Forum Discussion

Kazuzi3's avatar
Kazuzi3
5 years ago
Solved

Unable to open Sims 4 in Windowed Mode

I posted this as a reply to someone else, but I figured maybe I should post it again in case I'm having a different issue to them. I typically play Sims 4 in windowed mode, but have been unable to o...
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    5 years ago

    @Kazuzi3  Laptops come with manufacturer-provided software, most of which is specific to one or two companies, so what gets installed on a Dell might have no overlap with what's installed on an Acer.  Whether you consider these programs "bloatware" or not usually depends on whether you can identify any redeeming value in them, which is not always possible.  So you can get an idea of what's installed on your Dell, here's its download page:

    https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/g-series-15-3590-laptop/drivers

    Most laptop manufacturers also tweak the Nvidia/AMD/Intel-created graphics drivers to work better on their laptops.  While this is a good thing in general, one of the changes might have unintended consequences, like for example not being able to play a game in windowed mode.

    I'd still suspect the other Dell software though, either alone or in conflict with something else you have running, especially because your laptop is popular enough that I'd have expected to see more reports of this problem by now.  So try disabling any Dell software, e.g. the Alienware Command Center, in the Task Manager before you play.  Worst case, if something essential stops working, just reboot your laptop, and the process will restart as well.  And don't run any other overlays (Steam, Discord, etc.) either.

    A more thorough intervention would be a clean boot, but you'd still need to go through the Task Manager's background processes list and close anything that didn't need to be running.  Some software ignores the clean boot, for whatever reason.

    https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

Kazuzi3's avatar
Kazuzi3
5 years ago

I've attached the DxDiag. I think it might be worth pointing out though that this is the second computer I have had this issue with. This computer and the computer where I also had the issue are both made by Dell (I can't access the other computer anymore to get any information from there unfortunately). I also ran the Sims 4 on an Acer laptop in between running it on the two dell computers and never had the issue with the Acer laptop. Don't know what's different about those two, but it might be something that could help.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Kazuzi3  Laptops come with manufacturer-provided software, most of which is specific to one or two companies, so what gets installed on a Dell might have no overlap with what's installed on an Acer.  Whether you consider these programs "bloatware" or not usually depends on whether you can identify any redeeming value in them, which is not always possible.  So you can get an idea of what's installed on your Dell, here's its download page:

    https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/g-series-15-3590-laptop/drivers

    Most laptop manufacturers also tweak the Nvidia/AMD/Intel-created graphics drivers to work better on their laptops.  While this is a good thing in general, one of the changes might have unintended consequences, like for example not being able to play a game in windowed mode.

    I'd still suspect the other Dell software though, either alone or in conflict with something else you have running, especially because your laptop is popular enough that I'd have expected to see more reports of this problem by now.  So try disabling any Dell software, e.g. the Alienware Command Center, in the Task Manager before you play.  Worst case, if something essential stops working, just reboot your laptop, and the process will restart as well.  And don't run any other overlays (Steam, Discord, etc.) either.

    A more thorough intervention would be a clean boot, but you'd still need to go through the Task Manager's background processes list and close anything that didn't need to be running.  Some software ignores the clean boot, for whatever reason.

    https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

    • Kazuzi3's avatar
      Kazuzi3
      5 years ago
      @puzzlezaddict I don't think it's Alienware related because my other computer didn't have that, but I wouldn't doubt it is something Dell specific. I just had to uninstall something preinstalled by Dell the other day because it kept causing my computer to crash. I'll have to do some messing around and see if that changes anything. Thanks.
    • Kazuzi3's avatar
      Kazuzi3
      5 years ago

      Ok, so I did some playing around and decided to try to uninstall some of the preinstalled stuff from Dell. I tried it first without uninstalling anything just to pretty much test that the problem still existed, and it did, but what I did notice this time was that the audio was still playing despite the screen being blank; I usually play without audio, so I never noticed this before. The first thing I uninstalled was Alienware Command Center. The startup issue still occurred after uninstalling Alienware Command Center, so I know for sure that wasn't the issue. The next thing I uninstalled was Dell Cinema Guide. Somehow, that fixed it. I even tried closing and restarting Sims several times since sometimes it would open and sometimes it wouldn't. It ran every single time. So for whatever reason, Dell Cinema Guide seems to have been the culprit. I have no idea why though.

      • Kazuzi3's avatar
        Kazuzi3
        5 years ago

        Ok, Scratch that. The problem is still occurring even now that all of the preinstall Dell and Alienware items have been remove from my computer.

About The Sims 4 Technical Issues - PC

PC players get help with their technical issues in The Sims 4 here.52,003 PostsLatest Activity: 11 minutes ago