Re: Can't get passed loading screen before main menu

Okay. So, I used Revo Uninstaller to uninstall the EA App and then got a fresh installer. Microsoft Teams is already disabled on my laptop, so I didn't have to worry about that. Once I had the EA App reinstalled, I tried launching the game and got stuck in the perpetual loading screen, so once I force closed the game, I tried doing the other thing of taking the The Sims 4 folder out entirely to start a clean version. Same thing happened. The game launches just fine, but it just won't load to the main menu.

@harasnicole  As a(nother) test, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there.  Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account.  You'll be able to sign into your existing EA account and launch Sims 4 without reinstalling anything.

If you still can't get past the loading screen, 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.

Look for any error that happened at the same time as you tried to load Sims 4, specifically in the new Windows account.  If you find one, right-click its name and select "View technical details," then copy the information you see and post it here.  If you don't find a corresponding error, check back in an hour or so—the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away.

Okay. I made the local account successfully, signed into my EA account and was able to launch The Sims 4, and the main menu loaded super quickly. I checked to see if I could access the Gallery, and I was, but I was missing the News tab (I only had the actual Gallery, my profile, and my downloads).

So, I guess, my next question is: Should I still do the Reliability Monitor thing on the new Windows account, or should do it on the main one? Or both?

Edit: I decided to do the Reliability Monitor on the main account first, and found a bunch of errors related to The Sims 4. They all say the same thing: "The program TS4_x64.exe version 1.101.290.1030 stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. To see if more information about the problem is available, check the problem history in the Security and Maintenance control panel." I tried doing what it says, but I have no idea what I'm looking for.

Just for "funsies", I decided to turn off my Firewall to see what would happen, and I made it past that first loading screen. When I launched the game after turning off the first time, where it says 'Resume' on the left-hand side, it was blank (couldn't see the last sim I had played with), but the ads were visible. So, I go into the Gallery to see if I can access it, and technically, I could, but all the photos were blank with red Xs in them (as seen in the screenshot attached below). So, I exited out of the game, gave it a few minutes before re-launching the game, and almost everything is back to normal except for the fact that I'm missing the fourth tab in the Gallery, the 'News' tab. Are there only three tabs now? Am I missing something?

@harasnicole  The X'ed out Gallery items has a master thread here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Anti-Virus-blocking-User-Folder-Screenshots/m-p/9572695

Please try the suggestions in the first post, at least those you haven't done already.

The missing News feed is by design after the Gallery revamp of a few months ago.  EA has said it will return at some point.  Please post here if you'd like to share your opinion:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/General-Discussion-Feedback/Gallery-missing-news-feed/m-p/12617936#M74225

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Which post am I looking at again?

@harasnicole  For the Gallery issues, you're looking at the first post on page one of that thread.  For the other, there's no fix, so just keep an eye on the thread overall for an update saying the feature is back now, or possibly that it's never coming back.  (I don't know what will happen with that.)  You can post in either thread, or both, or neither, but if you have further issues with the Gallery, please do use that thread I linked.

Oh, no, the Gallery issue was fixed when I had the one small opportunity to open and close the game and then restarted it.

I'm back to the loading issue and not being able to advance to the main menu because I know there's something on my computer that's affecting it, I just can't figure out what it is.

@harasnicole  Did you reenable the firewall?  I believe you said disabling it is what fixed the problem, or appeared to, the last time.  I wouldn't suggest using your computer for extended periods without a firewall, but it would be helpful to know whether this is the trigger.

If that's not the cause, are you currently playing in the new Windows account or the old one, and if the old one, does Sims 4 work in the new one?

I did disable it, and it appeared to work at first, but then my game went back to not loading the main menu again. I know it's something on my laptop that's Windows related because when I check the Reliability Monitor for errors, when I look at why The Sims 4 stopped responding, it says it stopped interacting with Windows and was closed. I'll attach screenshots of the kinds of errors that showed up that I have no idea what to do with.

ETA: I'm playing on my main Windows account. I tried to see if I could play the game on the new one, but the EA app won't even open to let me try. 

