Re: Black Dots on Screen

I did the BIOS update, restarted and then got this from command prompt:

Error: 87

The online/cleanup-image/restorehealth option is unknown.

I then did the sfc/scannow which said:

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.

When I tried to install the NVIDIA update, it said that it couldn't be installed on my device.

I also tried running the sims in windowed and windowed full screen, however it made no difference and I still have the black dots.

@Hellish656  The error 87 is what happens when a command isn't entered properly, for example if you leave out a space or don't copy the full command:

DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /RestoreHealth

Please try to run DISM again, then sfc, and let me know how it goes.

Please also take a screenshot or two of the black dots.  Put the game in windowed fullscreen mode, hit Windows key-shift-S, and drag your cursor over the game window to capture it.  Then alt-tab out of the game, open Paint, and cmd-V to paste the image.  If the screenshot does not show the black dots, please take a close-up screenshot with your phone, as focused as you can make it, for comparison.

@Hellish656  The two commands ran fine this time, no issues, but I can't see your screenshot.  Please attach it to a post.  It's also worth trying to install the Nvidia driver again, just in case DISM or sfc fixed something that was blocking it before.

This is the screenshot

I also tried to run Nvidia again, but it comes up with the same message:

The NVIDIA graphics driver is not compatible with this version of windows.

This graphics driver could not find compatible graphics hardware.

@Hellish656  Try disabling Snowy Escape and see whether it helps.  You can just tell Origin not to load it:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2017/03/disable-single-packs/

Snowy Escape is EP10.

I tried that, but still have the black dots ☹️

@Hellish656  Did you play the game after the recent patch but before the pack was released, and if so, did you see any black dots?  Otherwise, when was the last time you played Sims 4 with no black dots on the screen?

@puzzlezaddict The last time I played was after the Star Wars pack was released, however, this was on my laptop which broke (I'd never seen the black dots before). I only just got this laptop off my brother who had since brought a new one, so the first thing I did was install origin and buy the new pack which I was super excited about. I then tried to play for the first time and that's when the black dots appeared.

@Hellish656  It's possible that this laptop's graphics card has an issue that's causing the black dots.  If that's the case, then there probably isn't anything you can do: laptop graphics cards generally can't be repaired.  But we're not quite there yet.

You can try uninstalling Sims 4 entirely and just installing the base game—make sure to cancel the pack downloads when Origin automatically restarts them, after you launch the game for the first time—to see whether it helps at all.  I'm not saying you can't play with any packs, just that it's a useful test to see how only the base game runs.

I tried that, but it didn't work.

That's okay.

Thank you for all your help though and for replying super fast! It's much appreciated.