Re: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Already Running

I was having the same issue i contacted support and it seems like a lot of people are having the same issue they told me their team is working on it and to keep an eye on their twitter for updates!

Twitter

@fairyr0re  What antivirus do you use?  Some of them have extra settings that need to be adjusted.  And when you reset your user folder, did you ever try to play without adding anything to the new folder?  If not, please do so now and let me know whether it works.

You can also try playing in a new admin Windows account, as a test.  Make it a local account, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  You'll be able to sign into your existing EA account and won't need to reinstall Sims 4, but your saves and other content won't be available.  That can be addressed later; for now, just let me know whether the game loads properly.

@Da_Anxiety_45  You can try the suggestions above as well.  But it's definitely not an issue that anyone at EA is working on; I don't know why that support rep would say it was.  This is always a system issue, with something blocking Sims 4's access to the user folder, so with the exception of adjusting to a new operating system or something similarly global, this is not the responsibility of EA to fix.

@madison00ulo  I've merged your post with another thread on the same issue.  Please try the suggestions in this article:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/crin-error/game-already-running/

and then the other suggestions above.

I tried creating a new user it still didn’t work but it keeps telling me it’s open and I don’t know what antivirus I have 

I am literally having this problem and i just wanted to play sims

@ZeroSoulss  Did you try the suggestions in my post earlier in the thread?  If they don't or didn't help, please let me know what antivirus you use.

Please also make sure you're restarting your computer—a full restart through the menu in the lower-left corner of the screen—after each step.

I am also having this issue (3/26/23 and 3/27/23). I hope EA is able to fix this issue, I have also tried everything and I'm so sad.

@kitty2ooo  What antivirus do you use?

frrr its been like this for months already

@2125999  Did you try the suggestions earlier in this thread?

"The Sims 4 Premium Edition is already running. Go ahead and start playing. It's a good one." I have been having this issue since March 2023. I am running Windows 11. I tried all the suggestions that were noted on the tread, I have cleared out my cache and even uninstalled all packs, uninstalled the EA app and reinstalled everything again and the issue remains. I tried playing off-line and all I get is a message saying "The app couldn't connect to the servers. We'll keep trying to reconnect you. Meanwhile, you can restart the app or play a game that doesn't require an internet connection." click to play and the EA launchers pops up then nothing. Look on Task Manager and nothing. All three games I have installed on the EA are, The Sims 4, The Sims Medieval and SimsCity 2000, all tried in off-line mode and the same message.

I purchased the two add-on's that were released yesterday, paid and installed them with no issues on my Windows 11 machine. ran updates and tried to launch The Sims 4 and same message. Logged out and jumped on my old machine that runs Windows 10 (now daughter's machine) logged in and ran an update and also installed the new add-ons, clicked Play and The Sims 4 worked with no issues! 

This Windows 11 is a gaming machine and have been playing The Sims 4 on this same machine the past 8 months prior to this with no issues, purchased for The Sims 4, I have been playing since original release in 2000! Yes, I have been playing for 23 yeas!

I use Trend as my security software and used it for years with no issues. When message is noted, I look on the Task Manager to see if The Sims 4 is running and it is not listed.

I even tried playing the SimCity 2000 out of curiosity, updated it on my Windows 11 machine (was just sitting there un-played for ages) the exact same message as The Sims 4 pop's up!

Purchased and installed The Sims Medieval on my Windows 11 machine back early April 2023, same already running message popped up also. These all run with no issue on the Windows 10 machine!

I play on steam also with other games and none of them are having loading issues. Is this a Windows 11 issue?

@GreenJasmyn  Have you set exceptions in your antivirus for the executables you'd need to run in order to play?  That would be EADesktop.exe, plus TS4_x64.exe for Sims 4 and TSM.exe for Sims Medieval; I'm not sure what SimCity 2000's .exe is.  (I can look it up if you have trouble finding it.)

Please also let me know whether your Documents folder is stored in the OneDrive folder.  You can right-click Documents in the left panel of a File Explorer window and select Properties > General, then look for the Location.  If the file path includes Documents, let me know how full OneDrive is.  You can find out by right-clicking the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen and selecting Settings > Account.

Hey puzzleaddict Hero,

Thanks for your response. I have looked into Trend. for the exceptions to ensure that The Sims games are noted as executables and they are noted. Still no change to the loading option. I actually never use OneDrive! I can see the OneDrive but this doesn't have any of the Sims games noted.

@GreenJasmyn  The important thing to check with OneDrive is whether the Documents directory is stored there, not whether you see any files inside OneDrive.  When you can't launch the game, no user folder is created, so checking for a Sims 4 folder wouldn't be definitive, especially if you've changed your settings (or Windows changed them for you) recently.  So please double-check the location of Documents anyway.

If you're not seeing the file path through Properties, you can open Command Prompt (run a Windows search for it) and enter this command, which will output the location of Documents:

reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal"

If Documents is stored in OneDrive, let me know.  Otherwise, try playing in a new admin Windows account.  Make it a local account, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  Just open the EA App and try to launch Sims 4.

