Save Frequently - especially after important things or big changes. That way, if something bad happens, you won't lose as much.

Don't Save - if something weird is happening, or something awful happens (like your Sim dies), close out of the lot without saving, and you may be able to salvage things the easy way.

Make Backup Copies of any lots and families that you'd hate to lose. Keep the copies in a safe place outside the game. It's a simple matter to copy those files, as long as you know where they are. (See What's Where in Your Game Folder)

Test New Things - Make a test lot with a test dummy Sim or two, and use that to try out new objects. If you're a downloader, you're bound to end up with something that causes a problem now and then. If the worst happens, and it actually corrupts the lot, you'll be less upset if it's a throwaway one that you don't use for serious playing. Downloaded lots can be tried out in a spare neighborhood to make sure they're okay.

And for PC users:

Scandisk and Defrag Regularly - Put that off too long and you'll regret it. It's a gradual slide - the changes are imperceptible at first, but you'll get to the point where a little corruption has turned into a lot, or fragmentation slows things to the point where that your game won't load properly, and you can't connect to the internet. It's usually recommended to do those once a month for any computer. But when you use heavy-duty programs like The Sims game, it's better to do it once a week - downloaders especially, since we tend to move files around a lot. If it's been ages since you did it last, it can literally take nearly all day. But when you do it regularly, it's finished in a fraction of the time.

Run Your Adware/Spyware Program Regularly - If you don't have one, get one. You can end up with hidden pests without even realizing it, just from viewing a webpage. They can run invisibly in the background and some are resource hogs. They can interfere with the game, among other things. I've seen cases where a game problem had everyone on various forums stumped, until someone finally suggested checking for adware, and that solved it.

Lots of things could be the cause of crashing. What you were doing when it crashed, precisely where it crashed, what changes you made recently, all help to pinpoint the cause of the problem you're having. This list certainly doesn't describe all crash situations, and does not offer all possible cures. They're just the ones I've picked up over time. If none of this helps you, try posting on one of the various forums for advice.

Crashes can corrupt files on your game (and on your computer). Always do a scan disk after a crash to fix any problems before they spread.

Forget what Maxis says and do it this way. I'm not kidding. This is the surest way to have a trouble-free installation. Patience is the key.

If you want to preserve any families, lots, and downloads, now is the time to do it, before you begin uninstalling. Make copies of their files and put them in a safe place away from the game. (See What's Where in Your Game Folder) But be aware that if the problem was contained in any of those files, you'll only be carrying it over to the freshly installed game. Don't try to add any of them back until after you've gone through this entire procedure.

1. Uninstall the game.
2. Right-click your Start button, click on Programs, find your Maxis folder.
3. Go in there and find your The Sims folder. Delete it. Uninstalling doesn't do this for you. Run Sim Eraser ten times. Yes, ten. Less than that may not get all the registry files. (Three times if you have no EPs. Find Sim Eraser on the official site under Get Cool Stuff, or it's on some of the higher EP disks.)
4. Now, install the base game, The Sims.
5. Open the game, play a default Maxis family for a couple game days. Reboot.
6. Now start adding your EPs, one at a time, playing a default family for a couple Sim days and rebooting between each.
7. Once all your EPs are back in, then you can play normally again.

Note - You do not necessarily have to install EPs in order. Some people prefer to add Unleashed before Hot Date or Vacation because those new lots will automatically be set up with things for pets that way. It's best to add Makin Magic last, though, since it contains the patches for all previous EPs.

Yet Another Note - People tend to reinstall when they're experiencing problems (such as crashes) that they don't know how to fix. An awful lot of that is unnecessary. If you can't identify and fix the problem from the information here, try asking on a forum. And if you do have to reinstall, sometimes a 'Reinstall Lite' (see below) is all you need to fix it.

Sometimes a global or other important game file is corrupt, making your game unplayable. You may be able to fix it this way rather than going the long and tedious route of uninstalling and reinstalling the entire shebang. It basically overwrites the basic game files for that EP, without touching your Sim characters or lots, so you lose nothing. If the problems you're experiencing in a game is specific to a certain EP or things that came with it, then you're better off trying this first before doing a total reinstall of the game.

1. Bring up the welcome screen.
2. Choose 'More Information'
3. There should be a reinstall lite option in there.

If you're lucky, an object that's going to be a problem will be obvious as soon as you put it on the lot, or try to use it. In that case, you can remove it and the problem is solved. But it isn't always that obvious. Some can cause random weirdness to happen on the lot only after it's been there awhile, with no apparent cause; like cooked food turning into unprepared ingredients when it's served, or Sims being suddenly whisked away to appear on the other end of the lot.

