Sorry to keep bothering you, this is the only place I ever can think of to get the kind of answer I need..

First off I know I'm meant to print my specs here but I'm not use to Vista yet as was on XP before getting my new laptop, there doesn't appear to be a 'Run' tab in the start menu anymore ?!

But, my question is - I have been trying to update my video card drivers ever since I got this laptop a month ago, but can't find any exact drivers anywhere. But upon going into the graphic cards settings, then clicking on 'update driver' it searches for an update then informs me my driver is already up to date. This would be fine except for the fact that every single time I enter The Sims 3, a message always pops up from in-game saying something along the lines of "We strongly suggest that you update your video driver" .

This is really frustrating as with all other video cards I have been able to find the right driver rather fast, but they don't seem to do one for my card, even though it already says its up to date anyway. I am beginning to wonder if this is what is causing my game to crash after a couple of hours of playing?

Until I find out how to get the rest of my specs up, my graphics card is a ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 Series. Thanks for any help in the meantime .

do you know what ver driver it is using now and you could check google.
http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&s...nG=Search&meta=
i looked quick and there is some info and drivers available. also if you can find your device manager through control panel or however vista does it you can select your card there and try to update that way.not sure how much of a help that was i run xp with nvidia 9800 ultimate gtx card myself.

In Vista, the search bar in the start menu doubles as a run box.

For that card, you'll need to get drivers from your laptop manufacturer's website - HP or Dell or so on.

I'm assume its under 'System information' - so here is what I found.

Product Name; HP Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC

Name; Microsoft Windows Vista
Version/Build; 6.0
Service Pack; 1
Architecture; 32-bit

Hardware: Processor
Name; AMD Athlon (tm) X2 Dual-Core QL-65
Maximum Speed (GHz); 2.1

Hardware: System Board
System ID; 3060
Version; 19.15

Hardware: Firmware (BIOS)
BIOS Version; F.13
BIOS Release Date; 20090511

Hardware: Memory (RAM)
Installed Memory (MB); 3,072
System Memory; 3,069
Graphics Memory; 1,786
Max Capacity (GB); 3
Memory Slots; 2

Hardware: Graphics and Display
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 Series
Current Resolution; 1366 x 768

Software: Installed Drivers
ATI Radeon Kernel Mode Driver - Video Driver - Version 7.01.01.861

Did I need anymore info??

I can't find drivers for you with that info - d'you know the model number of the notebook? It should be on a sticker somewhere, probably on the bottom.

I just found this link and have begun to download it - on the right hand side it says the model of my laptop and I think this is the download for the driver I'm looking for...because I'm on a very slow internet connection I don't want to wait 5 hours for it to download for nothing, is there any way of knowing if this driver is better then the one I have? http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...os=2093&lang=en

I think it might be because my current version is 7.01.01.861 and this new version is 8.572.1.0 A ?? If it is a better version, does this mean the sims crashing should stop??

If that's the model of your notebook, then yeah, grab those drivers.

Which sims game do you mean? That computer should be fine for earlier Sims 2 EPs, ok for later ones - if you mean Sims 3, then it might help. Technically your specs should just about cope with TS3 - although if you also have overheating issues, which are common with laptops, that could impact things. Ideally I'd have gone for a stronger machine if you intend to play Sims 3, but that one's not terrible.

Install the drivers and see.

Yeah sims 3

The game runs amazingly on this laptop, I was shocked after playing the game for the first few months on my 2002 version computer! Is that what causes crashing then, over heating? Because that would make sense.

I just installed that driver, its updated my computer and version...but I just looked to see if that message went upon booting the sims 3 up and its still there, just saying 'We strongly recommend that you update your video driver' GRRR! What is that all about?! I hate it when things don't make a lot of sense.

Crashing can be caused by many many different things - the first thing to check is whether you still crash without custom content; next is whether you still crash if you rename the The Sims 3 folder in My Documents to "Sims 3 backup" or something and let the game generate fresh files. Crashing can also be caused by a bad installation, out of date drivers, overheating, a weak computer, underpowering - all sorts of things. Crashing essentially means "Something's wrong and the program doesn't know how to fix it", so you can imagine all the possibilities there.

I'm not sure about that error - maybe someone else has seen it. Error aside, has game performance improved now?

I'm not sure yet, I shall be playing in a mo so shall let you know

You need to restart your computer after you install the new drivers. Have you done this?

Also, your notebook model is notorious for overheating, which can also cause crashing. If the crashing does not stop I want to check temps. Please download and run this program: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php Leave it running -while- you play the game. Ideally, you will want to play the game at least 20min. Then close the game, and screencap the program (don't just save a log) and post the image here. If it's crashes before even 20minutes then just post what you can get.

ETA: In fact I just did a search and found your abandoned thread in archive.. I asked the same thing last time and you never posted back. Lets follow through this time and not let this one get moved to archive after inactivity.