Lagging and freezing since 1.14.2025 update

I can’t even get mine to update. Stops at 8% and freezing my PC. It won’t let me pause or cancel the download. 

sfriend2011  You can force the EA App closed in the Task Manager, then restart your computer.  Then clear the EA App's cache, and try repairing the game instead of updating.

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

If that doesn't help, try reinstalling the 2015-2022 VC++ runtimes, which Sims 4 uses.  Open Windows Settings > Apps, scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables, click any version from 2015 or newer, and uninstall.  (Don't touch the other versions.)  You can download fresh copies here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170

You only need the x86 and x64 runtimes, not the ARM version, and you don't need the older copies either.  Restart your computer after installing and before trying to repair or update.

I was having the same issue.

Having the same issue and have tried removing conflicting mods, removed the mods altogether, and I repaired my game twice. This has never happened before. I honestly have no idea what else to try.

misydney98  It looks like some of your laptop's drivers could use updating.  Go here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

Enter your laptop's serial number, choose your OS (just Windows 11 is fine) if prompted, and let the site look for new drivers.  If anything installs, restart your computer.

If you still have issues with Sims 4, please let me know what they are: lag, freezing, crashing, etc., and in what contexts.  Please also  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 Sims 4 freeze or crash, or during your play session if the game simply lagged.  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.

Selda27  The above applies to you as well, except you can't update your drivers on the HP website, of course.  Let me know what the exact problem is, and list any associated errors in the Reliability Monitor.

puzzlezaddictHi, thanks for responding! My laptop is up to date. I tried to make a screen recording of my live game play and it wouldn't work for some reason. I tried to record in the game and when I played it back, I only saw a black screen :(. But it basically lags/glitches to the point that the game is unplayable. When I pan the camera it moves very spottily, the sims also move the same, pretty much the entire game. I even turned the graphic quality from very high to high for lighting and sims in the gaming options, the other selections were already set to high and I played fine.  Another thing of note is the initial loading screen after you select resume game takes FOREVER now, like, literally several minutes, which was not happening prior to the update. I followed your instructions and I tried to copy the errors that stood out below:

1. Installation Failure: Windows failed to install the following update with error 0x80073D02: 9NGW9K44GQ5F-SAMSUNGELECTRONICSCoLtd.SamsungContinuityService.

2. Description
   Faulting Application Path:    C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\dptf_cpu.inf_amd64_df46a4623d1872e5\dptf_helper.exe

   Problem signature
   Problem Event Name:    APPCRASH
   Application Name:    dptf_helper.exe
   Application Version:    8.7.10601.21688
   Application Timestamp:    60a82494
   Fault Module Name:    dptf_helper.exe
   Fault Module Version:    8.7.10601.21688
   Fault Module Timestamp:    60a82494
   Exception Code:    c0000005
   Exception Offset:    0000000000002794
   OS Version:    10.0.26100.2.0.0.768.101
   Locale ID:    1033
   Additional Information 1:    3a07
   Additional Information 2:    3a076d72c0a60fc24be55a15588a366b
   Additional Information 3:    9506
   Additional Information 4:    9506f24a23c23646cfe6aa8edf869241

   Extra information about the problem
   Bucket ID:    4da66ca8637fe40d3a224d79b75c87e1 (1883152779356964833)

I don't understand any of this and am unsure if it helps lol.. I see no errors associated with the game itself around the time I noticed the lag. I'm starting to wonder if this is affiliated with the update and there's nothing that can be done to fix the issue :(

Selda27  Try playing with your computer offline.  You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play.  Let me know whether this helps with either issue: the long loading time or the bad performance.

If loading your main save still takes too long, try a new save, for comparison's sake.  Please also try clicking Load Game and selecting your main save, but a different household within it.

puzzlezaddictI tried everything you suggested. Everything loads faster but gameplay remains the same. In addition, I started a new game while offline to see if here's a difference, and same thing. I'm baffled.

Selda27  Please try playing in a clean boot, still offline:

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. If this helps, you can selectively reenable services until you find the culprit, then either leave that disabled or (if it belongs to an app you want to keep using) let me know what it is so we can try to fix the underlying issue.

If it doesn't help, please look for a new error in the Reliability Monitor that happened during this play session.  If you don't find one, that's fine, it's also good information.

puzzlezaddictThis recommendation actually worked! I'm honestly not sure if any of the programs I selected had anything to do with solving the lag so I screenshot the programs and will attach them. The only 2 that aren't in the screenshot is a program called "overwolf updater windows scm" - no idea what that is, "quick search service", and "windscribe service" which is a vpn app I use sometimes (most times its off). My only question is, will I have to do this to play the game going forward? Do I have to stay offline and play in clean boot?