If you're a PC user, you can run the game in Debug Mode, which can help you to identify which object is causing a problem, and sometimes the error report that's generated will provide a clue as to how to fix it. But that's not foolproof, because sometimes a problem object won't produce an error.

Another method is to remove all hacked downloads from the lot, and slowly add them back one by one. Play for awhile to see whether anything odd happens. Sometimes you can identify the problem object that way, but not always.

If you've recently added new objects (or finally started using some you hadn't before), try removing those and add them back slowly, same as above. It pays to test new things well as you add them into your game, and don't add a great deal at once, to help avoid a situation where it's tough to identify what's causing the problem.

An object may be just fine (not buggy) on its own, but it can interact strangely with other hacked objects or patches in your game. Some just don't get along well with each other. Running in Debug Mode (PC) can sometimes help to identify the problem. Also, those other people might have different EPs or a different setup than you do, and that can make a big difference.

Note - Millenium Sims "Magic Mirror" - This is a very popular download but it has been known to cause weird things to happen in the game for some people. All reported weirdnesses I've seen were mild and didn't ruin lots. Best advice is to buy it, use it, then immediately sell it. Do NOT buy or use it when there's a baby on the lot or it can corrupt the baby (and the only fix is to start with a whole new baby). Reports have included cooked meals turning back into ingredients which can't be cooked.

Inside each object is something called a GUID, and every one of them must be unique. If two or more objects have the same one, it can cause all sorts of weirdness, because it confuses the game. There are external programs that you can use to check for these. There's a writeup on how to find and solve these ID conflicts on the Green Sims forum (defunct) - it's a sticky in the Tutorials section.

Magic cookies are used by creators to give each new object a unique GUID. Not using a Magic Cookie at all means the GUID will be randomly generated, so there's a higher risk that it will conflict with something else. The MagicCookie site where we register them is a big database showing who's using which Magic Cookie numbers, and that way, we can avoid using one that someone already has. So that provides better protection yet. And yes, there are some creators who don't register the Magic Cookie that they're using (or worse, don't use one at all), so that means conflicts can still happen. But using a registered one greatly lessens the risk for the downloaders we share our things with. If you know someone doesn't use a registered Magic Cookie, I recommend against downloading their things, because these conflicts can really be a major annoyance to solve at times.

That means you don't have the appropriate EP for it. Some things can be hacked to make them work without EPs, some can't - it depends on whether the object relies on animations and such that came with an EP you don't have.

Sometimes a Sim will decide to use something, like a bed or stairs. The object has an action queue, just like your Sims do. If the Sim changes his mind (or maybe gets distracted by something else), the game doesn't always let the object know that. So the object still thinks it's reserved for use, and won't let anyone else use it. In some cases, using the prepare_lot cheat might help. But if it persists, you'll need to delete the object and buy another one.

If the object is upstairs, make sure there's enough support underneath it. Sims will sometimes be unable to use certain things if there's not enough support underneath, such as stoves or beds.

If the object is upstairs, is it over water? That could be why. Remove the water, use fake water rugs instead, or move the object.

Not enough support on the first floor. Frequently a headache when you're trying to remove things like floor tiles. Add temporary columns or wall just long enough so you can remove what you want, then get rid of them when you're done. If there's still a stuck floor tile and you know there's support under it, try putting a new floor tile on top of that, then removing it. That should do it.

To remove a window, you need to be in walls up mode. Then you'll be able to use the hand tool to grab doors and windows. (Those without expansion packs will need to use CTRL+Click to bulldoze windows and doors.)

If you remove a door or window from the game, but it was still on a building in your game, it may not let you put a new one there. Sometimes when this happens, a cutout will be visible where the door or window used to be. Sometimes you can see a little black bar on the wall at ground level where it used to be. You've confused the lot by removing it from your downloads - the house file still says it should be there. Remove that section of wall, which will tell the lot that you're removing that door or window. Then you can put another wall piece back in to fill the gap.

If you downloaded a house, and a door or window is missing, the same thing as above can happen. So use the same cure.

You have to understand how Sims are coded to think.

For one thing, Sims see the entire house on one level when they're determining the closest object, whether it's one story or two story. If the upstairs one is directly over their head, but the one in the next room is eight steps away, they'll think the upstairs one is closer.

