Re: Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU

enei7eb5nb9w  Please provide a dxdiag.  Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

I have the dxdiag but what exactly are we looking for?

enei7eb5nb9w  I would like to read it to look for various reasons the game might not open.  The most interesting part is the Windows Error Reports section at the end, but most of the other info could be relevant in the right circumstances.  So please attach the dxdiag and I'll take a look.

Here you go

enei7eb5nb9w  You definitely need(ed) the Alder Lake patch or another intervention, but your dxdiag doesn't list any Sims 3-related errors.  That means the game is likely being blocked from opening rather than crashing.  So as a test of a number of possible causes at once, please try playing in a new admin Windows account.  Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address.  You'll be able to open Steam and try to launch Sims 3 without reinstalling anything.

If this works, quit the game, restart your computer, and try again, to make sure the game still opens.  Let me know the results regardless, and we can go from there.  The game working in the new account (more than the one time) means the issue is limited to your main account, and either way, we know where to look next.

If you still can't open Sims 3, please look for 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 open the game.  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.

I still dont understand the first option, but when I open Sims 3, it gives me the launcher. Im not logged on.

From Windows key R: 

Source
Sims 3

Summary
Stopped working

Date
‎2/‎28/‎2025 5:33 PM

Status
Report sent

Description
Faulting Application Path:    C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
Application Name:    TS3W.exe
Application Version:    0.0.0.32
Application Timestamp:    52dec247
Fault Module Name:    TS3W.exe
Fault Module Version:    0.0.0.32
Fault Module Timestamp:    52dec247
Exception Code:    c0000094
Exception Offset:    00213702
OS Version:    10.0.26100.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID:    1033
Additional Information 1:    a89c
Additional Information 2:    a89cbad0343d4637e5843732a061706b
Additional Information 3:    4597
Additional Information 4:    4597a0240f9ba3e833a89f5720255dba

Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID:    cc236a4c51da69e4fde333e1694a5eee (2153622090040368878)

enei7eb5nb9w  This is the Alder Lake issue, so please try the Task Manager workaround described here:

Re: Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU | EA Forums - 8265882

Apply it to TS3W.exe, with the W.

If it works, you can try the Alder Lake patch again, also applied to TS3W.exe.  But it would be better to confirm that the game is working before applying the patch, in case there's another issue that needs to be addressed.  The patch works for most people but can occasionally break something.

I followed the instructions for Alder Lake, a few min after hitting play, it actually opened. I accidentally quit before I could finish the instructions and now it wont open. Im not seeing TS3W.exe and my Sims3Launcher.exe shows as Sims3LauncherW.exe.

Several weeks ago I actually bought Sims 3 on the EA app, it didnt have any of my DLC from steam, but I could play it. The problem was it wouldnt let me save the game, so any time I saved, Id have to save as a new save. I cant for the life of me delete those saves either.  I uninstalled it so I could play the steam version, which still wont open. When it did open that one time, the saved games were on there (from the EA app), I still couldnt delete them. What the heck is going on? I have several hundred hours in this game and never had an issue on my past laptops.

enei7eb5nb9w  TS3W has to be there if you've launched the game, unless your antivirus is blocking it.  Check your AV for any Sims 3-related actions, and restore the .exe if necessary.  You can restore it by repairing the game in Steam as well (Sims 3 > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of the game files), but if your AV is blocking the .exe, this will happen again.

When you say you can't delete your saves, do you mean you get an error, or you delete them but they come back, or what?  Saves are stored in the same location in all types of Sims 3 installs, so it's no surprise you'd see them again.

If you've located the saves but can't get rid of them, right-click one and select Properties > General, then list the Location.  This could be OneDrive-related or another antivirus problem.  Either one could also explain why you had to keep creating new saves.

I tried looking in my AV but I cant find anything related to Sims, Im probably looking wrong. The saves just dont delete when I try to, and Ive tried looking in my files and I also cant find which one shows my saves. I am not tech savy. I think I have ALOT of extra documents in that folder that shouldnt be there. 

enei7eb5nb9w  The folder in your screenshot contains the game's program files, and it doesn't contain any user data, as in, the files and folders that would normally be in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3.  So you're looking at the wrong folder.  Before we move on though, what is the full file path to this folder?  It would be useful to know where the game is installed.

For the user data, search in File Explorer for DeviceConfig, and you'll see at least one copy (if it hasn't somehow been deleted).  Please list the full file path to each copy of DeviceConfig you find.  When searching, click This PC in the left panel first, then enter deviceconfig in the search field in the upper-right corner.  The search can take a while to finish, depending on how much data is on your computer and how fast your hardware is.

The last screenshot is where I right click the game and locate the files. I did go though the documents and I found the DeviceConfig, Ive got like 23 of them. Well I tried to start the game again and it just created the 24th devicevConfig since it couldnt locate the other one or merge it, I tried to take a screenshot of it but the notification got deleted. OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3. Are those my saved worlds? Also, I appreciate you still helping me out!

enei7eb5nb9w  This is the correct folder, but OneDrive's syncing your files is duplicating at least some of them.  Its interference would also explain why the game stops working and why you can't delete your saves.  So I'd suggest getting rid of it entirely, or at least stopping it from syncing your Sims 3 data.  Please see this post for more information:

[Read First] Running Sims 3 in Windows | EA Forums - 8323446

Feel free to ask more questions about the process.  And if you decide you don't want to change your OneDrive settings at all, the other option is to create a new, local admin Windows account, "local" meaning not tied to your Microsoft account or any email address.  (You can keep declining to link one.)  No email address means no MS account, which means OneDrive can't sync your data with cloud storage.  You could simply switch accounts when you wanted to play.

Good news, I got OneDrive to stop syncing... which I still couldnt play Sims but I tried the AlderLake again with the processing steps. I got Sims to work and was able to sign in to my profile and play with my DLC. Ill try again in a few hours to make sure it stays working. Thank you!

update: Its being finicky. I can play but it only works with the AlderLake CPU processer steps. I also have to be quick with it, after maybe a min the Sims 3 pop up goes away and I have to press play on Steam to get it back up. My saves are working too.  

enei7eb5nb9w​  That is good news, and now you can try running the Alder Lake patch (again), which would prevent you from having to apply the Task Manager method each time you open the game.  The point of using the Task Manager method first is to establish that the game can run once this particular issue is addressed.  The Alder Lake patch occasionally causes its own problems, so I didn't want to complicate the troubleshooting process by introducing it before any other issues were resolved.

I was reading the Alder Lake stuff again and it just hurts my brain. Theres so many ways to go about doing stuff and I cant figure out what's best.

enei7eb5nb9w​  The Alder Lake patch itself is simple.  You download the patch, you launch it, it asks you where the game executable is, you find TS3W.exe, you tell the patch to apply itself to the .exe.  This is the default location of TS3W in a Steam install:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin

So I went in the zip file I downloaded and double clicked the AlderLakePatch. I got a pop up saying I cant run it. "Microsoft Defender SmartScreen prevented an unrecognized app from starting. Running this app might put your PC at risk." and it only gives me the option to not run. I think I might be stuck using the CPU task manager trick.

enei7eb5nb9w​  That's absolutely your choice, but the file itself is harmless.  It's been used thousands of times without any reports of malware or other ill effects, and the creator put the code on GitHub for others to check if they're so inclined.  Antivirus programs often flag it because it's an executable (a file that executes code) that's not digitally signed, which is not a surprise since the creator is a regular person and not a corporation submitting programs to Microsoft for review.