I just downloaded VF2 for Windows. The main screen window is too large for me to click the next button on the bottom of the screen. It is hidden behind my toolbar. There's no maximize button to make it fullscreen and no buitton for Options on the main screen. How to fix?????

Virtual Families 2: Our Dream House operates at a fixed resolution: 1024x768. Your computer's display must be physically capable of supporting that resolution, and the settings for the display must be set to at least that size, or the games will either not display properly or will not run. Many netbooks, for example, have screens that are physically too small to display our games.

To check the display resolution settings, perform the following steps:

- Right-click on an empty area of your Windows desktop and select Properties.
- Click on the Setting tab
- If the Screen resolution shown is less than the resolution required for the game, you should select a higher resolution.

If the available settings are too low to display the game on your computer, you will need to run the game on a different computer, if you have one.

So what happens if your PC is set properly and you still have this issue? I cannot play like this. As soon as I click on something like the detail screen I'm stuck and cannot get back to the game, there is no way to access a "back" button and I have yet to find a menu to change my screen settings to full screen.

If your computer is set at exactly at 1024 x 768, you'll still experience some overlap of the game off your screen as there is a border. Can you set your resolution to a higher number than that?

Mine is set at 1600x900. But I can not scroll down to see anything one the list of items. In the food and meds all I see is food not meds. The bed list only shows adult bed not kids.

Kovee, I answered you here. The kids beds are directly below the blue Standard Adult Bed.

I also cannot scroll down to click on the start button. I set my resolution on a higher setting, lower setting and exact setting stated above. No luck. I downloaded on my son't computer and exactly the same problem.

Also, there is no maximize button and no Options or Menu button.

I think there is something wrong. Hope you can fix it...been waiting a long time. Thank you.

I can't get past the beginning screen. Is my computer too old? I play the other games just fine.

got it, screen was too big and I couldn't see the start button!

After fiddling with mine I finally got it low enough to see the menu button in the bottom left.

I have the exact same problem here Xay. I am running Windows 7; cannot set my screen resolution any higher; cannot see start/menu button to change to fullscreen as suggested or hide Task Bar which might help. I cannot see any configuration folder to make change in there.
I agree with other comments, we have waited a long time for this game to come out and now it is unplayable like this. Bitterly disappointed.
Surely it is easier for Arthur to change the config settings so it starts in full screen like all the other games and put that out as an update.
As it stands, if I can't get this resolved, I will not be buying this one. I can't believe I would actually miss a game. I have the full set!!!!

I have another problem - downloaded Trial Version, but was asked for a Registration key before my Trial began. Well, I have none. How do I start the trial version?

I have resolved my own problem. With Windows 7 although it is set at max resolution for my monitor size (check what size your monitor is to determine if you can change it up)1024x768 is upto 20" monitor, larger ones resolution increases.
What I did was to change the Graphics settings. It turned out my refresh was set to 60hz and screen was at low res setting in there although it was showing at highest setting in the resolutions control. I upped them to 75hz refresh and screen setting to match 1024x 768.
Problem solved. I now see all buttons so could use menu button at bottom of game screen (orange if you can't see full button try clicking in that area).
Hope that helps someone else.

Another thing that you can do to force the game into full-screen mode is copy the config file from one of the other LDW games to the VF2 folder in Program Files and modify it to force full-screen, like this:

[ldw]
Fullscreen=1
ForceFullscreen=1
ForceWindowed=0
UseVsync=0
Distributor=LDW

That will force the game into full-screen mode. If you don't have another LDW game to copy the file from, you can create it by copying the text above into Notepad and saving the file as ldw.ini in the VF2 folder in Program Files.

On another note - my number keypad that allows me to scan the outside of the house in VF1 - do not work in VF2. If I press the numbers, it zig zags around the house.

Will there be a fix for that? Using that keypad saves my wrist/fingers from clicking the mouse too much!

Rasa, there is a conflict with the activation code software in VF2 that causes errors when running the game in trial mode. We are working on a replacement download that corrects the problem, but it's not yet available.

Zia, we are looking at the issue with the numeric keys, since only a few of them work properly. I can't say at this time when a fix might be available, though.

Thanks for answering - I went ahead and bought the game, which solved this problem for me

What I did was set my taskbar to the left of the screen which enabled me to click the button. Once the game started I set it to Fullscreen and now it is fine.

I have the same problem.

I have replied to you in your thread here, stonzee, as well as your support ticket.

After the rain stops I have found that occasionally the sound effect continues until I close VF2 completely and return. The sound contines even when I switch between families. It doesn't happen every time though. Is this a known issue/is anyone else experiencing this?

My 7, 8, 4, 5 all work. 9 will zip to 7. 6 will zip to 4. 1 will zip to 7 and 3 will zip to 1 and then to 7. Same for you?

Yes, I've seen that on one occasion so far. I'm only running one family though. I left the game running in the background while I did some web surfing. When I went back half an hour later the rain sound effect was still playing, but no visible rain. Like you I had to quit the game and re-enter it.