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SecretDino's avatar
SecretDino
3 years ago
Solved

Re: Sims 4 only runs in the background and won’t open! PLEASE HELP

Hi, I'm having the same problem, and I've searched the internet for hours trying to find an answer. I've uninstalled, reinstalled, cleared my cache, started a new folder, everything I've been able to...
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    3 years ago

    @SecretDino  Please try creating a new admin Windows account and playing there.  Make it a local account, as in, don't tie it to your Microsoft account, and don't sync with any other services you normally use.  You'll be able to open the EA App and (try to) launch Sims 4 without reinstalling anything, but your saves and other user content won't be available.  That can be addressed later; for now, just let me know whether the game works at all.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
3 years ago

@SecretDino  I've moved your post to its own thread.  In the future, you can find a New Topic button in the upper-right corner when you're viewing a single thread or the forum overall.

Your dxdiag shows that the EA App is throwing errors.  So please clear its cache, as described here:

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

Then uninstall the App, restart your computer, and reinstall it.  If you can't uninstall, open the Task Manager and kill the EABackgroundService.exe, then try again.

Your dxdiag also lists a couple of errors related to the Windows USB 3 driver.  These can be simple to fix: unplug all devices that use USB 3, or just every peripheral other than your keyboard and mouse, and restart your computer before plugging them back in.

If you still can't play Sims 4, please let me know what antivirus you use.  Let me know whether OneDrive is running as well, even if you never use it, and how full it is.

  • SecretDino's avatar
    SecretDino
    3 years ago

    I've just finished reinstalling after restarting and sadly there is no change. I don't think I use an antivirus, my computer came with one but I'm pretty sure (like 90%) that it expired a while ago.

    OneDrive always seems to be running in the background, but I am not signed into it. I cannot actually find the program on my computer so I may have tried to uninstall it (It annoyed me when it would pop up when I restarted my computer)

    • puzzlezaddict's avatar
      puzzlezaddict
      Hero+
      3 years ago

      @SecretDino  Please check the Task Manager, including the background processes list, for any antivirus-related entries.  If you find one, let me know which one is present, or you can just google uninstall instructions for that antivirus.  Some, for example McAfee, have their own uninstallers that are more thorough than merely uninstalling using one of the standard Windows options.

      The reason I ask is because if an antivirus is causing problems, that needs to be addressed first, or else any other troubleshooting might be completely ineffective.

      If you don't in fact have a third-party antivirus running, please find out whether Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access is active.  If it is, either disable it or set exceptions for TS4_x64.exe and EADesktop.exe, as described here:

      https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

      • SecretDino's avatar
        SecretDino
        3 years ago

        I checked the task manager, and the only antivirus related entries I found was what I believe in windows defender. I'll include some pictures so you can see it yourself, as I'm not sure what I'm looking at. I checked if the Windows Defender's Controlled folder access is active, and it is not. It was disabled. Thank you <3

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