Sims 4 Crashes Instantly On Startup

WOW! You just saved me from a lot of work!

I had MSI afterburner and rivatuner in the background myself.

Closed both apps and now TS4 (64bit) suddenly runs like normal!

Going to hug you for that one! lol!

I was really impressed by your description of the problem because it so EXACTLY described the problem I've been having with Sims 4.  However, I do not have (and never have had) Rivatuner Statistics Server.  Does anyone know if there is any other program that might interfere in the same way as Rivatuner Statistics Server?  I don't play videogames much and this is the first one I've downloaded.  Bummer that I have only played it 2 times before it crashed and now it won't even start up.  (It crashed when I got one of those annoying Windows(?) ads that swing in from the lower right if you don't pay to keep them out.  So if it's going to crash every time I get an advertisement, I'll just get my money back...oh wait!..I can't get my money back because I've spent so long trying to fix the problem that their 1 day refund window closed!  I didn't expect it to be so short.  :\ )

@Faersinger  MSI Afterburner causes the same issues as RivaTuner Statistics Server, so disable it if you have it.  Otherwise, move your entire Sims 4 game folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  Then launch the game, start a new save, and see whether it runs properly.  The issue could be something in your old game folder, and this is the fastest way to find out.

If the game doesn't run even after you remove your game folder, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post here.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Thanks for your advice - I don't have MSI Afterburner.  I moved my Sims 4 game folder out of Documents/Electronic Arts and put it on my desktop.  As long as I closed the Origin window after I clicked the Sims 4 game in Origin, it started working.  It worked for 3 days and now I am back to the same problem again.  Thanks very much for your help!

@Faersinger  Sorry for the delay.  Your dxdiag lists a number of Sims 4 errors that are likely related to your graphics card driver.  Since your model of Surface doesn't have a newer driver available, the best approach is to do a clean uninstall of the driver and reinstall it.  Here is a guide to using Display Driver Uninstaller:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstaller-ddu.html

Instead of going to the Intel site for a newer driver though, download this driver package for your Surface directly from Microsoft (you want the 18362 version):

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=49498

It should work offline, but if it doesn't, you can go online and run it.

Logged into the forum to personally thank you. I bought sims 4 for my kid a few months ago and never got it to work on my spec’d out Alienware laptop. I did everything under the sun to get it to work but it always crashed within 10-20 seconds of launching it. By chance I saw this post, deleted riva and now it works perfectly. I’ve done multiple uninstalls and reinstalls, everything I could find when I googled it (about 3 hours today) and thanks to your post we have it working. Thanks so much. 

Hi! I'm not sure if this post is still active, but I need help. I have removed all of my mods/cc and uninstalled/reinstalled origin and my game still crashes at startup. I also think I updated my graphics card and my game is still crashing. here is my dxdiag file, please let me know if you could help me. Thanks.

@ChocBeaute  Try clearing Origin's cache:

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

and repairing the game: open your Origin game library, right-click on the Sims 4 icon, and select Repair.

If that doesn't help, please run a couple of basic checks on your Windows system files.  Here's how:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, and enter
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter
• Post the message you receive here
• Restart before trying to play

Hi hello, I'm here a few months later and I sadly have the exact same problem. I just downloaded the game and do not have any mods/cc downloaded, tried to uninstall the game and updated my graphics and my drivers yet everytime I try to open to game, it only takes a couple of seconds before freezing and crashing. I'm not sure anyone's had this issue again, or if anyone's here on the discussion with a solution, but if someone happens to be reading me, here is my dxiag file, hopefully it's not too bad!

Thanks a lot 

@Angelam13127  The Sims 4 errors in your dxdiag are of a type that's most commonly related to issues with the graphics driver.  Since you already have the newest driver Asus offers for your laptop, you'll need to do a clean uninstall and reinstall.  Download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3513

Download a fresh copy of the newest graphics driver, dated June 21, available from Asus:

https://www.asus.com/supportonly/UX333FA/HelpDesk_Download/

Next, take your computer completely offline—disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord—and double-click the DDU.exe.  Take note of where the file will land, and click Extract.  If it's easier, you can copy the path and then paste it into the address bar in a File Explorer window.  Open the folder and then launch Display Driver Uninstaller.exe, and you'll get a message that you're not in Safe Mode.  Click OK, then go to Options and enable Safe Mode dialog.  Here's a screenshot of what your options should look like; make sure the box in red is checked:

Close options, and the DDU, and then open the DDU.exe again.  For launch options, choose "Safe Mode (Recommended)," and then click Reboot to Safe Mode (you'll need your password, so find it before rebooting).  Once you login, you'll see this:

In the blue box, choose GPU, then Intel if it's not already showing.  Then click Clean and Restart (red box).

Once your computer has rebooted, now back in normal mode, run the driver install .exe as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart your computer again when you're done and before you try to play.

@puzzlezaddictHey! I have tried doing this and I'm afraid it didn't work ☹️
Thank you so much for trying to help though, I really appreciate it!

I recently tried to reset my game back to factory settings, and I managed to open the game and play normally! However as soon as I closed the game the error came back, so I'm not sure it is anything to do with my graphics driver and maybe it could just be an error in my file. 

@Angelam13127  Try disabling Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.

Please also let me know whether you changed any graphics settings the one time you were able to play, even if you simply switched to windowed mode or changed the in-game resolution.  If you're not sure whether you did this, you can go into Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 and delete options.ini, which will return the settings to their defaults; if a graphics setting is the problem, you should be able to play again.

Finally, please let me know whether you use OneDrive.