@harasnicole  Please uninstall any Razer software you have, for example Synapse, Cortex, or Game Manager Service, which is crashing as well.  If this helps, you can try reinstalling the programs one at a time—it's often enough to uninstall and reinstall them.  But please do test with none of them present.

If that doesn't help, uninstall the EA App with Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine), reinstall it in the new account, and see whether Sims 4 works there.  It's odd that the App wouldn't work in the new account and suggests a broader system issue, but for now, just let me know whether this helps.

Okay, I did everything you suggested (minus uninstalling all the Razer software because I had already done that), and the game still won't load to the main menu. I'm at a loss at this point because I have no idea what else on my laptop can be interfering with the game. 

@harasnicole  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.

If this helps, you can selectively reenable services looking for the problem.  The 50/50 method is helpful here: reenable half the services, and if the game still works, half of the rest.  If it crashes again, disable half of those you just enabled, and so on.  Let me know what you find.

Okay. I did everything in your post that you suggested, and it's not working.

@harasnicole  Please run a Windows repair install:

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/repair-install-windows-11-with-an-in-place-upgrade.418/

This shouldn''t delete your data, but if you get to step 14 and are NOT prompted to keep personal files and apps, back out and start over.

If this doesn't help, please post a new dxdiag.  And please also confirm that the problem is exactly the same as before, or if you're seeing a new and different symptom, please describe it.

Okay. For some reason, my computer didn't have a 'Reinstall Now' button for the Windows 11 thing, so I ended up just doing a complete reset because I didn't know what else to do, which means I had to redownload the EA app as well as The Sims 4 and all the DLC. Opened the game once, and it loaded as it should. I just closed the game and reopened it to make sure, and everything loaded as it should. Hopefully, this means my issue has been resolved. Thanks for sticking this out with me.

All right, I guess resetting my PC wasn't the fix that it was. It worked for a while, and then my laptop went right back to not loading the main menu. The Reliability Monitor isn't showing anything about The Sims 4 not responding to Windows, so now I'm even more confused.

@harasnicole  Have you added any mods or custom content, and if so, have you tested without that content?  Is OneDrive running, whether you use it or not, and if so, does it help to pause syncing?  You can do so by right-clicking the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

Please also let me know whether you're running a third-party antivirus.  You can check under Windows Settings > Update & Security > Security.

I removed my Mods folder to my desktop to see if anything changed, and it still wouldn't load to the main menu. I just reset my laptop again and am currently in the process of redownloading The Sims 4 and all the packs, so I'll be sure to test pausing OneDrive syncing as soon as I can. Also, no third-party antivirus, just the one that came with my laptop, which is Windows Security.

@harasnicole  Since you've reset your laptop again, I'd suggest either getting rid of OneDrive entirely or at least preventing it from syncing the contents of Documents.  Whether OneDrive is responsible for this issue, it can certainly cause other issues that are easily avoided by preventing automatic syncing.  Please see this guide for how to implement the setup of your choice:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370#M249772

Okay. I stopped OneDrive from syncing to Documents entirely. As soon as my game is finished downloading, I'll try it again and report back.

Yeah, my game's still loading to the main menu.

@harasnicole  Just on the off chance there's something wrong with this user account, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there.  As before, make it local, and see whether you can get far enough to start a new save.

If that doesn't help, please post a new dxdiag.

hi, i'm stuck in same thing as @harasnicole with the loading screen BUT i just installed 2 new dlc's as well, but one thing i did notice after following this thread for a bit is that my EA launcher doesn't load any of the pictures on my sims packs or the game itself. attached a image.

I installed high school years and horse ranch expansion, maybe the issue is related to any of those packs? Just an idea yk.

@puzzlezaddict Okay, so, I've made the second Admin Windows account, but for some reason, Windows won't let me sign into it because it either says that I'm not connected to the internet even though I am, or every time I confirm my email address to get a code to enter, it just puts me right back to the lockscreen ready to sign in to my main account. I've deleted and recreated a second Admin Windows account I don't know how many times, but my laptop won't let me get in.

The new dxdiag is attached.