Forum Discussion

13 years ago

The Sims 3 has Stopped Working: Windows 8 - New laptop that meets requirements

Greetings

I apologize in advance if this post is quite lengthy but I have at my wits end.

I purchased a brand new laptop around a month ago and have experienced issues with the sims 3 crashing since. What occurs is in around 5 minuets of playtime the game will close and the error that, "The Sims 3 has Stopped Working" pops up.So far I have seven expansions downloaded with a mix of CD copies and digital origin downloads.

Overview of my specs:
- Windows 8 64bit
- Intel Core i7 Processor @ 2.90GHz
- 8GB RAM
- NVIDIA Geforce GT 630M dedicated graphics card (Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics)
- 2GB Video RAM

I have experienced absolutely no issues when playing more demanding games with this laptop. I tested to make sure I meet the requirements to play The Sims on canyourunit.com and the site indicated that it should be working on this system.

So far I have tried the following solutions:
1. Put TS3W.exe into the DEP
2. Putting the Sims 3 to run in capability mode in both Windows XP (service pack 3) and Windows 7
3. Changing the settings in the NVIDIA Control panal to ensure that The Sims was using the better dedicated graphics card rather than the integrated one (which even when using the integrated card should still work)
4. ensuring that all graphics drivers were up to date
5. ensuring that all patches were up to date on The Sims 3
6. I have no mods or CC enabled

I am unsure why the game is crashing so much as it worked fine on my lower power macbook, on the same graphics settings.

I also downloaded the Sims 3 Crash Log analyzer which indicated that, "Insufficient Graphics Capability." I find this assumption bizarre as all other tests and indications say that my graphics cards should work fine with the game.

So far I have eight expansions downloaded with a mix of CD copies and digital origin downloads.
1. The Sims 3 (Disk)
2. World Adventures (Disk)
3. Ambitions (Disk)
4. Late Night (Disk)
5. Generations (Origin)
6. Pets (Disk)
7. Supernatural (Origin)
8. Seasons (Disk)

The following pictures might provide insight into the issue:

24 Replies

blunote00
Seasoned Ace
11 years ago
VanillaToast wrote:
Info for a bump. I still haven't found a solution to this issue.

My computer has Windows 8, meets all requirements, and my graphics are turned to the lowest settings. No refelections, etc, so I don't think it's a memory leak issue. The game is fully updated to 1.67, so DEP settings aren't the issue either. Graphics card is fully updated.

I keep getting this exact issue, mostly when I'm trying to transition from one activity to another (painting to work, shower to fixing a meal, etc), but mostly when transitioning to anything that takes me from my home lot.

Just putting the info in here as a bump, as I'd like to find a solution for this ongoing, seemingly unsolvable issue. I'd like to assume that it's a compatibility issue with Windows 8, but there should have been a patch for that by now, considering this OS has been out long enough.

Any other suggestions, folks?

What kind of graphics? Onboard/Integrated or Dedicated?

You need to post your DxDiag report.

Hit Windows Key + R to open the RUN box. Type in dxdiag and let it run (run in 64-bit if you have a 64-bit rig). Save the information as a text file to your desktop. Then cut/paste the information from the text file into a post here.

Note: If you're running Win 8 or 8.1, the report is too big to put in one post. You will have to post half in one post and the 2nd half in another.
roberta591
Hero (Retired)
11 years ago
VanillaToast - Did you update to Windows 8.1? Did you use the event viewer to see if Windows will log the error? Without access to the source code it would be hard to assume a memory leak. Memory can be consumed by poor programming. This could be the application or the operating system or a poorly written device driver. DEP prevents code execution for memory that is other then executable code. How much virtual memory and how much free virtual memory do you have? Quite frequently Windows itself is not the problem but poorly written device drivers especially video drivers cause the error you are getting. Just because you have the latest device driver doesn't mean it is free of errors. Please post your computers dxdiag.
buckycat998
11 years ago
I'm using windows 8 and every time it crashes and says Sims 3 stopped working. I was going to turn off reflections but it said to restart the game or else it will cause severe graphical issues so I got scared and closed the window with out saying okay or saving. this is a big problem for me cus I loose all my progress when this happens. PLEASE HELP
caglaelibol
5 years ago
> @litabelaqua said:
> You have 2 graphics cards make sure you are switched the higher rated Nvidia card
>
> edit - ok i didnt see that this was an old thread when i replied but it might help the person that bumped it.
Thank you very much... It worked for me too...