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I had a tech working on my Pogo games because I cannot play most of them. He turned off my sound. How do I get it back?

Restoring Pogo Games Sound

Most Pogo games feature a mute button, allowing you to mute the sound if desired. This is accomplished by clicking an icon that looks like a tiny speaker inside the game window of a Pogo game. Unfortunately, muting a single Pogo game actually mutes all of them. Fortunately, getting your sound back is usually as easy as clicking that speaker icon once again.

While the solution may seem obvious once you find that icon, sound issues in Pogo games have tripped up plenty of users. Some think it's an issue with the computer and start looking in the computer's sound settings for a solution. Others search their Pogo accounts for settings that might affect the sound. Meanwhile, the icon remains elusive. To turn your sound back on, you'll need to open an actual Pogo game and then look for the speaker icon.

When the sound in a Pogo game is on, the speaker icon will show little curved lines representing sound waves coming out of the speaker. When the sound has been muted, these lines disappear. Toggling back and forth should turn the sound on and off.

Troubleshooting Other Pogo Game Issues

Hopefully the speaker icon trick will restore your Pogo sounds. If you need help troubleshooting other issues with Pogo games, Electronics Arts' Help page recommends several initial steps such as clearing the browser's Java cache (go to Start > Control Panel > Java and click the General tab. From there, find Temporary Internet Files > Settings and click Delete Files), updating or installing Java, and running Microsoft Security Essentials. Sometimes these initial troubleshooting steps will resolve problems such as errors with games loading.

I am customer of Bigfish Games. My Game Manager is not working. It is saying my drmactivator application has stopped working. I have tried everything in the help section. Also some of my paid games are not there anymore.

The problem you are experiencing with the drmactivatorapplication seems to be a common one. I'll list the most popular solutions for fixing it. Try them one by one to see if you can resolve the drmactivatorapplication error.

Resolving drmactivatorapplication error: DEP

Follow these directions as closely as possible (depends on your version of Windows):

•1)      Navigate to "Start" and left click.

•2)      Navigate to "Computer" and right click.

•3)      Navigate to "Properties" and left click.

•4)      Navigate to "Advanced" under System Settings and left click.

•5)      Navigate to "Performance" and left click on "Settings."

•6)      Make sure that the box in front of "Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and settings only" is marked.

•7)      Click on "Apply."

•8)      Click on "OK."

It may be necessary to reboot your computer in order for this to work.

Resolving drmactivatorapplication error: User Account

If you still don't have access to your Big Fish games, try the following:

•1)      Navigate to "Start" and left click.

•2)      Navigate to and open the "Control Panel."

•3)      Open "User accounts."

•4)      Unmark the box for "Turn User Account on or off."

•5)      Reboot the computer.

Resolving drmactivatorapplication error: Uninstall Recent Upgrade

Some users report success when they uninstall a recent Service Pack upgrade. Most likely, this is going to be a temporary fix until the next upgrade. It's up to you to decide whether you want to try this solution or not.

Access Live Chat

Big Fish Game Club members can access the live chat feature to discuss problems they are having with Big Fish games. If none of the above solutions have worked for you, contact tech support through this feature. I usually have to contact tech support more than once until I find an individual who has experience with the particular issue that I need help with, so contact them as many times as you need.

I just bought the SIMS 3 for the Mac for my daughter as an early Christmas gift. We had a lot of issues before we were able to install it. We had to upgrade to a 10.5 OS system, then we had to upgrade to a 2GB RAM...only to find that after all that it still won't work because our video card is a GMA 950. I feel bad for my daughter who has been dying to play the game. Is there anything we can do to fix this? Thanks.

The SIMS 3 Video Card Compatibility

One of the most important, and often frustrating aspects of home computer system management is ensuring that both hardware and software additions are compatible and mutually supportive and, unfortunately, it is true that The SIMS 3 is not supported by GMA 950 video cards.