They'll prefer the one that offers the best score. If the toilet upstairs gives better hygiene/comfort/room score, they'll prefer that one. If the bathroom at the other end of the house has a better room score, they may prefer that one. Try using the same objects in all bathrooms, including toilets, sinks, decor, etc.

They dislike doors. If they have to walk through two to get to the one in the next room, but only one to get to the upstairs bath, and all things are equal otherwise, they'll choose the upstairs bathroom. That's also why they'll walk completely around three sides of a house to greet someone, rather than straight in the back door and out the front door.

They're creatures of habit. Rule of thumb is three times. If they use something three times in a row, they'll tend to want to use it over anything else from then on. That goes for beds, plumbing, walking paths, and so on. You can teach them new habits, but it requires some effort.

No one ever said Sims were smart. Remember that, grasshopper.

That happens. Sometimes they'll have interests after the game is restarted. Otherwise, just take them to a non-home lot and they'll instantly get some.

Use the prepare_lot cheat. That resets the lot, and your Sims will be whisked over to a spot usually somewhere near the mailbox. Note - on home lots, it also brings all Sims who live on that lot back home, including those at school and at work. The move_objects on cheat usually works just as well, although it's useless on non-home lots unless you have a hack that enables buy/build modes there. The cuddle couch and the cat gym are known to be buggy and often cause Sims (or pets) to become stuck on them.

Just click on that face icon and the Sim will show up again, safe and sound.

Nope. It just means he's so upset that he went home. The rumor is that he'll self-delete. But they don't. Once they start this, you can cancel it out of their queue, but it'll just keep coming back. You can prevent a Sim from slapping another one by quickly canceling it out of the queue and get both involved in other interactions. Once the slapper is distracted, he shouldn't try again.

Repair guy won't leave - There's something he wants to fix that he can't get to. He'll try for awhile and then just stand there waiting for you to do something about it. Chances are there's a light or something that's blocked by a table or chair. Find that, move the obstruction, the repair guy will fix it and leave.

Gardener or Maid quit coming - If your Sim's family has already done all their work for them when they come around, they'll decide they're not needed. They'll stop showing up for awhile, but the option to hire them again won't come up on the telephone. Some people have said that they'll come again after awhile, but I've never had the patience to wait it out to find out for sure. To trigger them into coming again, make some changes in the lot to make them feel needed again. For instance, the gardener will start coming again if you add more flowers that need watering.

NPC Pests like the Dropinskis and the Obsessed Fan - If you hire the butler, he's known to get rid of these for you, and so will the Vacation Director.

Butler won't cook - When you click on the butler, then click on 'Ask', you should see options to 'Dismiss Visitors' and 'Prepare Meal'. If the cooking option isn't there, it's either your stove or refrigerator that's the problem. The expensive silver and old fashioned black ones work for that, but unfortunately, I can't remember which other ones do. Downloaded versions will work, of course, as long as they're based on the Maxis ones that the butler can use.

If you move a family into a home that comes with gravestones (even if you move a family out and then right back in again), this can happen. When a family moves out, the ghosts that normally haunt the graves are deleted, even though the graves still remain on the lot. When you move a family in, the gravestones have to regenerate new ghosts. Sometimes it does this just fine, but sometimes it randomly selects neighbors or NPCs. If it does that, the game gets confused, and you end up with ghosts that don't quite act like ghosts but aren't really playable Sims either. Sometimes they're even colored like regular Sims instead of ghosts. The only fix is to delete the gravestone (and ghost if it's still there) and replace it with a fresh one.

You have a lot that your game doesn't like, for one reason or another. The lot may be buggy. The easiest cure is simply to replace it with one from either another neighborhood, or one from the Template folders in your game. (See What's Where in Your Game Folder) Only download lots from sites with excellent reputations.

I've only seen this happen when hacks were used on the lot. Use the move_objects cheat to delete the ingredients (you won't be able to use them anyway) and get the hacked object off the lot. Try cooking again. You may need to use the prepare_lot cheat, leave the lot and return, or even reboot the game, if the symptoms are stubborn.

Weirdness that just happens sometimes. Do a prepare_lot cheat to reset the lot and that should bring things back to normal again. It should also tell you if you've somehow deleted the car portal (BIG nono!). If that's the case, you'll need to either replace the portal or replace the lot. (see the fix for Missing Ped and Car Portals)

Sims aren't exactly known for being smart. If there's too many twists and turns, they'll give up trying and stand around whining til they die. Literally. In that situation, use the move_objects cheat and delete them before they actually die. They'll go back home. To prevent it from happening again, simplify the way out. Sims have been known to be willing to swim to get into the lot but refuse to swim back out. Go figure.

