Sims 4 Doesn't launch after the recent update and crashes 2025

@Nee24  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, 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 your reply.

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

As for uninstalling, you wouldn't lose your packs, which are owned by your account, not your computer.  But you don't necessarily need to uninstall at all, and you could instead repair the game (EA App > Sims 4 > Manage > Repair), which is almost as effective and much faster.

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

Thank you for getting back to me so quickly; I appreciate your help. I followed your suggestions:

1. As per your suggestion, I moved the Sims 4 folder to the desktop and tried opening Sims 4. Although I wasn’t able to play the game because it crashed, it did create a temporary Sims 4 folder.

2. I repaired the game and restarted it, but the issue remains the same. The game loads and then crashes.

3. I ran the dxdiag report and have attached it to this email.

Neesha

@Nee24  Most of the errors in your dxdiag are generic Windows errors, nothing about Sims 4.  There are two crashes of the USB 3 driver, which typically aren't serious but should still be addressed.  That can be as simple as unplugging all USB devices and restarting the computer, so please do that.

Please also run a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, 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 “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter
• Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

Finally, please update the driver for your graphics chip, as your current driver is from 2019.  Try the newest driver from Dell first (under Video):

https://www.dell.com/support/product-details/en-ie/product/inspiron-13-5379-2-in-1-laptop/drivers

Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator."  If you have the option to do a clean install, select that; I'm not sure whether it would be available on a driver this old.  Either way, restart afterwards and before trying to play.

If you still can't play, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Today is on the right.

Look for an error that happened at exactly the time of your most recent attempt to launch Sims 4, specifically after updating the graphics driver.  If you find one, double-click it to see more details, then copy that info and paste it into a reply here.  If you don't see a new error, check back in an hour or so—the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away.

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

I took your suggestions and will provide screenshots of my issues:

1. I checked the USB ports and the game still doesn't load. 

2. I did the 2nd part of scan where I entered:  sfc/scannow and it came up with zero errors. It only said: Windows Resources Protection did not find any integrity violations. PS C:\WINDOWS/system32>

3. I restarted my computer and also checked "Update & Security, and it says that I am up to date. 

4. While updating, downloading, and installing the necessary driver:

• Everything got installed except one failed (BIOS failed)- took screenshot
• The game worked after restarting. The game opened and I was able to save the game. After shutting down & restarting the game, the game crashed again.
• In the chart, the two things that failed was: Windows Explorer & Dell.CoreServices.Client. 
• 

Thank you, 

Neesha

@Nee24  Try installing the BIOS again, by itself.  I'm not sure why it failed, but perhaps the problem was the other updates trying to install.

Did you run DISM before sfc?  It's important to do so because sfc relies on some stored Windows data to do its job, and DISM checks that data first.

The Dell.CoreServices.Client.exe is part of the MyDell app, which has a number of components you don't need running at any given time.  If you can find something that looks like Dell Core Services or SupportAssist in the Task Manager, kill it before opening Sims 4.  It'll restart with Windows, which can be addressed if necessary, but in the interim, this is a useful test.

If the above doesn't help, please post a new dxdiag.

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

So in the previous message, I forgot to mention that I ran the DISM and there were no errors and then I ran the sfc which had no errors, as mentioned in the previous message.

1. I ran the BIOS like you suggested and now it is up to date. I tried playing the game but like before it crashed so I am attaching another dxdiag report.

2. I have attached a screenshot of my laptop device and everything is up to date except two.

• The "support service" (in red), is that the same thing as "Dell.CoreServices.Client"? Or it has nothing to do with that....two different things. If I were to update the "support service", would it work?
• For "Check hardware", would you suggest to run a quick scan? When I click on it, it says, "Run a Quick Scan to detect common hardware issues". If I were to do that will that help or it won't really make a difference? 

Thank you,

Neesha

@Nee24  Dell laptops come with a package of software called MyDell or similar, and this package has a number of individual apps, each of which has multiple components.  And the names for these apps have changed over the years too.  So when some component is crashing, it's difficult for me, not having access to your computer, to tell you which application to close to stop the problematic service from running.

What I can say is that none of this software is critical, so you could happily kill everything in the Task Manager with no meaningful consequences.  And the good thing about that approach is if you happen to close the wrong service, restarting your computer will fix it.

As for the quick scan, it won't hurt.  I wouldn't count on it fixing the problem, although it could, and I absolutely wouldn't trust it if it said your computer had no problems.  But it's not completely ineffective in general.

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

Well, I ran the hardware scan and everything passed.

1. When reviewing the recent dxdiag, under "Microsoft Graphics Hybrid" it says not supported. Could that be the issue since the graphic driver is 2019? 

2. When you're reviewing the dxdiag report, what are you reviewing?  Would you be able to access my computer and debug the issue remotely? Are there any more tests that I can try? I went to Device Manager> USB Root Hub (USB 3.0)> update driver: everything is up to date. 

3. So, I have a question. My mom has a recent Dell computer that she brought in 2024 and everything is new. If I want to test out to see if Sims 4 works, can I download the EA app, sign in to my account and would I be able to play? Would I need to install the CDs or the information is already there? 

When Sims 4 used to have all these updates, I would update them and just play the game. I am not sure if its with all these recent kits that are being released that is causing the glitches/bugs.

Thank you,

Neesha 

@Nee24  Your laptop only has one GPU, so it doesn't matter whether the graphics hybrid function is supported.  I don't know enough about that feature to know whether the driver is too old for it, or there's a hardware requirement your laptop doesn't meet, or it's just automatically disabled when there's a single GPU, but I do know your laptop can't use it.

It is worth updating the graphics driver though.  In general, it's best to use the driver provided by a laptop manufacturer unless you find a specific reason not to: an error that points to the driver and isn't fixed by reinstalling, or a new feature you want or need.  When the problem might be the driver or might be something else, it's typically better to address that potential something else first.  Since there's no direct evidence that the driver is the problem, I wanted you to update your other software first and also try addressing the errors you are seeing.

However, since none of that helped, it's time to try the newest driver from Intel, which you can get here:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/122589/intel-core-i78550u-processor-8m-cache-up-to-4-00-ghz/downloads.html

Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator."  If you see the option to do a clean install, choose that.  Either way, restart after installing and before trying to play.

If you get an error when trying to install the driver, that's likely Dell software blocking any drivers not provided by Dell; some manufacturers do this for some models.  There's a way around it; let me know if you're interested.

As for your mother's laptop, you could absolutely sign into your account in the EA App and download your game and DLC there.  Your saves wouldn't be present, but those are easy enough to transfer, and everything you've bought (or redeemed for free) should be available.