Error message when trying to start up The Sims 1

[shotking]

I have a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit laptop and I tired installing and playing The Sims 1. Everything went fine until I tried playing the game when I got an error message that says this:

Game cannot be started because:
DirectX 7, or Service Pack 3 for NT4, is required. It could not be located.

So far I tired downloading and installing this but at the end it says that I already have the latest version for DirectX installed and no changes were necessary. Of course it didnt work. Any advice here?

 

[Contrabardus]

Try running it in compatibility mode.

Right click on the program's exe and open the properties window, go to the compatibility tab, and try running it in XP sp3 mode [try XP sp2 if that doesn't work]. Also make sure to run as Admin.

It's an older game and a lot of times they don't like newer OS.

 

[AstaLaVista]

All the other replies is what I would do as well but, perhaps, before doing that you can try this?

Re-install again and pay attention to ALL the steps, I believe you skipped the part about installing DirectX, perhaps you skipped it because you thought yours was newer and was not needed. The game will not really delete your DX11 and install DX7, all it will do is add a few files needed for the game to work is all.

 

[Contrabardus]

I still recommend running in compatibility mode even after a reinstall. From what I've seen the Sims 1 is one of those games that does not like to work with Windows 7. Some people seem to be able to get it to work with compatibility mode, but OP may need to emulate XP in a virtual machine in order to get it running.

That requires emulation software and a copy of XP though. It's not super expensive, but I'd question it being worth it just for one game anyway. Unless you're planning on playing several titles from that era or you absolutely must play Sims 1, I don't really recommend a virtual machine. It may be best to just let it go and find something else to play.

 

[shotking]

Try running it in compatibility mode.

Right click on the program's exe and open the properties window, go to the compatibility tab, and try running it in XP sp3 mode [try XP sp2 if that doesn't work]. Also make sure to run as Admin.

It's an older game and a lot of times they don't like newer OS.

I tired that and it didnt work. Im aware older games built for XP or older OS can have trouble running, but ive gotten older games to work before.

All the other replies is what I would do as well but, perhaps, before doing that you can try this?

Re-install again and pay attention to ALL the steps, I believe you skipped the part about installing DirectX, perhaps you skipped it because you thought yours was newer and was not needed. The game will not really delete your DX11 and install DX7, all it will do is add a few files needed for the game to work is all.

I reinstalled it two times already and got no such option to install that (Im using Complete collection). As I mentioned above, I tired putting that DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer but it says I have a newer or equivalent version and no changes were needed. Is it possible to install DX7 (or similar) and keep DX11 at the same time?

I still recommend running in compatibility mode even after a reinstall. From what I've seen the Sims 1 is one of those games that does not like to work with Windows 7. Some people seem to be able to get it to work with compatibility mode, but OP may need to emulate XP in a virtual machine in order to get it running.

That requires emulation software and a copy of XP though. It's not super expensive, but I'd question it being worth it just for one game anyway. Unless you're planning on playing several titles from that era or you absolutely must play Sims 1, I don't really recommend a virtual machine. It may be best to just let it go and find something else to play.

Ive seen people run The Sims 1 on Windows 7 before with little adjustments. I know it can work.

 

[Contrabardus]

Ive seen people run The Sims 1 on Windows 7 before with little adjustments. I know it can work.

How do you know what someone else did to get the game running? 'I've seen people playing it on Windows 7' is not the same thing as 'I know that it was running on Windows 7 with little to no adjustments'. You wouldn't know unless you were there when someone installed it. It's more likely that you're simply assuming that you've seen someone run it 'with little adjustment'.

A lot of people who like to run older games already have virtual machines or emulators set up in their system. I've got an entire HDD that acts as a boot drive with WinXP on it and another with Windows 7 on it. I've also got a HDD that runs Linux. Plus, another HDD that acts as a shared data storage drive for my various boot drives. I don't need to emulate anymore because of this. I just switch which drive I'm booting from in my Bios when I start my PC.

I also have experience with emulators. They are a bit of a pain to set up, but once you have them in place they don't require any extra work. Once you have everything set up from the initial install it's no more complex to run a game than it is to start a modern game. Most often you just click on an exe or shortcut and start the game.

Sims 1 notorious for not liking to run on Windows 7 or Vista at all, the engine is too old and its drivers are so dated they don't run well on modern systems. It depends on systems as well, every computer is different. What might run easily on your system might run poorly or not run at all on someone else's even if you're both running the same OS.

The installer for DX7 won't run on Windows 7. However, you can try running the NT4 sp3 installer. Though, it is going to give you error messages that says you have a newer version, it may let you run the game if you install it anyway. Running it in compatibility mode will improve the chances of success if it does help.

