Sims 4 is extremely laggy

@puzzlezaddict  I've had to copy and paste the link instead, it was really confusing but here 🙂. There was only 1 file as I said before. Hope it helps. https://www.dropbox.com/s/43eojlkcicoohq7/minidump.zip?dl=0

@LunaLucy2211  Thanks.  I'll get back to you soon.

@LunaLucy2211  I apologize for the delay.  I'm trying to learn how to handle the debugging process myself, instead of relying entirely on the help (and limited free time) of someone else.  It's... an ongoing project.

The minidump flagged a driver associated with rendering the graphics on your computer.  Since you already installed a new HP driver, and you still got the error, try installing the newest driver from Intel instead:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29557/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers?product=122590

Let me know if you can't run it, as is sometimes the case with HP laptops.  If you can't, redownload the newest driver from HP again, but instead of just running it, do a clean install instead.  Here's how:

Download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3017

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, double-click the driver .exe to run it.  Restart again, go back online, and see whether the game works normally.  If not, let me know, and please upload any new dump files from the same location (C:\Windows\Minidump) as before.  I will definitely get back to you sooner this time.

I'm finding this really confusing at the moment. I uninstall the driver from the link like you said to but then you tell me to double DDU.exe and then thats where I get lost. I can't find anything named DDU.exe on my laptop and I'm just so confused so can you please help me.

@LunaLucy2211  When you download Display Driver Uninstaller, you download a file labeled DDU v.[version number].exe.  It lands in your Downloads folder.  Double-click on it to run it.

@LunaLucy2211  Click on this (direct download link):

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/DDU/download/DDU%20v18.0.2.4.exe

When your browser asks, choose "Save file," and it should be saved to Downloads.  If you don't see it, sort the Downloads folder by date modified: click the "date modified" header, and the download should be at the very top, or the very bottom if you click the header twice.

If you still don't see the download, use a different browser.

Ok so I got all that it was going fine. Until I got into safe mode. The option thing didn't show up and I was there for an hour trying to get out of safe mode. I don't know what to do, I might just leave it and try and delete and re-download Sims again. I'm sorry for wasting your time. Unless you can tell me what went wrong last time and what I can do to stop that from happening again, I don't want to try safe mode again. I don't want to damage my laptop. I could look up a tutorial on how to do this but what do you think? Please let me know 🙂

@LunaLucy2211  What do you mean, the option didn't show up?  If you run DDU, choose Safe Mode, and click Reboot into Safe Mode, DDU should open automatically.  This guide has more thorough instructions, with a few extra screenshots:

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

Any time you need to get out of Safe Mode, just hit Windows key-R, enter "msconfig" without quotes, click the Boot tab, uncheck the box next to "safe boot," and click Apply.  Then restart your computer, and you'll be in normal mode again.

The reason I suggested doing a clean uninstall and reinstall of the GPU driver is that your minidump file is very clear on the source of the error, or at least the source of that particular error.  It's a component of Windows that interacts with the GPU driver.  The problem could be Windows itself, not the Intel driver, but the first thing I suggested when you originally posted was running a couple of checks on your Windows system files.  So this is the approach most likely to be helpful, based on the available information.

If you do get more dump files (still in C:\Windows\Minidump), feel free to upload them, and I'll take a look and see if they flag anything else as well.

@LunaLucy2211  Don't worry about the delay; it happens.  If you still need help though, please run another dxdiag, so I can see what things look like now.

Ok so I ran the thing and it didn't work sims was laggy and just didn't work, So I talked to my mam about it and she said I should try and reset my laptop because my laptop was starting to get laggy as well as Sims so I did and my laptops better and im going to try and re-install Sims. I'm really sorry if I messed things up but im just a person who wants to play Sims.       Again so sorry for the delay on replying

@LunaLucy2211  Really, you don't need to apologize for not responding right away.  People come back when they have time to troubleshoot, and it's always fine.

If you do have more issues, please run another dxdiag and attach it to a post, so I can see what your laptop looks like now.  But I hope the reset worked.

@Kestia10  Yes please, attach a dxdiag and we can take a look.

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

@LunaLucy2211  Take your time, and please take care of yourself first.  When you're ready to come back to this, we'll be around.

Hey @puzzlezaddict  Here's my DxDiag

@LunaLucy2211  Did you get a chance to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of your graphics card driver?  The minidump was clear on the process that crashed, and the clean uninstall/reinstall is the next step.

@LunaLucy2211  Don't worry about the delay.  No matter when you're ready to troubleshoot, people will always be here to help.

If you are still having trouble though, please run a new dxdiag, since you've probably had a few relevant updates in the last month or two, not to mention the errors might be different.

Hi sorry it's been a rough couple of days but here's my DxDiag

@LunaLucy2211  The errors in your newest dxdiag are much less critical than the earlier ones, which is a good thing.  And the driver for your graphics chip is installed correctly too.  Does the game still lag as much as before?  Your laptop will always struggle somewhat, but it shouldn't lag to the extent that you described a couple months ago.

If the game is still running slowly, please try disabling Game Bar: hit Windows key-i, select Gaming > Game Bar, and disable the option at the top.  Restart your computer before testing.

If that doesn't help, please wait a couple of hours, then look for entries in the Reliability Monitor that mention Sims 4 or Origin, or that are from a time when you were trying to play.  (It sometimes takes an hour or two for the entries to update.)  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes.  You'll see a list of errors and updates, with a column for each day.  (Today is all the way on the right.)

For any errors within the last couple hours (from when you last tried to play), click "View technical details," then copy the information and paste it into a text document.  (Notepad is fine.)  You can attach the file to a post as you did with your dxdiag.  The timestamps on the initial chart can be off by up to an hour, so that's not an entirely reliable metric—just click on anything that's from around when you were playing, and check the timestamp within the technical details, which should be accurate.