I have a new dell 1525 with an Intel 965 Chipset Family graphics card, I am also a major The Sims 2 fanatic, my problem is that The Sims 2 will not run on my new dell properly, because it woud seem that the chipset is not up to running the game. I have tried running as administrator, and turning the ingame graphics options to low, this will allow me to run The Sims 2 but no expansion packs
I have also tried going to properties and running in XP service pack 2 mode which doesn't help.
IS THERE ANY WAY I CAN REPLACE MY GRAPHICS CARD IN MY LAPTOP?
OR
WILL IT BE EASIER TO BUY A SECOND HAND HARD DRIVE, CONNECT IT TO MY LAPTOP AND RUN THE GAME OFF THAT?
OR
WILL IT RUN BETTER IF I REPLACE MY VISTA WITH XP

IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN DOWNLOAD THAT WILL HELP?
(I have downloaded driver updates already)

Please help! I have spent 2 days trying to fix this problem!

There's one thing I can think of. I think nVidia is starting to make external graphics cards. I think they connect via a PCI slot in your laptop. I don't remember the exact price, but I think it was something like $350 for a 256 MB card. It's something you should look into if you like The Sim's that much.