Sims 4 Using Up all my RAM
Hi, a few years ago many people helped me get my current gaming laptop which I love, to play Sims again. It was recommended to me and I was told the 8GB of RAM should suffice but now I know the stem...
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@smilelikemiles Your dxdiag crashed while running, and although this could be a fluke, the dxdiag also lists some generic Windows errors and is missing information about certain drivers. All that means it's worth doing a repair install of Windows, as described here:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/16397-repair-install-windows-10-place-upgrade.html
This should not delete any of your data, but if you get to step 13 and are NOT asked to keep personal files and apps, back out and start over.
Windows should also not be using 3.4 GB on startup, with nothing except the Task Manager running. That could also be a fluke, for example if Windows was trying to download an update, or you captured the exact moment when the Task Manager was using significant resources as it loaded all that data. So please check again after the repair install, and let me know how much RAM the system is using around five minutes after the restart.
If it's still above 3 GB, click the Task Manager's Startup tab and post a screenshot of what you see. Some apps may be starting with Windows when they shouldn't.
Please also let me know how much memory a new Sims 4 save uses, and whether this changes if you disable all the settings under Options > Game Options > Other. You'd need to restart the game to see the effect.
Thank you I will try my best but since I won’t have anyone that may be able to answer me during the process I get nervous about losing my data.
sometimes I understand that everyone is busy but it can take days to get a response on here so I can’t leave my PC laying around because my dog could knock it off the table when I’m not home.
as for startup- I did a clean boot a while back and windows themselves disabled all the stuff from starting at startup and I haven’t added anything new to my PC as I only ever really use it for sims these days. So not sure why any programs would be starting up.
windows may have been downloading an update in the background since I haven’t been on my PC in a few weeks. I had a lot going on and had to be a caregiver for a sick family member for a few months so I haven’t used my PC. It downloaded/installed a quick update the other day but that was the only update that showed but there could’ve been more and it was downloading in the background but sometimes the percentage takes hours to go up even 1% while downloading in the background so I’m unable to install them since it takes so much time.
I plan to upgrade my RAM later on anyhow as I’d like a faster PC, even if unrelated to sims.
@smilelikemiles A repair install doesn't take much time, maybe ten minutes or less on your computer. And you can back out up until the final steps, where you're asked whether you want to keep personal data. If you don't want to do that at the moment, that's fine, but even installing more RAM won't fix the errors in your dxdiag, although the extra memory may disguise the problems somewhat.
I would still like to try to help if you're interested, and I'm here every day, almost always multiple times a day. At the very least, it's worth finding out what else is starting with Windows, because as I said, the system shouldn't be using nearly that much RAM on startup. Mine uses a little more than 2 GB, and I haven't done anything special.
Additionally, updates to apps or even Windows can change the settings, for example Edge decided to start with Windows after a recent generic Windows update, which I didn't know until I happened to check the Task Manager and found it running.
The book an again for the response.
I was reading about the windows install and I may try this tonight but I’m a little confused by some of the wording in that article. I’m not tech savvy so I’m not sure what they mean by ISO or whatever that is. So I’m not sure how to go about installing it without messing anything up. How do I know the correct way to go about it?
I'm working all day and will be eating dinner when I get home but after dinner I can try. Just want to do a quick backup to my external drive of any important files I don’t want to lose in the event something were to happen.
as for backing out, is there an option to click on to keep personal info and files? Or do I have an option to go back and start over? I’m a bit confused on that part.
and I see. Hmm I don’t know why my windows always had errors and issues? I don’t hear others complain that often about windows having errors and issues to this extent so why does every update break for me? I will be honest though my wifi is iffy now because my uncle had to get rid of our second backup router so my wifi isn’t as smooth since every single one of us in the house (5 people) each have multiple devices on the one router so sometimes wifi is a little slow but sometimes I play my game offline anyways but as for the computer itself things are slow but what can I do? It’s all we can afford right now.
before I attempt the update after getting it dumbed down for myself (lol), should I send a screenshot of my task manager before playing sims so you can see maybe what’s starting up? My computer has like 48 background processes that are always running, some don’t appear to be using much or any memory tho but I’m not sure what is and isn’t important. I’ll probably be online around 7pm EST tonight if you are able to help me at any time after that.
thanks
@smilelikemiles Sorry, I had a busy day today and wasn't online until just recently. I should be on tomorrow morning, around 10 am PST and for a couple hours after that.
The guide I linked has screenshots of almost everything you'd see during a repair install, and I couldn't explain the process better than it does. An ISO is an install medium, sort of like a disc installer without the disc. The guide has a link for creating one, which Microsoft makes extremely easy: you go to a website and click a few things, then wait.
It's possible that one or more of your computer's Windows updates were interrupted, resulting in some kind of corruption that hasn't been fixed. That's just speculation on my part, and there are plenty of other possibilities too, for example malware or an overzealus cleaner app. The important thing is that the errors in your dxdiag are real and should be addressed.
As for the Task Manager, I still think a repair install is necessary, so there's not much point in checking startup tasks beforehand unless you're curious. 48 background processes isn't high in and of itself, especially since a single application or driver can have several entries. The Startup tab will be more illuminating.
Idk when I’ll finally get this done. I never ended up completing since no one got back to me so I backed out and just left my computer as is. But still haven’t resolved this. I’ve been going at this now for weeks so I’m getting very frustrated now.
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