@kelpiimilo 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 you see the same freezes, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
I tried moving the folder to the desktop screen and then opening up the game again, still the same issue at hand. So attached to this response is the dxdiag.exe file you had mentioned. Let me know if you need anything else, and I of course appreciate the help!!!
@kelpiimilo Your dxdiag shows some generic Windows update errors and a crash of the graphics driver, which is quite old. The place to start is with a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:
Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates. If any install, restart again afterwards.
Afterwards, please download the newest (Windows 10 64-bit) driver for your AMD graphics card:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/professional-graphics/firepro/firepro-wx100-series/firepro-w2100
Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator." Restart your computer after installing and before trying to play.
Hello, thank you again for your response and help!
I ran into an error in Windows Powershell after pasting the text you had provided:
Error: 740
Elevated permissions are required to run DISM.
Use an elevated command prompt to complete these tasks.
@kelpiimilo That means you need to choose the PowerShell version with (Administrator) in its name, not the regular one.
So, I went through the rest of the steps that you provided, and I went to download the latest Windows 10 64-bit system version of a new driver for my AMD graphics card like you had mentioned. I even right clicked and ran it as administrator before installing. It completely finished the installation process and then it gave me an error message three times in a matter of seconds saying:
" Failed to create OpenGL context for format QSurfaceFormat(version 2.0, options QFlags QSurface Format::FormatOption>0, depthBufferSize 24, redBufferSize -1, greenBufferSize -1, blueBufferSize -1, alphaBufferSize -1, stencilBufferSize 8, samples -1, swapBehavior QSurface Format::DoubleBuffer, swapInterval 1, colorSpace QSurfaceFormat::Default Color Space, profile QSurfaceFormat::NoProfile). This is most likely cause by not having the necessary graphics drivers installed. Install a driver providing OpenGL 2.0 or higher, or, if this is not possible, make sure the ANGLE Open GL ES 2.0 emulation libraries (libEGL.dll, libGLESv2.dll and d3dcompiler*.dll) are available in the application executable's directory or in a location listed in PATH."
I'd appreciate any further assistance as I'm not sure at all what to do from here... I updated all of the updates that were provided in the Settings, restarted my computer, and did everything else that you had instructed to do.
@kelpiimilo I understand what this error means, enough for our purposes anyway, but it looks like the most common causes of the error don't apply here. At any rate, there are a couple of things you can try that may help. First, try running the same driver, except if you see the option to remove all old drivers, check that box. It might be hidden under a custom install option, so be sure to look at all the options the installer gives you.
If that doesn't help, try installing the W2100 graphics driver from Dell, the one dated December 12, 2016:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/precision-t5810-workstation/drivers
It's slightly newer than the one you currently have installed, but probably not new enough for Sims 4. The point though is that it may be easier to update from this newer driver to the newest one.
If that doesn't help either, please try the method of force-installing the newest driver listed in the last post in this thread:
https://community.amd.com/t5/drivers-software/firepro-w5100-drive-installation-error-loop/m-p/492337
If none of this works, please post a new dxdiag, and I'll look it over and get a second opinion if necessary.
