to a fairly well specced (if 2 years old) 2.0Ghz dual core XPS with the GO 7950 GTX video card. I think you are right EA might have rushed the game out too early with too many bugs, but as yet there are no patches. All this leads to a hugely disappointed 13 year old and a now fractious DAD.

Not Dell's fault of course, the XPS m1710 is still a beautiful machine.

If anybody else has issues with Sims 3 please make them known.

If the system is overheating and producing a fan error, replace the faulty fan.

DO NOT run the system with a faulty fan -  you run the risk of destroying the hard drive or mainboard, either of which cost more than the $20 or so a replacement fan will.

We are having similar issues with my Dell inspiron 530 (dual core, 2.67Ghz, integrated graphics).  Keep getting blue screen of death, but only when playing Sims 3-- anything else-- World of Warcraft, Sims 2 (with ALL the packages added on) works just fine.  Very frustrating-- should I upgrade the graphics card?  I hesitate to do so, since it's a relatively new computer, and still warrantied.

I am not sure about the integrated graphics, but what you say about other games working absolutely fine is the thing that stands out.

My daughter has a tip-top graphics card the NVidia GO 7950GTX which is specifically listed on the Sims3 case as being compatible.

The machine turns off everytime you try and switch from a freshly created character to the start of creating another new one. Same thing everytime, it doesn't matter whether the game has been on for 5 minutes or 30.

What worries is that the message reads that "The computer experienced higher than expected temperature readings".

I take on board that the fan might be faulty and I will ring Dell in the morning as the XPS M1710 is under extended warranty, but I find it wierd that it always happens at the same point of progress within the game. Irrespective of how long the machine has been on or the game running.

I am glad that patching has fixed your game.