@puzzlezaddict I've done everything you mentioned and the game is still freezing, although it seems to only happen when I'm in build mode and after playing in clean boot I could play for a little longer before it froze.
After performing the scan in PowerShell I received the following messgae:
Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.
PS C:\Windows\system32>
The reliability monitor threw up several of the same errors today which all appear to coincide with the game freezing. All of them are titled 'Control the DTS audio processing object.' And the technical details are as follows:
Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Windows\System32\DTS\PC\APO4x\DtsApo4Service.exe
Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: DtsApo4Service.exe
Application Version: 1.6.4.0
Application Timestamp: 5f7eb00c
Fault Module Name: DtsApo4Service.exe
Fault Module Version: 1.6.4.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 5f7eb00c
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 000000000000bed0
OS Version: 10.0.19043.2.0.0.768.101
Locale ID: 2057
Additional Information 1: 209e
Additional Information 2: 209e52c84b626aa5fddbb6802055c64c
Additional Information 3: 173f
Additional Information 4: 173f35c54c61c6fa2530335c54d17b42
Extra information about the problem
Bucket ID: 7ac899b1bf56fb26cde169eca868e76a (2153118562018453354)
@Gemmawho Try killing any processes in the Task Manager called DTS [something] or Sonic Studio. You might not have sound, but the question is whether Sims 4 works. If you get another freeze, please try using the laptop's built-in speakers rather than any other device.
@puzzlezaddict Thank you. I started up the game and then switched to task manager and waited to see if any processes along those lines appeared. Control the DTS audio processing came up after a minute so I killed it and the game seemed to work absolutely fine after that so I'm assuming that must have been the problem. The sound still worked fine so should I just uninstall this DTS programme or will I need to go in and kill the process every time I play?
@Gemmawho That's great to hear, and if you want to uninstall the program, go ahead. It may get reinstalled with other system updates though, since it's software Asus has deemed critical for your laptop.
If you'd prefer, you can disable it instead. Hit Windows key-R, enter "msconfig" without quotes, select "Services," look for anything with DTS or Sonic Studio in the name, and uncheck the box next to whatever you find. This should prevent the services from starting at all, but double-check in the Task Manager anyway. This has the advantage that you can reenable the service(s) the same way if you happen to run an app that would need them.
@puzzlezaddict So it turns out that wasn't the issue after all and I just didn't play for long enough last week for the game to crash... I've tried playing a couple of times this weekend and both times I can play for about 10 minutes before the game freezes. Usually the fans get louder on the laptop and then it freezes and they get quiet again. I've checked the reliability monitor and there are no critical events around the time of any of the game crashes except for the usual 'windows was not properly shut down'. Any other suggestions? Can't believe I've spent so much money on a gaming laptop that can't seem to cope with playing the sims.
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