How to Install Sims 2 Games

The Sims 2 is a social simulation game in which you oversee the daily lives of digital people called Sims. You guide the Sims through their careers, making friends and running a household. The payoff comes in helping your Sims start families and fulfill their lifetime aspirations. The Sims 2 game does not end, as you raise proceeding generations of sims with their own wants and needs.

Expansions packs for The Sims 2, which introduce new game mechanics, objects and options, require the core game to be installed.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

1. 

   Insert The Sims 2 Game Disc, or Disc 1, then wait for the setup program for The Sims 2 to begin. If the setup program does not run when the disc is read, navigate to your disc drive and manually start either AutoRun.exe or setup.exe. Choose your language for the installation then click "Next."

2. 

   Enter the code for your copy of The Sims 2 then click "Next." (The twenty character long code is printed on the game case.)

3. 

   Choose a directory in which to install The Sims 2 then click "Next." Unless you want the game installed on a different drive, select "Typical User."

4. 

   Click "Yes" to continue with installation. The setup program will open a window citing additional space needed for the installation. If you do not have enough space on your hard drive, end the installation, free up some space and try again.

5. 

   Click either "Register Later" or "Register Now." Registering with Electronic Arts, publisher of The Sims 2, is not required to play the game. If you do register, you will be sent emails regarding Electronic Arts products, news regarding The Sims 2 and special offers.

6. 

   Monitor the installation for The Sims 2, switching out CDs if necessary. There are multiple versions of The Sims 2 available on either several CDs or one DVD. You will be prompted by the setup program each time a CD needs to be switched out. If you own the DVD version, there will be no such messages.
   
   An additional window for the game "Grow Your Sims" will open during installation. Enjoy the game or let it sit: "Grow the Sims" has no bearing on installation and has no effect on The Sims 2 game play.

7. 

   Click "Finish" to complete installation. Choose to view a ReadMe file, launch The Sims 2 or quit the installation without opening anything else.

Tips & Warnings

• The code is used to verify that you are installing a legitimate copy of The Sims 2. Without a valid code, installation will not continue. Adding "-w" (hyphen w) to the Target of The Sims 2 shortcut (accessed by right-clicking the shortcut then selecting Properties) opens the game in windowed mode instead of the default full screen.
• The Sims 2 requires that the Game Disc or Disc 1 be present in an optical drive to run.

References

• TheSims2.com
• Aspyr

Resources

• ModtheSims.info