@queenrose68 That means exactly what it says: you need to run the Administrator version of Command Prompt or PowerShell. When you press Windows key-X, you should see an option that specifically has the word (Administrator) in it. Choose that one.
@queenrose68 Try searching for "Command Prompt," and right-click on the entry and select "Run as administrator."
For clearing Origin's cache, that's an odd error, but try restarting your computer. Make sure Origin isn't open and there are no other Origin-related entries in the Task Manager's background processes list.
@queenrose68 Does the game open now? Please test in a(nother) clean user folder: move the existing Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts, if there's a folder present, and let the game create a new one.
If that doesn't help, try a clean boot:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows
Instructions for Windows 7 are further down the page.
If you still can't play, please check the Reliablity Monitor again and post any new errors you find.
@queenrose68 Where are these folders? Please post a couple of screenshots, and include the address bar (above the list of files and folders) so I can see the full file path.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TzoriRMgsZEjaEvPccnT7SOze_XQoZ8e/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the first EA folder(the one that i use)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-HeoThT_Bnj-JMd030BNZJWS64qDhe2E/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the second EA folder (the one that i do not use)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yUpOSFg7lRtHO8ATXqNfv-Szl9fzBm0D/view?usp=sharing-This link shows the contents within the Sims 4 folder that is located in the first EA folder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iUzxVNeIzDhPF_TEXvF31WT6EeGQMPcH/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the Sims 4 legacy Edition folder that is located in the first EA folder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QbZY9PkAADOuQscg2WjFX2sv1zvBxWwC/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the Sims 4 Temp 2 folder located in the first EA folder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bDe2kGPPQtOvGNwdyKt0rNuxEZETtrY0/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the Sims 4 temp 3 folder located in the first EA folder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1RlJikCjorCa7nlCp_GC0f-ZikeOiK9e6/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the Sims 4 Temp 4 folder located in the first EA folder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lZ2N71mBpBVt64XX6YNC8MADjNxvN0O_/view?usp=sharing- This link shows the contents within the Sims 4 Temp 5 folder located in the first EA folder
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Kr1FoAvKdD7ArhoM8OQNJXjmfu68mtGp/view?usp=sharing- And finally, this link shows the contents within the Sims 4 Legacy Edition folder located in the second EA folder.
Thank you for helping me troubleshoot my game, I really appreciate it!
@queenrose68 Thanks for the screenshots. All the Sims 4 temp folders can just be trashed; it doesn't look like there's anything at all worth saving in any of them. The same goes for the contents of Electronic Arts 1. So if it makes things easier, just clear out all of that and leave only the Sims 4 folder and the Sims 4 Legacy Edition folder in Electronic Arts.
Then move the Electronic Arts folder to your desktop, and don't put it back, at least not yet. When you've done all that, please try a clean boot, again:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows
(Instructions for Windows 7 are further down the page.) But when you've rebooted, click crtl-alt-delete, open the Task Manager, and go through the list of processes, both active and background, shutting down anything that doesn't absolutely need to be running. For example, if you have an app set to start with Windows, or you see a process that looks like it might belong to your expired antivirus, click on it and End Task. You may need to click More Details or something like that to see the full list. You can ignore everything under Windows processes.
Run Origin as an admin: right-click on the Origin shortcut and select "Run as administrator." Then run TS4.exe as an admin too. Since you mentioned at one point that your shortcut looked broken, please find the original instead. The full path will be something like:
C:\Program Files\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin
I know you've done most of this before, but the question is whether it helps to do everything at the same time.
If this still doesn't help, there's another experiment to try, just to see what happens: try disabling any packs you have installed. You can do so through Origin:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2017/03/disable-single-packs/
I'm not sure this will have any effect; I'm just curious to see what happens. And in case you're wondering, reenabling the packs is as easy as deleting the command line arguments and saving the changes again.
@queenrose68 You don't have to pay to reinstall the game. Your account owns Sims 4, not your computer, and you have the right to install it as many times as you want, on as many computers as you want.
If you do reinstall, please check the Task Manager's background processes tab immediately before to make sure there aren't any remnants of your old antivirus still running. Some programs can leave traces on your computer even after you delete them.
@queenrose68 I'm sorry, I really have no idea why the game won't run for you. I've asked other people for ideas, and so far no one else has offered anything either. I'll keep looking; I'm just saying I'm not sure what else to suggest.
One thing I am curious about though is what runtimes you have installed. Hit Windows key-R and enter "appwiz.cpl" without quotes. You'll get a list of installed programs, which you can sort alphabetically (if they're not arleady) by clicking on the Name header. Please scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables and take a screenshot of the entire list of these redistributables, so I can take a look at the years listed.
Then click "Turn Windows features on or off" in the upper left corner, and you should see something like this:
(This screenshot is from Windows 10, so it might not be exactly the same.) Please take a screenshot of the .NET Frameworks, which should be at the top.
I don't know whether this has anything to do with your error, but it's worth checking, since a missing runtime would prevent the game from loading.
@queenrose68 The game should still open though, and I wish I knew why it didn't. It seems that you don't have .NET Framework 4.8 installed, which is the current version. From what I understand, it hasn't been necessary for Sims 4, but perhaps that's changed.
The framework is compatible with Windows 7, including 32-bit, so you can try installing it:
https://dotnet.microsoft.com/download/dotnet-framework/net48
You just need the runtime, not the developer pack.
If you get an error that it's already installed, let me know. It might be listed differently in Windows 7 (i.e. not right below .NET 3.5) for some reason.
@queenrose68 Thanks for letting me know. I'm not sure what else to suggest, but someone else thought it might be worth doing a clean uninstall of Origin. I know you did a regular uninstall before, but this process is much more thorough:
Next, download the full Origin installer and run it. Here's the direct download link:
http://download.dm.origin.com/origin/live/OriginSetup.exe
Be sure to run both the installer and Origin itself as an admin: right-click on each and select "Run as Administrator."
@queenrose68 I'm sorry to say it, but I really don't know what else to do. I've asked around, and I'll keep looking for more suggestions; if I hear anything, I'll post back and tag you.
I really wish I could help you with this.
I am having the exact same problem
I will wait if there's a solution because I really want to play Sims
@koniiGR Are you specifically seeing the ntdll.dll errors when trying to play Sims 4? If you're not sure, please post a dxdiag and check the Reliability Monitor, as described earlier in this thread:
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