@puzzlezaddict 

So looing further as suggested and using the prompt command, I can see Documents 

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
Personal REG_SZ C:\Users\bunkf\OneDrive\Documents are located in the OneDrive folder even though I never set it up.

Cheers

@GreenJasmyn  Do you want OneDrive to keep syncing your files, or not, or do you want to disable it entirely?  Pick whichever option works best for you, then follow the instructions in that section of this guide:

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

If you do want to keep using OneDrive, make sure it's not already full (look at "I want OneDrive to keep syncing my files"), which would explain the problem.  It may also help to pause syncing before you start playing.  You can see the option by right-clicking the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of the screen and selecting "Pause syncing."

@puzzlezaddict I want to say thank you for all you time and help.

I tried your last suggestion, still no success. I looked back on afew of the older thread and saw the create a new account suggestion, that was the only other suggestion that I hadn't tried fully.

I have managed to play The Sims 4 on my Windows 11 machine!

The only way it worked for me on my Windows 11 machine was to create a new "other user" account - "add a user without a Microsoft account" then "I don't have this persons sign in information". A quick update then loaded with my basic apps and programs, Tren security, The Sims 4, The Sims Medieval, EA app and a couple more that was it. I have not synchronized anything!!!

I pressed on the EA app and this had a message that it was already running checking in Task Manager I could see the EA app, ended task and tried again, after the third attempt I uninstall the EA app and install it again, then was able to login as normal and then I pressed play, The Sims 4 base game loaded with no issue!!! No packs or add-ons though...logged out of game and repaired The Sims 4 base game it repaired the base game (through the EA app) first then all my other packs (68 + base game) repaired!!!!!! After that I pressed play and it loaded, my saved games were gone, I didn't care. I am still able to access all the gallery and all my creations were there. 

I pressed play on the other EA games that had the same original error " The Sims 4 is already running go ahead and start playing. It's a good one." The Sims Medieval and SimCity 2000. All loaded with no issue and all if any saved games were there they were gone, but they worked.

I am unsure if this will help anyone else but it worked for me! 

I am still unable to load it on my main account where I am logged in in through Microsoft. To be honest I actually don't care as long as I can play.

Again @puzzlezaddict  you are still fantastic, and I see you help so many people through this thread and I bet other's. You ROCK!!!! :-)

@GreenJasmyn  That's great to hear.  If you want to use your saves (I know you said you don't care, but still), you can load your old user account again, then copy anything you'd like to keep into C:\Users\Public, which is accessible from any account on your computer.  Then retrieve the files once back in the new account, and move them to the relevant locations.  Sims 4 and Sims Medieval both store user files in Documents > Electronic Arts; I don't know about SimCity 2000, but again, I can find out.

Hi , i seen that you were able to help others with this issue i am having. my game worked perfectly fine two days ago, once i tried to open it yesterday it said my game was already running when it wasnt , earlier that day i installed new mods, once the error began to occur , i deleted the new ones that i added , all my other mods are already up to date. i tried eeverything , deleted the app entirely , added it to my exceptions for the virus rasnsomware in my settings. I cannot add it to my desktop because i have no space on there , the game is within my external hard drive , i also tried playing on another desktop account but that didnt work either . I ran the dxdiag and of course i dont understand it. can you please help me ?

@Nyythajointt  Thanks for the dxdiag, which shows the immediate problem: your C drive is almost completely out of space.  Given how small the drive is, you really can't have anything on there except for Windows and a few small apps: browsers, game launchers (but not the games), Spotify, that sort of thing.  Everything else needs to be on your external drive.  If you need help moving files or apps, let me know what they are and what's giving you trouble about the process.

Once you've cleared as much space as possible, let me know whether you're still getting the same Sims 4 error, and we can go from there.  Please also list the current free space on C, which you can see by opening a File Explorer window and clicking This PC in the left panel.

i would definitely like some help moving everything , most of my c drive space got full once my windows 11 updated after i first got it , i had about 6GB of free space at the time and was still able to play .    right now i have 2.83 GB free space left . 

most of the apps that are installed are the windows app , i have just deleted instagram and will be deleting textnow

@Nyythajointt  What's the Sims 4 updater in your first screenshot?  I don't recognize it.

For your internal drive, it looks like Sims 4 itself is taking up almost all the space not occupied by Windows, so your best bet is to uninstall it and reinstall on the external drive.  That alone should take care of the storage issue.  Please create a folder on the external where you'll install Sims 4, for example D:\Games, rather than trying to install straight onto D.

i have the sims 4 on my external drive  as well as the EA App installer / EA  . and the sims 4 updater is something that detects broken mods and ccs in the game , it quickly repairs the game and updates the game up to date , it doesn't interfere with the sims 4 game itself , i've been using it for a while now 

 the ea app installer is a file so its not appearing here 

@Nyythajointt  Are you sure Sims 4 isn't installed on your internal drive too?  I can't tell from your screenshots, but you do have 27 GB of apps installed internally, so please review that list and figure out what's taking up all that space if it isn't Sims 4.