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scalpho's avatar
scalpho
2 years ago
Solved

Sims 4 Crashing/Freezing/Lag, Surface Pro 7

Hi, my game was working fine the last time I opened it about a week ago, but I tried to open it again and suddenly it is lagging to the point of being entirely unusable. The game completely freezes when I'm looking at it - I have to click a button, minimise the game window, and then open the window again to see the effect.
I have tried repairing the game multiple times, I have reset the file, I have taken mods out (I had the same mods/cc last week and the game was working fine then, now it is not working with or without mods/cc), restarted my device, etc. I have no clue what else to do. Please help.

edited title for visibility after merging threads.  -puzzlezaddict

pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    2 years ago

    Edit:  For others with a Surface Pro 7, you can first try the suggestion here:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-4-game-laggy-Jan-2024/m-p/13477590#M270800

    If that doesn't help,try forcing the game to launch in windowed mode.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, open Options.ini, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero).

    If that doesn't help either, try manually uninstalling and reinstalling the graphics driver, as described below.

    @scalpho  Your dxdiag shows a few serious crashes of the graphics driver, which would explain the problem all by itself.  So the next step here is to clean-uninstall and reinstall the driver.  Here's how:

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

    Microsoft controls what drivers can be installed on a Surface laptop and provides them in bundles.  So instead of downloading a standalone graphics driver, go here:

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100419

    and download the provided package.  After you've removed the existing driver and while your laptop is still offline, run the installer you've downloaded.  It should mostly just confirm that you have the correct software installed but reinstall the graphics driver that will now be missing.  Restart your computer after installing the driver, then go back online and try to play.

    If you have the same issue as before, 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 something like MSI Afterburner 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.

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  • riaml's avatar
    riaml
    2 years ago

    I've been able to play sims with almost no problems until today! I can't play AT ALL--I can't even get past the main menu screen because it is completely frozen. At first I thought it was a problem with my mouse, so I tried a new one with the same issue. I have a touch screen laptop & the game was unresponsive when trying to use the touch screen. I tried repairing the game, clearing cache, uninstalling & reinstalling. I don't have any mods/cc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @scalpho  When does the game lag or freeze: when you've loaded a save, or before?  If it's only when you have a save loaded, please test a new save and let me know whether it helps.  This is not to say that you'd need to delete your existing saves, only that it's useful to know how widespread the problem is.

    You can also try disabling the Online Social Access setting under Options > Game Options > Other; you'd need to restart your game to see any effect.

    If neither of these helps, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @riaml  As a test, please try playing in a clean user folder.  Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, if it launches, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you moved but temporarily not read by the game.)  Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just let me know whether you can get far enough to start a new save and play in live mode for a bit.

    If that doesn't help, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

  • riaml's avatar
    riaml
    2 years ago

    I moved the sims 4 folder from documents>Electronic Arts to my desktop & relaunched the game, but still had the same issue. I wasn't able to even click "new game" because the screen froze. 

    Here is a dxdiag.

    Thank you for your reply!!

  • riaml's avatar
    riaml
    2 years ago

    I moved the sims 4 folder from documents>Electronic Arts to my desktop & relaunched the game, but still had the same issue. I wasn't able to even click "new game" because the screen froze. 

    Here is a dxdiag.

    Thank you for your reply!!

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @riaml  Try forcing the game to launch in windowed mode.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, open Options.ini, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero).

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    Edit:  For others with a Surface Pro 7, you can first try the suggestion here:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-4-game-laggy-Jan-2024/m-p/13477590#M270800

    If that doesn't help,try forcing the game to launch in windowed mode.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, open Options.ini, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero).

    If that doesn't help either, try manually uninstalling and reinstalling the graphics driver, as described below.

    @scalpho  Your dxdiag shows a few serious crashes of the graphics driver, which would explain the problem all by itself.  So the next step here is to clean-uninstall and reinstall the driver.  Here's how:

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

    Microsoft controls what drivers can be installed on a Surface laptop and provides them in bundles.  So instead of downloading a standalone graphics driver, go here:

    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=100419

    and download the provided package.  After you've removed the existing driver and while your laptop is still offline, run the installer you've downloaded.  It should mostly just confirm that you have the correct software installed but reinstall the graphics driver that will now be missing.  Restart your computer after installing the driver, then go back online and try to play.

    If you have the same issue as before, 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 something like MSI Afterburner 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.

  • SamPOP93's avatar
    SamPOP93
    2 years ago

    Hey I need some help if anyone can offer

    My Sims was working fine about a week ago, and then all of a sudden I open it up and the screen freezes on the title card, completely, I can't move my mouse/click anything, but the music is playing behind it. If i minimise the screen and go back onto the tab the screen will update to the next title card but will freeze again. I can move my mouse behind the frozen screen and click on things but the screen itself won't move - I'm not sure if this is a laptop issue or a game issue

    Ive repaired my game a million times/removed the file from electronic arts, restarted it, uninstalled Sims and EA app and redownloaded it just won't work☹️

    I've ran a dxdiag and I'll attach it below if someone can help!

    Thank you

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