Sims 3 crashing on new gaming laptop

@Harriet13  Is Sims 3 still crashing?  Since it's been a while, I'd like to see a new dxdiag before making any more suggestions.  I'd also like to see a crash dump, that is if the game is crashing.  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 3, please upload it to a third-party filehosting site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and link it here.

If there is no Sims 3 .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 3 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.

While testing, please play in a clean Sims 3 user folder, just so that there aren't any complicating factors.

@puzzlezaddictHey! Still crashing all the time!!

DXdiag attached. Added a few crash dumps, not sure if that's helpful but maybe there's a common theme:

Latest: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zY3q9pZo0MkE3z07bu9Jz3lfaOSaMMNB/view?usp=sharing

Yesterday:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vzsNtyx7rs_SvLB4HRJLRBwdmyOLjzHy/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oIhHIhuFVQswBqZ9Z-IyqbihI1BPb5Qn/view?usp=sharing


I'm also not sure if it's worth noting, but I played CyberPunk on this PC and a bit of TS4 and haven't had any crashing problems with either. I'm sure it's because they're newer games and this is a new PC, but may be relevant.

@Harriet13  All three crash dumps contain essentially the same information: Sims 3 crashed with an access violation, specifically an invalid pointer read, and the faulting module was d3d9.dll, a component of DirectX 9.  Cyberpunk doesn't use DX9, but Sims 4 does, so it would be strange, although not impossible, for an issue with DX9 or the components of the graphics driver that interact with it to show up in Sims 3 but not Sims 4.

Still, the error is obvious, and the first thing to do is to run the DX9 installer, again.  Try the one within Sims 3's program files.  Unless you changed the default install location in Origin, the full file path will be:

Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\install\DirectX

Right-click on DXSETUP.exe and select "Run as administrator."  Restart your computer when it's done, and let me know if it throws an error.

If that doesn't help, do you run MSI Afterburner or Rivatuner Statistics Server while you play?  If so, please close these or any other similar apps and test.  Make sure they're not running in the background; you can check the Task Manager's background processes list.

If that doesn't help either, I'd need the actual link to the driver download page for your laptop.  The screenshots don't have all the relevant info, for example the version numbers for most of the drivers.  Again, the page doesn't have any info about your personal computer, just the model you bought, but I can't be sure I'm looking at exactly the right page unless you link it for me.

Finished the DXSETUPe.exe Didn't get any error messages! 

I don't run anything else when I'm playing Sims 3, I've honestly never even heard of MSI Afterburner or Rivatuner Statistics Server! I'm not computer savvy in the slightest!

Here's a link to the drivers page:

OMEN Laptop - 15-ek0005na Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support 

Now that I've reinstalled DirectX9 as instructed, I'll play a little and see if I get another crash and send you the relevant DXDiag and Crash Dump.

Thanks again for your help!

Hey @puzzlezaddict 

Today's crash dump and DXdiag are attached!

Crash Dump:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sB6fhRmdekJpPdMCUx6scT7HlwlRBCme/view?usp=sharing

DXdiag: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/14QuOg_j3iavm_WHllN-LjChh-z-nqYRQ/view?usp=sharing

@Harriet13  The crash lists yet more DX9 errors, but since you've already tried to address them in the usual ways, the issue is more likely to be your graphics driver.  I mentioned the process back in November, but it looks like you never tried it, but there really isn't anywhere else to go from here, at least until the drivers have been replaced.  I'll post the instructions again, since the download links have changed a bit.

Download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3450

Download the Intel graphics driver dated November 16, and the Nvidia graphics driver dated November 17, from the HP download page:

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/drivers/selfservice/omen-15-ek0000-laptop-pc-series/32827267/model/34766871?sku=3F854EA

Next, take your computer completely offline—disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord—and double-click the DDU.exe.  Take note of where the file will land, and click Extract.  If it's easier, you can copy the path and then paste it into the address bar in a File Explorer window.  Open the folder and then launch Display Driver Uninstaller.exe, and you'll get a message that you're not in Safe Mode.  Click OK, then go to Options and enable Safe Mode dialog.  Here's a screenshot of what your options should look like; make sure the box in red is checked:

Close options, and the DDU, and then open the DDU.exe again.  For launch options, choose "Safe Mode (Recommended)," and then click Reboot to Safe Mode (you'll need your password, so find it before rebooting).  Once you login, you'll see this:

In the blue box, choose GPU, then Nvidia if it's not already showing.  Then click Clean and Restart (red box).

Repeat the process, except now choose Intel for the GPU.

Once your computer has rebooted, now back in normal mode, run the Intel driver as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart your computer and do the same for the Nvidia driver.

Go back online and try to play.  If you get another crash, let me know (another crash dump would be helpful), and I'll ask for a second opinion.