The only way I could get rid of periodic Error code 12 problems was to enable access to more than

2 GB of memory
(I have 4 Gb installed). I had to update to all the latest patches (versions
1.19.44/2.14.4/3.10.4/4.7.4/5.5.4/6.2.4) After this, I have not had any more Error Code 12 problems.
For your system, it depends on your operating system (XP, Vista, or Windows 7 and whether it is 32 bit or 64 bit. I
recommend you have at least 4 GB of memory. For 64 bit Vista or Windows 7, the latest versions of Sims 3 can use
more than 2Gb of memory already. For 32 Bit you have to enable access to more than 2 Gb memory on startup.
Here's what I did. My system is 32 bit Vista which as installed only accesses 2 Gb of memory. I had to install at least
4 Gb of memory and do the following to allow a 32 bit operating system to address more memory (from Mod The
Sims/Sims Wiki page):
1) 32-bit Operating Systems
If you have a 32-bit version of Windows, and additional step is required in order for The Sims 3 to use more than 2
GiB of virtual memory. You must have at least 3 GiB of RAM installed in your system before taking these steps.
For Windows Vista, Windows 7, Server 2008
Open the Command Prompt with administrative rights.
Open Start.
Open Programs.
Open Acessories.
Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
Type the following and hit enter:
If you have 3 GiB of RAM installed: bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 2560
If you have 4 GiB of RAM installed: bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072
Close the command prompt and restart your computer.
If you have XP, here are the MTS instructions:
Windows XP, Server 2003
Open System Properties.
Right-click on My Computer and select Properties.
Select the Advanced tab.
In the Startup and Recovery area, click Settings to open the Startup and Recovery dialog.
In the System Startup area, click Edit to open the Windows boot.ini in Notepad.
Make sure to disable Word Wrap from the Format menu (you do not want a check to appear next to it).
Find the [Operating Systems] section. Each line below this header represents an operating system installed on your
computer.
At the end of each line under [Operating Systems] add the following after /fastdetect (or whatever is at the end of
the line):
If you have 3 GiB of RAM installed: /3GB /userva=2560
If you have 4 GiB of RAM installed: /3GB
I think it is very poor EA game design that you have to make changes like this in order to prevent this problem.
Save the changes and close Notepad.
Close all open dialogs and restart your computer.