Can't change any settings in game

@smdHannah  When you're changing the graphics settings, are you doing so at the Main Menu, then quitting to desktop before loading a save?  If not, please try this now.  Changing a setting while you have a save loaded, or loading a save without quitting first, can cause graphics glitches all on its own.  Delete options.ini again before you try this.

If this doesn't or didn't help, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Unfortunately it doesn't make a difference whether I change the settings at the main menu or when I have loaded into a saved game, it still freezes either way when i try to change any graphical settings, although when it does freeze I can still hear the game running in the background I am just unable to control anything and have to force exit the game via the task manager.

I have attached a copy of the dxdiag

@smdHannah  A number of errors in your dxdiag may be related to the graphics driver, so please start by installing the newest driver released by Nvidia (today, as it happens):

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/190348/en-us

Run the installer as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Select the custom install option and check the box to perform a clean install.  Restart your computer when you're done.

If you happen to have GeForce Experience installed, and it offers to install the driver for you, say no; if you have that setting enabled, disable it.  It's important that you do this manually.  Also, if you use GFE, please disable the option to allow GFE to optimize your in-game settings.

Once you've done all this, delete options.ini (again) before loading the game.  Once again, make sure to only change settings at the Main Menu and then quit to desktop before loading a save.

@smdHannah  If you manually edit options.ini, does the change stick, and can you play normally?  For example, you can set edge smoothing or advanced rendering to 0 or 1 just as you did with the fullscreen setting.  (You can click crtl-F and search for any given term.)  Let me know whether this makes a difference: I'm wondering if it's only the game's changes that are blocked, or your changes too.

@smdHannah  Right, I meant are you able to change any of the other options, aside from fullscreen/windowed, without the game going haywire.  But if the answer is no, the next step is whether you use OneDrive, and if so, whether it's syncing the contents of Documents.  If it is, it might be interfering with any changes you try to make to options.ini.  The easy test is to pause syncing for a while.  You may also need to cancel the current sync.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/how-to-cancel-or-stop-sync-in-onedrive-4885c27e-3d89-4d69-be75-2646c71367d3

If that doesn't help, or you don't use OneDrive, try playing in a clean boot:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

When you reboot, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down anything that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example RGB software or MSI Afterburner.  If you accidentally kill the wrong process and it doesn't restart itself automatically, just reboot your computer.  Please also disable your antivirus and any other security software, at least long enough to test.  As long as you don't do anything other than try to play, your computer should be safe.

While you're doing the above, please also use a clean Sims 3 folder, as in, move the existing one out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop and let the game spawn a new one.  This will include a(nother) new options.ini, so all your changes will have reverted.  As always, please either edit the file manually, or change graphics settings at the Main Menu and then quit to desktop before loading a save.