Chances are, you've deleted something you shouldn't have. Do a prepare_lot cheat and see if it gives you a message that something's missing. If a Ped or Car Portal is missing, there's two choices. The extreme method is to replace the entire lot with a fresh one from either another neighborhood or the appropriate Template folder, and rebuild (being more careful this time!). The easier method is to use a Portal Replacer object. (see the fix for Missing Ped and Car Portals)

You probably deleted the car portal along with it. You can move the vehicles if you really need to, but deleting them is risky business. Use the Portal Replacer to fix what's missing (see the fix for Missing Ped and Car Portals).

Either you're using a downloaded phone that doesn't work with the EPs you have, or you've accidentally deleted the lot's phone line. If it's just a downloaded phone, replace it with a Maxis one. If it's a missing phone line, use a Portal Replacer object to replace it (see the fix for Missing Ped and Car Portals).

Assuming it isn't an NPC Sim (many of those don't allow Sims to interact with them at all), then the Sim may be planning to do something that prevents him from being interacted with. That happens if they're about to leave the lot, buy from a food vendor, play pool, etc.

All of those options will add a new member to the family, and the maximum you can have (without special hacks) is eight, including pets. If the family has already reached its maximum, the options won't appear. Proposing and having babies won't come up for kids. They also won't come up unless the Sims (or Sim pets) are opposite genders. The baby and breeding options happen randomly, generally when they're being cuddly/kissing. So if at first you don't succeed...

There are some hacked objects that will allow you to move in as many Sims as you want. That's fine as long as your computer can handle it. But NEVER evict a family with more than eight members, because it will cause the Create a Sim screen to keep crashing until you delete their file. If you really need to move them, move some members out to other lots first, to bring the total family number back down to eight.

That's not a bonus. It's a bug. You'll be able to control one but not the other, and things will get wonky because the game is confused. Delete the one you can't control. What causes it - when a baby is in the process of turning into a child (or pet), its face icon will appear just before the game is finished making the new family member. If you happen to click on that face icon before the process is complete, it can produce a clone.

Never delete those or it'll wreak havoc on your lot. You can do a prepare_lot cheat and if any of those are missing, a message should pop up telling you so. If any are, then you have two options - either replace the lot entirely, or replace what's missing. One Portal Replacer object is available from SomeSimThings, which also has telephone replacements for away lots, if you accidentally delete those. BunkerSim has another Portal Replacer object that will also replace any of the other invisible essentials - mailbox, trash can, phone line. Make sure to READ and follow the directions they gave you in the zip - just sticking it in your downloads folder won't fix that lot.

Some things will only work in certain areas. Beds and stoves won't work in community lots, for instance, unless they're downloads that are specially hacked for use in that area.

He's renowned for it. When a Sim goes up to his window, he'll just look around, then leave the shack, leaving the Sims standing there with nothing. The trick is not to approach him at the window. Wait til he leaves it, then approach him and he'll sell you what you want.

There's probably too much going on. Strip that lot down a bit to free up some resources and you should start getting some visitors. And remember, on Community lots, they show up gradually instead of a bunch all at once. (See Crashing on Non-Home Lots for more detailed help on whittling things down.)

There's too much around the podiums, which can lead to a standstill where no one gets seated, no one gets fed, and the tables don't get cleared. Clear a bigger area so your Sims can move more freely.

If a Sim decides to order a meal, it's put into that Sim's queue, and also into the podium's queue. Unfortunately, if the Sim changes his mind, the game doesn't always let the podium know. So the maitre d' waits and waits and waits for the Sim who changed his mind, and no one else gets seated in the meantime. The tricky thing is that it could have been some visitor to the lot who ordered and then canceled without your ever having seen it happen. So when your Sim goes to order and nothing happens, it just looks like something's gone buggy for no obvious reason. I haven't investigated enough to find a dependable fix for it, but you could try the prepare_lot cheat in the hopes that it will clear the podium's queue.

A restaurant setup brings its own busboy, but if you're relying on food carts or grills, the janitor will have to add table cleanup to her regular cleaning and repair duties. But having more work to do won't make her go any faster. So streamline things.

Make sure there are trash receptacles and sinks placed near anything that generates trash or dirty dishes. They'll spend less time walking and more time cleaning.

Make sure there's enough walking space to avoid crowds that will further slow down the cleanup.

If you're relying on the janitor, put as much of her jobs as close together as you can - dining tables, anything that can clog, leak, or generate trash.

To get her to appear, you have to put both the piano and a barstation in the same room.

