Before you start have you backed up your game recently? If not then do it now!

If it doesn't then your crashing may be due to inadequate system resources and isn't being caused by any of your custom content. Don't forget that you need at least 2Gb of free hard disk space for the game to run, if you don't have this then trying a tidy up and defrag of your hard drive and run your game again to see if it fixes the problem before you start rummaging through your files.

The quickest way of dealing with a potential problem with custom content is to delete it, throw out everything and start over, being more organized as you go - putting risky hacks and mods in a special hacks sub-folder for easy removal, perhaps sorting downloads by creator or similar so you don't have to tackle a huge groaning Downloads folder if you have further problems in the future.

If you've drowned your downloads folder in masses of files and never paid much attention to what is going on in there, especially if you are missing a few EP's but honestly haven't paid as much attention as you should to EP requirements, or have downloaded from sites with dodgy or inaccurate EP labeling then it might be a lot easier to start over with a fresh game and a clean Downloads folder which you can organize more carefully! If you can't bear the idea of possibly losing some items you really love and want to hang on to everything then read on.

Don't worry, this doesn't have to be a big job. Download and install Delphy's Download Organizer - download the setup file to your computer, double click on it and follow the on-screen instructions. When the program is running it will scan all the items you have installed in your game which can take some time if you've got a lot of content!

Once its finished going through all your items it will remove any empty & junk packages. If this doesn't fix your game problems it will at least give you less files to have to deal with when it comes to sorting through your Downloads!

If your game started acting up only after the most recent addition of new custom content items then set your folder view to details and sort the items by date modified. Whatever was put in most recently take out those items and test your game. If the problem has gone away then it is one of those new items that isn't compatible with your game. If you want to test them further to find out specifically which object then try the 50% method (see below).

It doesn't necessarily rule out a problem file, but it can tell you if your game is fundamentally busted for whatever reason.

Go into your My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2 folder. Select your SAVED SIMS and DOWNLOADS folders, use the CUT tool, go to your Desktop or some other area on your computer away from your Sims folder and PASTE the files there. Don't delete them!

Test your game - if you get that far create a new family and move them into a new blank lot, try buying some different items from your build & buy catalogs. 

Make sure you try and do anything that you would previously experienced a problem with!

If all seems Ok without your custom files then you will need to carry on with the later steps. If your game fails to work, you have the same or new problems with it then you will need to reinstall afresh before testing your custom content.

• Walls
• Normal Floors (not transparent or shiny/reflective floors)
• Terrain Paints
• Clothes which use Maxis meshes
• Make-Up
• Genetics that do not use custom meshes (i.e. normal skin tones, regular Maxis based hair)
• Facial hair and costume make up

It is so extremely rare that these items can cause a problem so manually move out everything BUT those files out of your Downloads and Saved Sims folder into another location on your computer then test your game to rule out the very unlikely possibility of one of these files being the source of the problem. If you're stuck finding files of a particular type then you can use Delphy's Download Organizer to help you find them.

Obviously if you do still have game crashes even with just these low risk files installed and you're convinced there are no other types of files in there then you'll need to continue straight on including them in your later testing.

This is where you will need to start looking through your installed files and picking out ones which look like they might be more risky. 

The most likely causes of game issues are the following:-

• Hacks (overrides, anything that changes the way the game functions)
• Hacked Objects
• Custom Careers
• Custom University Majors

Things like out of date versions of the Insimenator, or hacks that perhaps require specific Expansions or which haven't been updated to be compatible with newer EP's you may have can certainly cause global game failures which is why these types of files are considered risky.

If you haven't had the foresight to put such files into a separate hacks sub-folder so you can identify and move them easily in case of a problem then try installing and running the Hack Scanner & Lister from DJS Sims.

Make sure if you are removing custom careers or majors that none of your Sims are out at work or college - everyone needs to be at home before you take out those files or your game will get into a mess!

With the files you have left now divide them into 2 batches. 

Test one half first - if there is not a problem then that half is clear. Test the second half and if that has a problem then you know the faulty file or files are in that second batch.

Divide your half with the faulty files into 2 halves, repeat the process. Keep repeating until you get to the source of the problem. If you get to a stage of having 2 files which both cause crashes, recombine them into one folder and start over. Gradually you should start to accumilate large batches of files that are working. 

This method is explained as a diagram here at ModTheSims2 - it is quicker than testing small batches of files since hopefully you only have one or two busted files at the most so the idea is that you can  narrow the problem down to a relatively small group of files within a few testing runs rather than testing potentially hundreds of small groups of files!

Make sure when you are testing using this method that you still keep your 'safe' and low risk content out of your Downloads folder for the time being. You may have ruled it all out as being a possible cause of your problems, but having it in your game will slow down your testing unnecessarily.

Once you've found the files that aren't working simply remove them and hopefully you should be able to add everything else back the way it was and have your game working again. If it isn't then repeat the process from the beginning OR start over with a fresh installation and get your Downloads folder organized!

The vast majority of game crashes are caused by careless game management or a complete lack of game management - you can't dump tens of thousands of files into your game without paying attention. Even if you do have every single Expansion pack you can still get your game in a mess if you download mods or modded objects which may clash with each other or have specific EP requirements which may not extent to working with all EP's. If you're in the habit of downloading Sims or Houses and installing them with the Maxis installer instead of carefully instalilng them with the Clean Pack Installer then your game can easily get full of junk that doesn't work properly! 

It is absolutely worth spending time getting your files organized and keeping it tidy when you add new content so if your game suddenly misbehaves you can quickly and easily remove suspect files. It is also worth being discriminating about what you download, it keeps your game's load time down and reduces the risk of acquiring problem content because you have less files to look after. Get tough on what you add, do you really need loads of almost identical white modern bathroom sets or tons of T-shirts with logos on or the same dress in 25 different colours, be critical about what is in your game and if you don't actually use something then chuck it out!