I am at my wits end!!

soccerstar0009​  Your dxdiag crashed at least twice while running, so it's missing some potentially useful information.  And the crashes could be indicative of a system issue, although this could also be a fluke.  So please run a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

• Click Windows key-X and select "Powershell (Administrator)" or "Windows Terminal (Administrator)" , whichever you see
• In the window that appears, copy and paste "DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth" without quotes, and enter
• The system will take a little while to validate; if it throws an error, please list it
• Otherwise, copy and paste "sfc /scannow" without quotes into the window, and enter
• Post the message you receive

Restart your computer, open Windows Settings > Update & Security, click the box to check for updates, and if any install, restart again afterwards.

Try again to play, and if you can't, run and post a new dxdiag.  Additionally, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Click Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Today is on the right.

Look for an error that happened at exactly the time of your most recent attempt to open Sims 3.  If you find one, double-click it to see more details, then copy that info and paste it into a reply here.  If you don't see a new error, check back in an hour or so—the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away.

If you still can't find an error, create a new admin Windows account and try playing there.  Make it local, as in, not linked to your Microsoft account or any email address.  You'll be able to at least try to launch the game without reinstalling anything.  If that doesn't work either, look for an error in the Reliability Monitor related to this attempt, and post its info if you find one.

Hi: Thank you for the prompt reply! I did that first part as you asked. Attached is the final report. I will now proceed with the next steps and keep you informed if the problem is fixed. I do appreciate your help with this matter!!

Ok another update...step 2 seemingly worked, step 3...didn't so attached is the last two reports that you mentioned. Hopefully the dxdiag isn't missing crucial info this time around!! Thank you again!! I will try the fifth step in the morning.

soccerstar0009​  The dxdiag didn't crash this time around, but it also doesn't list any errors, despite the Reliability Monitor displaying quite a few.  I don't know whether the errors in the RM would show up in a dxdiag, but the fact is that the dxdiag process can't pull any errors, which is not normal.

Plus, the errors in the RM come from a basic Windows process (Quick Access) and the Windows updater service, which suggests some kind of system issue.  DISM and sfc should have taken care of that but apparently did not, although there are also some successful updates.  So I'm not sure how serious these errors are.  Please keep an eye on the RM for more errors involving QuickAccess.exe and updater.exe, and let me know what you see.

There is also the matter of not having any Sims 3 errors, which means the game is likely being blocked from opening rather than crashing.  That, in turn, is usually a permissions/access issue.  So once you've tried the new admin Windows account, we'll have more useful information.

Hi: ok I created a new local account on the computer. Ran the game and it loaded and worked!!! I also didn’t see any error codes this time around. Thank you for your help with this matter!!! I did get an error code in game though that is says the following:

Warning: Unable to Identify Hardware

The game is unable to identify your hardware. Please contact customer support.You may need to adjust your graphics settings manually for optimal quality and performance.

 I’m assuming that’s just an issue with the graphics card? That usually gets corrected in a txt document correct? Also I should be able to load my backup sims file into this account’s documents section to access my saves correct??

Again, thank you so much for your help and patience on this matter!!! An absolute lifesaver you are!!!

soccerstar0009​  The "unable to identify hardware" error hasn't typically been related to the graphics card; that's the "unrecognized video card" error.  One theory I've seen is that the hardware error references a sound device, the details of which aren't reported in the DeviceConfig file, so it's impossible to confirm the normal way.  What is clear though is that you can ignore it as long as you don't see other issues.

And yes, you can move your saves to the new Windows account.  Anything you drop in C:\Users\Public would be accessible from any account.  I would only transfer individual files and subfolders though, not the entire Sims 3 folder, since something inside might be corrupt.  Move only the data you want to preserve, like saves, rather than everything inside the old folder, and keep the new folder's existing subfolders where appropriate.  For example, keep the new Saves folder and place your old saves inside that one by one.

Ok then I won’t worry about it too much the game is loading which is more than it has in months!!! Thank you so much!!!!