They only work downtown if they're placed in the same room with a barstation.

Sims who are standing have to order by clicking on the barstation.

Sims who are seated at tables can order by clicking on the barmaid. If there are no tables and chairs present, she won't appear on the lot. Picnic tables don't count.

If you can click to order, but the drink doesn't get made, then check the counters that are attached to the bar. The spot where the bartender stands is actually the front of the bar (even though it looks like the back to us), and all counters attached to it have to be facing in the same direction as that bar. Otherwise, the bartender will get all confused, shrug, and give up trying to figure out how to serve on a backwards counter. Just to be on the safe side, once the counters are all placed, go back and pull each one (as if to rotate) toward the side of the bar where that bartender will stand. That way, you're likely to catch ones you didn't notice.

Knowing where things are in your game's files has a lot of advantages. Come along on a guided tour and you'll see why!

Right-click on your Start button at the bottom left of your screen, and choose Explore.
Click on Program Files, then Maxis, then The Sims.
Inside there are all your game's files.

See the Downloads folder inside there? That's where object downloads go (although some people put them in other folders, but we'll get to that).

Farther down, see the Gamedata folder? Click on that. Some people (and extraction utilities) put their object downloads into Objects or Userobjects in there. And this is where you'll also find your walls in the Walls folder, floors in the Floors folder, roofs in the Roofs folder, skins in the Skins folder.

Now that you know where those are, you can put unzipped download files into them on your own, or delete ones out of them that you no longer want.

Now, let's get back out of Gamedata. If you scroll down further, you'll see some userdata folders. Those are your neighborhoods. Userdata is neighborhood 1, Userdata2 is neighborhood 2, Userdata3 is neighborhood 3, and so on.

Click on Userdata (neighborhood 1). Each neighborhood has its own Houses folder, and inside are all the lots. Each neighborhood also has its own Export folder, which has all the families. But -only- Userdata (neighborhood 1) has an Import folder. And every neighborhood has its own Characters folder, where each of your individual Sims are stored, including the "visitor" ones, like townies and vacationers.

On to the Template folders! Have a look around inside those. If you ever end up with a corrupt lot that needs to be replaced, you can either replace them with ones from other neighborhoods, or ones from these templates. Very handy to have!

Your Music folders are where you can replace the music in your game. Yup, you can. Just be sure to read a good tutorial on it first, and save copies of the original folders just in case something goes wrong. You can change the music for radio, build and buy modes, and away lot speakers.

Now that you know where things are, you can personalize your game even more than before. Before making changes, ALWAYS save a copy of the original, so if you need to, you can replace it without having to totally reinstall. Ask on forums - there's a lot of people out there who can tell you how to do what you want to do, and whether it'd be safe to try it.

One caution - It's often tempting to try to remove some of the "ugly Maxis stuff" from our game. Don't give in to it. There are some things that can seriously wreak havoc if they're removed. For one thing, removing a Maxis object can cause other objects not to work as they should. Until you really know what you're doing, it's best to leave the Maxis-made things alone.

All you have to do is copy their .fam file from their neighborhood's Export folder, and paste it into the Userdata/Import folder. Then when you load the game and go to their new neighborhood, you can import them into it. If they were living on a lot when you copied their file, importing them will move them right onto the same lot in the new neighborhood, along with their house and furnishings. If you'd rather they appear in the Create a Sim screen instead, just Evict them first before you copy their .fam file. The family you copied will still exist in their original neighborhood. If you don't want them to be in both, just evict and delete them from their old one.

When you move a Sim into a new neighborhood, they lose their friendships with all their old buddies, because they left their old friends behind, and each neighborhood is a whole separate world. The Ginia Kat living in this neighborhood is a totally different Sim than the Gina Kat back in their old neighborhood. Their family relationships stay the same, because they brought them along for the move.

It's just as easy to move a house or other lot to a new neighborhood as it is for families. Just copy the house from the neighborhood's Houses folder (they're named after their lot numbers) and paste it into the Houses folder of the new neighborhood. When it asks if you want to replace the old one, click Yes. Just be careful that you don't end up replacing a lot that you wanted to keep!

Here's a nifty trick that will let you give a family an entirely furnished house for free! Have your family move onto the lot you want them to live on. Then save and exit the lot. Now, go to a different neighborhood where that same lot is empty. Build and furnish it there. When you're finished, copy that lot and paste it into the family's neighborhood Houses folder. Tada! Free house! Be aware that the house won't actually show on the neighborhood screen until you've left it and come back again.