Contemplating Computer Updates

No doubt it is difficult to realize all the updates your computer might require in order to support the latest software products, like SIMS, but the fact of the matter is that the computer needs to be able to process and support the advanced technology of the software program. On the upside, updates that you make to your computer now will allow you to run more than just this one game or program, but any other recent releases that you're interested in.

System Requirements and Compatibility - Mac and The SIMS 3

In order to make your computer support the game, you will need to make sure you meet the system requirements. In the future, you might want to run an Internet search for the game or software you are interested in and check the system requirements before purchasing. Here they are for The SIMS 3, listed below:

FOR MAC OS X

• Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or higher
• Intel Core Duo Processor
• 2 GB RAM
• ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of Video RAM, or Intel Integrated GMA X3100.
• At least 6.1 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB of additional space for custom content and saved games

This game will not run on PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) based Mac systems, or the GMA 950 class of integrated video cards.

When you go to buy a new video card, make sure that you choose one that is compatible with your system and the SIMS game. Here is a list of supported cards:

MAC OS X Supported Video Cards

• NVIDIA GeForce series
• 7300, 7600
• 8600, 8800
• 9400M, 9600M GT
• GT 120, GT 130

ATI Radeon^TM series

• X1600, X1900
• 2400, 2600
• 3870
• 4850, 4870

Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA)

• GMA 3-Series

Considering a Gaming Computer or System Upgrades

The other thing to consider is the opportunity to upgrade your computer with the purchase of a new system. Like a car, at some point it is less cost effective to add updates to an old system than to take the plunge and update your entire unit. I am a Mac user, and loyal to the system for a variety of personal computing needs, but you could also consider getting your daughter a less expensive, but more recently released PC laptop to use as a gaming device. There are reasonably priced computers of this type that can meet her gaming needs, without requiring you to upgrade your Mac in ways that are otherwise not useful to you. Consult with an expert at your local electronics store to find the system, or the video card best suited to your needs and existing hardware and software.

I hope this information is helpful! Happy holidays!

I am trying to play my Nintendo Wii through my computer's AV inputs. But I have no idea how to bring up the video. Please help me.

It can be a bit tricky hooking a Nintendo Wii up to the computer, especially since it was actually designed to hook up to the TV. However, if your computer has AV inputs, you should be able to bring up the video since you have video capture capabilities. You do need to have a video capture card for the computer. Alternatively, you can purchase a video converter and then you don't actually use the computer. It is important to understand that video displayed on a monitor is quite different than video displayed on the TV, which is why you need either the video capture card for the computer or the video converter for the monitor.

How to Connect Nintendo Wii to the Computer

• 1) First, purchase and install a video capture card for the computer. This type of card is necessary since you want to input video signals that were intended for a TV. Basically, the video capture card allows your computer to understand the signals coming from the Wii's video output.
• 2) Install the driver for the video capture card. It should be on a CD. In some cases, it is necessary to visit the manufacturer's website to download the driver.
• 3) Now, you connect your Nintendo Wii to the video capture card in the same way that you would connect it to the TV. Make sure you have the component plugs connected to the Wii.
• 4) Boot up the computer. Open the multi-media program that the video capture card uses. In some cases, this program will be Windows Media Player. It could also be QuickTime or a media jukebox specific to the video capture card.
• 5) Secure the light bar from your Wii onto the monitor's top.
• 6) Turn on the Wii. The video output should automatically show up and the splash screen should appear.
• 7) Follow the prompts to reset (recalibrate) the light bar for your Wii.

How to Connect Nintendo Wii to the Monitor

• 1) First, purchase and install a video converter that is designed for this purpose. It should have a VGA, HDMI, or DVI port on the end for the monitor (look at your monitor first so you know what you need.) On the end for the Nintendo Wii, you should see a yellow RCA video jack. You don't need to buy a video converter with the HDMI or DVI port unless your monitor does not have the VGA set up. This piece of hardware is going to run you anywhere from $30 to a couple of hundred dollars.
• 2) Connect the Wii to your speakers.
• 3) Connect the yellow cable end on the Wii to the video converter port (the yellow one.)
• 4) Connect the data cable from the monitor to the video converter port.
• 5) Look at the operating instructions for the video converter and determine what you need to do next. You should be able to adjust the screen resolution and the aspect ratio. Other options might also be available.
• 6) Power up the Wii.

