TS4 wont load - other games fine?

@KoalaKevxo 

Please post a DxDiag. https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
You can attach the txt file directly to your answer.

Attached 🙂 

@KoalaKevxo The dxdiag looks good except there is no video driver. You need to go to Dell support or Intel support and download and install the proper video driver for that I7 processor. Your system has the video chip integrated with the cpu. This game checks that data on start up and needs that data to run.

Thank you, I think I have done this but still no luck? I have reattached a new DxDiag so you can see what I have downloaded.

Many thanks for your help.

@KoalaKevxo  What antivirus do you use, if any?  Please list it, and please also let me know whether you use a cleaner app or anything else that's supposed to clear temp files; and whether OneDrive is active.

Your dxdiag doesn't actually list any Windows errors at all, which is unusual enough to indicate an issue all by itself.  So it's a good idea to run a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

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

Restart your computer and try to play.  If the game doesn't load, please let me know whether you see a Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts.

@roberta591  Where did you see a missing graphics driver?  I didn't see anything missing in the first dxdiag.

Its a work laptop and I have a separate log in with admin rights so not sure if this is a factor causing issues, I shall list what I think are antivirus type things on here: FortiClient , Sophos End Point Agent.

Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them.

For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at

windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline

repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag.

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>

I have OneDrive and it's active, no Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts not sure if this is because I have never actually been able to play it on this laptop?

@puzzlezaddict My reply was based on the first dxdiag which indicated the driver was not WHQL which may or may not indicate an issue. I see that the new dxdiag indicates that the driver is NOW WHQL. Not being WHQL does not mean there is an issue but should be checked. As I saw no other issues I thought that would be a good idea to check if the proper device driver was in use.

@KoalaKevxo  Sophos blocks Sims 4 by default, at least some of the time.  Please change all the settings listed here:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/10/add-exceptions-to-anti-virus-programs.html#sophos

The reason you don't have a Sims 4 user folder is definitely that the game hasn't loaded yet.  I asked because the presence of that folder a useful shorthand for how far the game has gone in the launching process, since the folder is created immediately.  It's just a way to narrow down where in the process or launching things go wrong, and if you weren't running an antivirus known to conflict with Sims 4, I needed more info.

@roberta591  The graphics driver in the first dxdiag is a previous version provided by Dell.  The one installed now is the current version from Dell.  Why the old one wasn't WHQL and this one is, I don't know, but I would expect any driver issued directly by Dell to be suitable.  More relevantly, the presence of a driver that happens to be missing the WHQL stamp is a very different situation from the absence of any driver at all.

Thanks so much, it looks like I need an admin password to change to Sophos settings.

I'm back in work Monday so will ask one of the IT guys to follow instructions on the link you provided and hopefully sorts it as can't wait to play 🙂 

I shall update you & appreciate all the help! 

@KoalaKevxo  Personally, I'd be hesitant to ask someone from IT to change the security settings on a work computer, especially if it's just so I can run a game.  But I don't know what the official policy on the matter is in your office; maybe it would be seen as a reasonable request.

Anyway, Sophos is known to conflict with Sims 4, and the symptoms you've described are exactly what happens when an antivirus prevents the game from running, so I'm not sure there's another way to get it working.