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Everixthefrog64's avatar
Everixthefrog64
12 months ago
Solved

game not launching after newest sims 4 update (7/23/24 BG update)

Ever since my computer auto updated the sims 4 it hasn't been launching? it shows the "Preparing game" screen for a few seconds and then doesn't open. I have turned off my computer fully multiple tim...
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    12 months ago

    @Everixthefrog64  I actually wasn't suggesting you have a virus but rather that antivirus software could be blocking Sims 4 from starting.  Windows Defender is very good these days for normal home use, so there's really no reason to pay for anything more comprehensive as long as you're not doing any professional work on this computer and you're not making bad decisions about what to download.

    For Defender itself, please disable Controlled Folder Access, temporarily, if it's currently enabled.

    https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

    Your dxdiag is full of update errors, so please run a couple of basic 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 this doesn't help, 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 launch Sims 4, specifically after running DISM and sfc.  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.

    @b1b164fb1a802f5c and @Wmasumbe  If the clean folder didn't help, and please try it if you haven't already, I'd like to see dxdiags from you as well.

Everixthefrog64's avatar
Everixthefrog64
12 months ago

I tried the first thing you suggested and removed my sims 4 folder (and deleted any other mods I had left installed in my game that were not broken due to the update) from the Electronic Arts document and unfortunately it didn't work. I've done the second thing an run a Dxdiag and attached the file to this comment. Hopefully you are able to access it and to answer the other part I am currently unable to use any anti-virus software's as I can't afford/ don't know any good ones. I really hope it isn't a virus but also, I haven't downloaded anything off of unreliable websites that I know of so I feel like (extremely hope) that it isn't, thank you for your help regardless and I hope we can all figure this soon.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
12 months ago

@Everixthefrog64  I actually wasn't suggesting you have a virus but rather that antivirus software could be blocking Sims 4 from starting.  Windows Defender is very good these days for normal home use, so there's really no reason to pay for anything more comprehensive as long as you're not doing any professional work on this computer and you're not making bad decisions about what to download.

For Defender itself, please disable Controlled Folder Access, temporarily, if it's currently enabled.

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

Your dxdiag is full of update errors, so please run a couple of basic 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 this doesn't help, 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 launch Sims 4, specifically after running DISM and sfc.  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.

@b1b164fb1a802f5c and @Wmasumbe  If the clean folder didn't help, and please try it if you haven't already, I'd like to see dxdiags from you as well.

  • Wmasumbe's avatar
    Wmasumbe
    Seasoned Novice
    12 months ago

    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.
    PS C:\Users\>

    That's what it said

    • Wmasumbe's avatar
      Wmasumbe
      Seasoned Novice
      12 months ago

      Also here's what I found when running the Reliability 

      • puzzlezaddict's avatar
        puzzlezaddict
        Hero+
        12 months ago

        @Wmasumbe  What antivirus do you use, and does it help to (temporarily) disable it?  Please clear the EA App's cache:

        https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

        and repair the game with the antivirus disabled, and don't reenable it until you test once.  As long as you don't do anything else at the same time, your computer should be safe.

        If that doesn't help, 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.  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.

  • Everixthefrog64's avatar
    Everixthefrog64
    12 months ago

    AH IT WORKED!!!!

    thank you so much and I'm not even kidding but you are a life saver. this stressed me out so much and I was scared I'd have to spend money to get it fixed but with your help it worked!! <3

    • jp6f90zg5d6h's avatar
      jp6f90zg5d6h
      12 months ago

      What worked for you? I'm still at such a loss and its really getting on my nerves no, cant even play the new pack they made me pay £40 for ☹️

      • Everixthefrog64's avatar
        Everixthefrog64
        12 months ago

        For me, honestly everything before the "If this doesn't help, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor. Hit Windows Key-R and enter" sentence in Puzzlezaddict's comment. but I also had the help of a youtube video (because I'm more of a visual learner) which made the programming a bit easier to understand.

        Link: https://youtu.be/acxCueZ2dVQ?si=GzTi0FkPxObcMwRH 

        this was the video I hope your able to fix your game, good luck <3

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