Windows NT Service Pack Windows NT Service Packs Windows NT 3.x Service Pack Windows NT 3.1 Service Pack Windows NT 3.5 Service Pack Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack Service Packs

It may be that your only option is to run the game with an emulator or not at all. I suspect that if you saw someone running Sims 1 on Win7 that was how they were doing it. I've never seen anyone run the game on Win7 without some sort of emulation going on. Though I have heard that some people managed to get it running by using compatibility mode, I've never seen it myself.

 

[shotking]

Ive seen people run The Sims 1 on Windows 7 before with little adjustments. I know it can work.

How do you know what someone else did to get the game running? 'I've seen people playing it on Windows 7' is not the same thing as 'I know that it was running on Windows 7 with little to no adjustments'. You wouldn't know unless you were there when someone installed it. It's more likely that you're simply assuming that you've seen someone run it 'with little adjustment'.

A lot of people who like to run older games already have virtual machines or emulators set up in their system. I've got an entire HDD that acts as a boot drive with WinXP on it and another with Windows 7 on it. I've also got a HDD that runs Linux. Plus, another HDD that acts as a shared data storage drive for my various boot drives. I don't need to emulate anymore because of this. I just switch which drive I'm booting from in my Bios when I start my PC.

I also have experience with emulators. They are a bit of a pain to set up, but once you have them in place they don't require any extra work. Once you have everything set up from the initial install it's no more complex to run a game than it is to start a modern game. Most often you just click on an exe or shortcut and start the game.

Sims 1 notorious for not liking to run on Windows 7 or Vista at all, the engine is too old and its drivers are so dated they don't run well on modern systems. It depends on systems as well, every computer is different. What might run easily on your system might run poorly or not run at all on someone else's even if you're both running the same OS.

The installer for DX7 won't run on Windows 7. However, you can try running the NT4 sp3 installer. Though, it is going to give you error messages that says you have a newer version, it may let you run the game if you install it anyway. Running it in compatibility mode will improve the chances of success if it does help.

Windows NT Service Pack Windows NT Service Packs Windows NT 3.x Service Pack Windows NT 3.1 Service Pack Windows NT 3.5 Service Pack Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack Service Packs

It may be that your only option is to run the game with an emulator or not at all. I suspect that if you saw someone running Sims 1 on Win7 that was how they were doing it. I've never seen anyone run the game on Win7 without some sort of emulation going on. Though I have heard that some people managed to get it running by using compatibility mode, I've never seen it myself.

The link you gave me with the files in there wont work. I get a error message that the EXE file is corrupt or damaged. I guess running an emulator may be my only choice. Funny thing is ive gotten other older games (such as Simcity 3000 among other) to work fine but the Sims 1 seems just dont like my laptop for whatever reason.

Wait is it possible to install an older version of DirectX to work along side the current one? Maybe it's missing something. ><

EDIT: I did some googling and I found a fix: disabling some of the game's software verification routines by adding the "-skip_verify" and "-nodx6" switches to a shortcut to The Sims. Unfortunately it doesn't solve my problem of not being able to play the game. Now after a few seconds of starting it up, the game goes black for a few seconds and crashes back to the desktop. At least i dont get that message anymore.

 

[AstaLaVista]

Try running it in compatibility mode.

Right click on the program's exe and open the properties window, go to the compatibility tab, and try running it in XP sp3 mode [try XP sp2 if that doesn't work]. Also make sure to run as Admin.

It's an older game and a lot of times they don't like newer OS.

I tired that and it didnt work. Im aware older games built for XP or older OS can have trouble running, but ive gotten older games to work before.

Games & PC's like human being... differ from one another, can't really compare them... what works for one, works different for another.

All the other replies is what I would do as well but, perhaps, before doing that you can try this?

Re-install again and pay attention to ALL the steps, I believe you skipped the part about installing DirectX, perhaps you skipped it because you thought yours was newer and was not needed. The game will not really delete your DX11 and install DX7, all it will do is add a few files needed for the game to work is all.

I reinstalled it two times already and got no such option to install that (Im using Complete collection). As I mentioned above, I tired putting that DirectX End-User Runtime Web Installer but it says I have a newer or equivalent version and no changes were needed. Is it possible to install DX7 (or similar) and keep DX11 at the same time?

Never tried nor have attempted to do this before, like contrabandus said, you gotta question the results against future problems or having to reformat your PC is something goes terribly wrong. :shock:

Ive seen people run The Sims 1 on Windows 7 before with little adjustments. I know it can work.

Again, each PC is different and for the most part, yes, you could make it work but the question is... are you prepared to waste all that time doing so?

I recently played MoH Airbone and I gotta tell you, after doing a whole lot of things to make it playable, I found myself hating the game a bit and not fully enjoying it like I did before.