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HowEmbarraSim's avatar
HowEmbarraSim
New Rookie
5 years ago

Computer freezing completely while playing

For the past two months The Sims 4 has been randomly freezing up. Not just the game, but my whole system so that I have to restart my machine. I've completely uninstalled/reinstalled the game and all...
pc
puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
5 years ago

@HowEmbarraSim  The dump file won't unzip for me for some reason, but I don't think it matters: it's much too small (59 bytes) to contain enough information to be useful.  Let's try another way instead.  You can tell Windows to create crash dumps, play until a freeze, then find the dump and upload it.  Here's how:

  • 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 4 and wait for it to freeze or crash
  • After it crashes, wait for any crash dialogs to finish (or restart if you need to)
  • Then hit Windows key-R and paste "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" without quotes into the box, and enter
  • Upload the last .dmp file to pastebin and drop a link here, as before
  • 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

To be clear, this might not work with the kind of freeze you're seeing.  But it's difficult to tell without more information.  Regardless of whether you get a crash dump, please look again in C:\Windows\Minidump for any files created while you were playing.  If you find one that's at least a few hundred KB (up to several MB), please upload it.

If this doesn't work either, hardware monitoring would be an entirely different approach.  It won't catch software errors, but then again this might not be a software error.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @HowEmbarraSim  The minidump files all list the same error: an access violation related to Malwarebytes.  So it's a good idea to uninstall Malwarebytes entirely, and of course reinstall it if that's the antivirus you use.  Malwarebytes offers a tool that allows you do do a clean uninstall, and then reinstall if you choose:

    https://support.malwarebytes.com/hc/en-us/articles/360039023473-Uninstall-and-reinstall-Malwarebytes-using-the-Malwarebytes-Support-Tool

    The error in the crash dump is related to your computer's page file.  So please check the connections of your installed hard drive(s): make sure any M.2 drive is properly seated, and unplug and reattach any SATA cables.  I don't actually know what drive(s) you have, since that was missing from your original dxdiag.  So please let me know, and if you get another crash, run another dxdiag.  The above might not help, but a loose connection is a simple problem to fix, so it's worth starting there.

    • HowEmbarraSim's avatar
      HowEmbarraSim
      New Rookie
      5 years ago

      Thank you again for your help! Unfortunately I'm still getting freezing issues after trying everything you've mentioned. Since it only seems to happen in Live mode and after 2-3 hours of game play I may just start setting a timer or spend more time building.

      I've included my most recent dxdiag in case there's anything in there. Otherwise I really appreciate your time!

      • puzzlezaddict's avatar
        puzzlezaddict
        Hero+
        5 years ago

        @HowEmbarraSim  The BlueScreen error at least really does need to be addressed, regardless of whether you can play properly for a while.  Since it referenced the page file, it's possible that the game crashes after a couple hours because that's how long it takes for the page file to be used.  You have enough memory that the game shouldn't need to page at all, but I don't know what else you're doing while you play.

        To that end, it's a good idea to run MemTest86.  It's more thorough than the built-in Windows memory test, although you will need a USB stick you don't mind erasing.  You can get it here (the free version is fine):

        https://www.memtest86.com/index.html

        And this is a good guide to using it:

        https://www.overclockersclub.com/guides/memtest86_memory_guide/

        There are also a number of Windows-related errors in your dxdiag.  So to be thorough, it's a good idea to run a couple of basic checks on your Windows system files.  Here's how:

        • Hit Windows key-X
        • Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
        • Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, 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 “Command prompt (Administrator)”
        • Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter
        • Post the message you receive here

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