I've installed and uninstalled Turning Point two or three times last year on my PC (Windows XP, SP3, tons of RAM and disk space) and all worked fine. Now, when installing, I get error 1610 ‘configuration data for this product is corrupt'. I've visited all the sites I can find on the error and it's the only game out of many I've installed that cause this. Any solutions?

Most of the time, when you get a 1610 error, it will tell you to contact your administrator or support personnel. Since it looks like you're on your own here, you're going to have to do a little troubleshooting to fix the problem.

First Fixes

The first thing to try is to copy the program directly onto your system and run the installation from there and see if you get the same error. You can also try to get into Safe Mode by pressing F8 on startup and try to load the disks from there. If the program loads successfully, reboot the computer and see if it will run.

Registry Error

My guess is that you are dealing with a registry problem, probably caused by a corruption in the registry that happened when the last version of the game was uninstalled. The safest thing to do in this case is to purchase and run a registry cleaner such as RegCure. You can download a free version that may find the errors for you before you purchase the program in its entirety.

Although I don't recommend changing the registry manually, it can be done if you are very careful. Changing the registry can severely damage your machine, so if you're not comfortable with it, this is best left to a professional. At the very least, set a System Restore point before you get into the registry so you have something to go back to if there is a problem.

Go to Start and then Run and type in: regedit. Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\INSTALLER

Now you need to find the key for Features. By looking at the keys here, you may be able to find the key for Turning Point. It will probably have two entries - one for features and one for Products.  If you find them, delete both of the keys for Turning Point by choosing the key and right clicking to choose Delete. Once the two keys have been deleted, exit out of the registry and try the installation again.

I think fixing the registry will solve your installation problems and you should be able to install normally as you have in the past.

I recently got Sims 3 for my Mac (I'm running Leopard 10.5.7 with a 2.66 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor with 8GB of memory and I have over 850GB free on my hard drive) so it's running no problem. I can't get any downloaded custom content to work. The instructions say to right-click on the sims3.app and choose "show package content". I have right-clicked, control-clicked and every other conceivable combo-clicked and I cannot get the "show package content" option to appear. I tried clicking on other apps to see if it worked then and it doesn't show up there either. I'm at a total loss. I've looked all over and I can't seem to find anyone else who's had this problem.

You are correct about there not being very much information on this issue. However, you might be in luck because my son has a Mac and he was able to clue me in on what should happen as well as a possible workaround for this situation. Read through and follow these suggestions that should resolve the problem for you. Hopefully it does because I can understand why not being able to get to the custom content would be frustrating- it's one of the best features for the game!

Downloading Sim3 Custom Content: Right Clicking

When you right-click on the Mac, it is a bit different than right clicking on a PC. You should be able to control click and gain access to what you need. It should go as follows:

If you navigate to your dashboard and select "finder" and then navigate to the menu that appears across the top and select "go" and then "applications", it should list all of your applications or folders for applications on your computer. Now you need to highlight the launcher icon for the Sims 3 and "control click" on the icon (make sure you are not using the command key instead of the control key.) This icon should be identified as the one with the logo for the Sim3 game. This strategy should work on your Mac as it works on other Macs. If it does not work on yours, try rebooting your machine and starting from scratch. If this does not work, try the following workaround that should get you to the "show package content option."

Downloading Sim3 Custom Content: Actions Drop Down Icon

Basically, you'll start out with similar directions to the ones above, but with a twist, so read through to the end.

• Navigate to your dashboard and select "finder."
• Navigate to the menu that appears across the top and select "go."
• Select "applications", which should list all of your applications or folders for the applications on your computer.
• Look for the actions drop down icon (looks like a gear) in the top of the applications window. Once you know where it is, highlight Sims 3 and click the "actions drop down option" icon and the "show package content" option should appear.