Re: sims 4 crashing on startup after maxis logo

attached. @puzzlezaddict 

@Peanutjelly231  The Sims 4 errors in your dxdiag are typically related to another program conflicting with the game.  For example, many players run Razer software and need to shut it down before launching the game.  I don't see any Razer devices listed in your dxdiag; I'm just saying that's the type of software typically implicated.

Anyway, try playing in a clean boot:

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

When you reboot, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down anything that doesn't absolutely need to be running.  If you accidentally kill the wrong process and it doesn't restart itself, just reboot your computer.

It's not relevant here, but your Mac's memory is user-upgradable.  If you're considering it at some point, you'd save a lot of money by buying compatible but not Apple-branded RAM and installing it yourself, which is extremely simple.  Here's a guide from Apple:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201191

@Peanutjelly231  Please move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  If you get an error when trying to move it or you see a notification about files being copied, please stop here and let me know.  A screenshot of the message would be great; you can use cmd-shift-S (the cmd key stands in for the Windows key) and drag your cursor over the section of screen you want to capture.

Otherwise, launch the game, and a clean Sims 4 folder will spawn with no content.  Don't add anything to it yet; just see whether you can get far enough to start a new save.  If you can, it's fine to move your existing content from the old Sims 4 folder to the new one.

If that doesn't work, please repeat the test except with your computer offline.  You can sign into Origin and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play.

If that doesn't work either, please let me know whether you use OneDrive or any other service meant to sync your user data.

@Peanutjelly231  As an experiment, try creating a new admin Windows account and playing in that.  Make it a local account, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  You'll be able to sign into your existing Origin account and shouldn't need to redownload anything.

If that doesn't help, I'd like to see a crash dump from Sims 4.  Click Windows key-R and copy and paste this:

%LocalAppData%\CrashDumps

When you enter, you'll see a list of .dmp files.  If one of them is from Sims 4 or Origin, please upload it to a third-party filehosting site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and link it here.  If you see a crash dump that was written at exactly the time the game crashed, I'd like that too.  But in either case, please only upload files from after we started troubleshooting here.

If there is no Sims 4 .dmp file, you can enable them:

• Hit the Windows key, type "command prompt" in the box, right-click on Command Prompt in the search results, and select Run as Administrator
• In the window, paste "reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /d 2 /t REG_DWORD" without the outside quotes into the box, and enter
• Launch Sims 4 and wait for it to crash (whether you can play at all or not)
• After it crashes, wait for any crash dialogs to finish
• Then hit Windows key-R and paste "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" without quotes into the box, and enter
• Upload the last .dmp file to a free filesharing site and link it here
• When you want to undo the auto crash log dumps, open Command Prompt as before, paste "reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /f" without the outside quotes, and enter.

@Peanutjelly231  This crash is due to heap corruption, which could be a software or a hardware issue.  Did this crash happen while you were trying to play Sims 4?  I ask because it cites a component of Windows as the faulting module, one that's not typically corrupt.

Regardless, it's a good idea to run a couple of basic checks on your Windows system files and uninstall and reinstall the VC++ runtimes Sims 4 uses.  Start with Windows:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, and enter
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter
• Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

Next, hit Windows key-i, select Apps, scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables, and, for good measure, uninstall everything from 2010 onwards.  (If you have older versions, you can ignore them.)  Download fresh copies from Sereby, which is a well-known repository for Windows runtimes and has everything in one place.  Documentation and download pages, respectively:

https://www.sereby.org/site/All%20in%20One%20Runtimes&lang=en

https://www.sereby.org/site/downloads/All%20in%20One%20Runtimes

You don't need to donate anything; just click the Download button and run the installer.  Restart when you're done.

If you get another crash, please upload the associated dump file.

@Peanutjelly231  Sorry for the late reply.  I wanted a second opinion on the crash dump because I wasn't sure what to make of it.  And unfortunately, while it's clear what happened in terms of the error itself, it's not clear why.  This could still be a hardware or a software issue.

So to start, please run Apple's built-in diagnostics:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202731

If you see any result other than "no issues found," please stop here and let me know what reference code(s) you received.  Otherwise, please boot back into Windows and do a repair install:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/16397-repair-install-windows-10-place-upgrade.html

If you use an ISO file, you won't need a USB or any other outside device.  This process should allow you to preserve all your data, but if you get to step 13 and are NOT prompted to choose what to keep, back out and start over.

Once you've rebooted, please test the game again.  It's also worth disabling Game Mode and Game Bar, both under Windows Settings > Gaming.

If you get another crash, let me know.

@Peanutjelly231  So you went through the whole repair install process?  If so, and that didn't help, please run a virus scan.  Download Malwarebytes (the free trial is fine):

https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download

Open it, click Scan > Custom Scan > Configure Scan, check all the boxes both for scans and for your C drive (and any other if you happen to have an external plugged in), and let it do its job.  This will probably take at least an hour, so you may want to set it to run while you're doing something else.  Please attach its report so I can take a look.

@Peanutjelly231  Please try another clean boot, again going through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down anything that doesn't absolutely need to be running.  If you're not sure, err on the side of ending the process in question; you can always reboot your computer if necessary.  And this time, disable any antivirus you're using or any other security-related software (including Malwarebytes).  Disable Windows Defender and Controlled Folder Access as well:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/turn-off-defender-antivirus-protection-in-windows-security-99e6004f-c54c-8509-773c-a4d776b77960

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

While I wouldn't normally suggest doing this, since you don't want your computer to be vulnerable, you should be safe as long as you don't open anything other than Origin and Sims 4.

Additionally, disconnect any external device that isn't critical, basically everything other than your keyboard and mouse.

If that doesn't help, please run memory diagnostics within Windows.  The gold standard is MemTest86, which is free but does require a USB stick you don't mind erasing.  Link and detailed guide:

https://www.memtest86.com/index.html

https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/memtest86_memory_guide/

If you don't have a spare USB, you can try running Windows's built-in memory diagnostic test.  It's not as thorough but does still catch many issues:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/technet-magazine/ff700221(v=msdn.10)?redirectedfrom=MSDN

Please post the results.

@Peanutjelly231  Just to double-check, did you try a clean boot with everything disabled, as described, or did you only test disabling the security options separately?

@Peanutjelly231  I'm sorry, but the only other thing I can think to suggest is that you wipe the Bootcamp partition and redo it.  If you do go that route, please install ONLY Origin and Sims 4 and see how it goes.  Don't even transfer over any data you save from the current Windows install until you've tested, and don't plug in any peripherals other than the keyboard and mouse.