Unknown Exception error: suggestion in SimCity 3000

Contributor/author(s): Exile, edited by Wren Weburg

If you've been experiencing the "Unknown Exception" bug in SimCity 3000, there is suggestion that seems to help in some situations.

The bug seems to occur when your system runs out of virtual memory. Windows uses virtual memory to supplement your system's physical memory. The virtual memory resides on your hard disk, in a "swap file". Unfortunately, if you run low on hard disk space, you consequently run low on virtual memory.

If you let Windows manage your virtual memory settings, Windows will allocate the necessary space it needs for your swap file. However, if you set your swap file to a fixed amount, it is recommended that you set your minimum amount of virtual memory to roughly 2.5 times your physical memory. So for example, if you have 32 MB RAM, you would want to set your virtual memory minimum size to about 80 MB.

Exile has reported that setting the minimum virtual memory size to 100 MB is very effective against the "Unknown Exception" bug, so if your problems don't go away, you might want to try that. The bottom line in any case is to make sure you have plenty of hard disk space for the swap file so that SimCity 3000 has enough virtual memory to utilize.

See also
Fixes for the "Unknown Exception" bug