Up until a couple of weeks ago, I was still using Windows XP.
I had been having the following problem, since earlier this year, 2014:
After a cold startup, my computer would not allow me to go online. Neither the Firefox browser nor the Outlook Express email program would work (server not found, unable to connect). After a restart (warm reboot of the OS), everything worked fine. (This was the only solution. simply restarting Firefox or Outlook did not work.)
I mentioned this to tech support at my ISP a couple of times and they were of the opinion that it was caused by a corrupt file - somewhere (we didn't explore the specifics).

I didn't try for a permanent solution, as I was contemplating upgrading to Windows 7 before the end of this year, which I assumed would fix the problem.

I upgraded to Win7 a couple of weeks ago and at first everything worked fine, but it seems that after having installed TS2 (with all EPs and SPs) the identical problem is back.

My main question here is whether anyone else running Win7 with TS2 installed is having this problem.

(As an aside, I noticed after doing a supposedly clean install of Win7, that it actually retained most, if not all of the WinXP files on the harddrive. I've deleted the "Old Windows" folder (as per the Microsoft advice on their website), as well as a couple of others that I knew for sure were from XP, but I'm certain there are still others which I'm not sure I can safely delete. So it is possible that the problem is being caused by some of these older XP files. I suppose it is also possible there is a problem with my DSL modem. The only thing my new Win7 OS has in common with the old XP OS are some of those leftover files, and TS2 having been installed.
Edit: I will reinstall Win7 tomorrow, this time formatting the harddrive first, which I neglected to do previously. I really don't think the issue is TS2 related, but instead is being caused by some file(s) left from XP. Or maybe it's a hardware issue. I'm not optimistic that formatting the HD and reinstalling Win7 will solve the problem.)

There's really no way that TS2 could cause this. It's theoretically possible that Origin might; but I would agree that it's far more likely to be a Windows problem that was transferred over from XP. Did you format your hard drive and install Win 7 from disk, or did you do an upgrade type thing?

Yeah, I really don't think TS2 caused it, but since it was the only game I had installed so far, I figured I'd ask.

Today I installed Win7 for the third time, this time formatting the harddrive first, which I neglected to do the first two times. No old files to be seen on the harddrive this time around. It will take at least a couple of days before I get everything back the way I want it and then I'll just keep my fingers crossed concerning the connectivity issue.
If the harddrive format and the new Win7 installation doesn't fix it, I'll be at a loss. Time to take it back to the people that built it six years ago.

Is it really necessary to install the Origin thing? I will never buy anything there, I know that for sure.

If you have an Origin version of TS2 then you'll have to install Origin, if you have physical disks then there's really no need.

Another thing to consider is the drivers for your network adaptor, and your router, as possible culprits.

OK, thanks, I have the discs for everything.


I know nothing about network adaptor drivers and I don't have a router, just a DSL modem.
Anyway, two days out and everything's working fine. Haven't reinstalled TS2 yet, probably will tomorrow.

Also, despite of what everyone says about installing patches for each EP, I never got a prompt for doing so during my install the other day. Nor do I remember being prompted to apply a patch in my previous install a couple of years ago. I have all three collection packs (University, Business, Pets), which were all released after the last EP/SPs were released, so presumably they have the most up-to-date game engine. I had no problems with my prior TS2 installs as far as bugs, glitches or anything (aside from the various things Maxis never fixed).
Related question: When activating the boolProp testingCheatsEnabled cheat, a little version number appears in the corner of the screen (upper right, I think). Is this the current game engine version number, and if so, wouldn't this be a way for a player to see if he has the most up-to-date version of the game?

Yeah, the collection packs are pre-patched.

The number is the engine number I believe, but I don't know how it relates to patches.

Aren't the term "engine" and "version" interchangeable, especially from a player's perspective?
I'm surprised that players have apparently never bothered to compare those little numbers in the corner of the screen. If those numbers indeed represent version numbers of the game currently installed, then everyone who has the latest and final patch would show the same number, regardless whether they patched their games or whether they simply had one of the collection packs that were released after the final patch.

This ought to be done, because once we determine the final patch number, we could avoid these repeated discussion about whether a player has their game properly patched to the final version. If he sees the final patch number displayed, he's good to go. If not, he would need to patch.

Sorry - yes they are, I didn't mean to distinguish there.

You're assuming that the patches change the engine number, which they may or may not do.

The problem is definitely caused by TS2.

After reinstalling Win7 last Tuesday (with a harddrive format first) everything was fine for three days.
On Friday evening I reinstalled TS2 (with all EPs and SPs) and shut down my computer shortly thereafter and went to bed.
I get up Saturday morning, turn on the computer and it wouldn't connect to the internet. No connection with my Thunderbird email program and Server Not Found with the Firefox browser. Did a warm reboot and everything then worked fine. Then I did a couple of cold restarts and everything worked fine as well, but that's not unusual because it''s always been a intermittent issue, except for the first bootups in the morning when the issue almost always occurs. At other times with a cold start, it's intermittent.
Same thing again this Sunday morning - had to warm reboot before being able to get online.

Bottom line is that everything worked fine until I installed TS2. As soon as I install TS2, it won't connect to the internet after a cold start and I have to do a warm restart.

Edit: One thing I haven't tried yet is taking the TS2DD disc out of the drive when I shut down in the evening, so that the drive is empty when I startup the next morning. I know the disc was in there this morning when I started up and I'm pretty sure it was yesterday morning too.
Maybe there's something the computer reads off that disc when it starts up that's causing the issue. It might explain why it seems to be an intermittent problem. It's a longshot, but then I thought the entire thing being caused by TS2 was a long shot too, so you never know.