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puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
2 years ago

Re: Re: Sims 3 crashing before opening at all

@shannara76  Please run a couple of checks of your Windows system files:

  • 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, 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, 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.

If you get the same error, please 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

The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  That goes for Asus software too—it doesn't need to be running for this test.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.

Please do leave your Sims 3 user folder on the desktop for now.  Until the game is working again, it's best not to reintroduce any potential source of error.

9 Replies

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  • shannara76's avatar
    shannara76
    2 years ago

    So this is what it said after I did the sfc/scannow stuff.  "Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them. For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log For offline repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag." I'm about to restart my computer and do the rest of the stuff you said, I'll let you know what happens after that.

    Again, thank you so much!

  • shannara76's avatar
    shannara76
    2 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict okay, so I did the rest of it as well and no codes, but still can't play Sims3. I opened EA and hit to play Sims3 and it just keeps bouncing me back and forth between the Sims3 launcher and EA.
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @shannara76  Please uninstall VC++ 2005 again, then run the installer as an admin: right-click the installer and select "Run as administrator."

    If that doesn't help, please run a Windows repair install, as described here:

    https://www.elevenforum.com/t/repair-install-windows-11-with-an-in-place-upgrade.418/

    If you still can't play, please look for any new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit 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 launch Sims 3, specifically after you've done the steps I listed.  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.

  • shannara76's avatar
    shannara76
    2 years ago

    Hi Puzzlezaddict,

    I figured out what was causing me the problems.  My antivirus software was screwing stuff up.  I'll just have to switch that off when I want to play The Sims3.  I wanna thank you for all you help with trying to figure this out.  Thank you for all that you are doing in helping all of us fix the problems we are experiencing, it's greatly appreciated.

    Thanks Again

    Shannara76

  • XSIMplyMarieX's avatar
    XSIMplyMarieX
    6 months ago

    I've been having the same issue after getting a new gaming laptop! I've been trying to fix my game for about 2 weeks now. 

  • XSIMplyMarieX's avatar
    XSIMplyMarieX
    2 months ago
    @puzzlezaddict Thank you!! I ended up re installing my game. I have yet to fix the crashing problem but If the patch doesn't solve the issue, I'll attach the files. Sorry for the late reply!!
  • XSIMplyMarieX's avatar
    XSIMplyMarieX
    2 months ago

    I've reinstalled the game completely and now even vanilla, the game crashes after I press play in the launcher. Before I tried to reinstall directx9, it gave me an error saying that there's a missing .DLL file. Thankfully, after reinstalling directx9, the dll error is gone but, the game crashing at launch still persists. I'm going to try the powershell method but, I'll leave my files here.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 months ago

    @XSIMplyMarieX The crash in your xcpt file is definitely the Alder Lake issue, and you'd need to reapply the patch (or use the PowerShell or Task Manager method) to get around it.  The Task Manager method is the most reliable, so please try that if the others don't work.  And if you try the Alder Lake patch and it causes more problems, repair the game in the EA App (Sims 3 > Manage > Repair) to undo its effects, then use the Task Manager workaround.

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