Glitchy Graphics? [when touching certain spots, lines appear] SOLVED

[clw8]

==System==

Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Ed.
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80GHz
Memory: 1278MB RAM
Page File: 347MB used, 2706MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c
Dell Model Number: Dimenesion 3000
==Display==

Name: RADEON 9200 PRO Family
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip Type: RADEON 9200 PRO
Approx. Total Memory: 128.0 MB
Main Driver: ati2dvag.dll
Version: 6.14.0010.6462 (English)
==Sound==

Name: SoundMAX Digital Audio

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A Side Note:
I don't know if this is useful, or relevant, but, I just reset my computer like 3 days ago, so, this is my first time back on the game. But, I put basically everything that was on my sims 2 before the restart, back on it [same downloads folder..], and I have the same expansions installed. Before my restart I didn't have this issue.

Could my problem be related to my restart? I do know it threw lots of stuff out of wack, b/c it did factory defaults....I had to redo language, etc.

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Anyway, my problem... :)
...a picture says a thousand words:
http://i37.tinypic.com/25zpjs2.jpg
NOTICE in the top right hand side of the screen, the glitches in the graphics. This occurs basically whenever I scroll over certain parts of the screen while building. I'm not exactly sure what to call this prob., other than a glitch, so, you'll just have to figure that out, from the picture!
EDIT
http://i34.tinypic.com/m7ylpl.jpg
^ABOVE^ ok, so i've expanded my problem. this doesn't just happen when appying wallcovering. it also happend while putting in windows and doors [no pic], and, obviously why putting in objects that aren't anywhere near the house.....
Just a few more pictures.....just to settle that this happens in buy mode, and when just moving about the screen.
http://i35.tinypic.com/2640rqh.jpg
http://i34.tinypic.com/346rxcp.jpg

OH YEAH i DID go through those pre-steps before you post. [Remove downloads/saved sims folders. Rename the "the sims 2" folder. PATCH.] and none of this helped....at all!

So, hope someone can help, if not, i guess i'll just have to live with it.... the "glitch" happens in a split second. It took probably 10 tries just to get the photo with the glitch in it.

[simsample]

I've seen this before and I'm sure it's a driver issue- if you have the latest drivers, you could try some older drivers.

[clw8]

I've seen this before and I'm sure it's a driver issue- if you have the latest drivers, you could try some older drivers.

how do i know what drivers to change....and, why did this problem occur only once my computer was reset......is it b/c my drivers aren't as updated as they used to be? it's only been a few days of updating, compared to the months of updates that was on it.

[callistra]

Did you just do a system recovery/reset thing or did you actually reinstall the OS from scratch? Either way your drivers will not be up to date. With the fresh install you have to install them because they won't be installed automatically and with the reset they will be rolled back to the original factory build date of the system (although realistically usually before) so they are just out of date. If you used Windows Update to get the drivers that can also cause problems. Cannot even begin to count the number of times Windows Update tried to (and sometimes got away with) installing the wrong drivers and wrecking everything up. NEVER use Windows Update to install drivers.

These should be your graphics: http://ati.amd.com/support/drivers/xp/radeon-prer300-xp.html
You'll also want to update directx along with it: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=2da43d38-db71-4c1b-bc6a-9b6652cd92a3&DisplayLang=en (update server is down right now for me so be patient)
I would also update your chipset while you're at it.. Try this first: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/download.aspx?url=/16026/a08/infinst_autol.zip&DwnldId=16026&ProductID=816&lang=eng
If it doesn't work try this: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/confirm.aspx?httpDown=http://downloadmirror.intel.com/8178/eng/infinst_enu.exe&agr=&ProductID=816&DwnldId=8178&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng
If that still doesn't work just use these: http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&releaseid=R58201&SystemID=DIM_CEL_3000&servicetag=&os=WW1&osl=en&deviceid=3268&devlib=0&typecnt=0&vercnt=1&catid=-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=27&fileid=70069

[clw8]

SOLVED.... :) Once all of this talk about drivers came about it dawned on me that i forgot to install my drivers to my video card. So thanks to u two for mentioning drivers.

[simsample]

Well done for fixing it! Hope your game plays well now. :)