Unable to start Video Card does not meet minimum spec

@HokuHakase  Your dxdiag lists a number of failed Windows updates and not a lot else, so it's worth cleaning those up first.  Start with a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

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

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

For the issue itself, try playing in a clean boot:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

The only non-Microsoft service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App requires in order to run.  Disable the rest, and when you reboot, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down anything that's managed to still be running.  I'm not familiar with how some of your software works, but plenty of programs, anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software, can still be running in a clean boot environment.  If you accidentally kill the wrong process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

I'd also suggest disconnecting any nonessential devices, at least during the initial test.  So that means everything that isn't your keyboard, mouse, and monitors.  And shut down any third-party antivirus you have as well.  As long as you're only opening Sims 4 and the EA App, your computer should be safe.

If this works, you can start adding back services and devices until you find the issue.  Use the 50/50 method if there are a lot to go through.

If you still can't play, please look for related errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit Windows key-R, enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and look for anything that happened as you trie to launch Sims 4.  If you do find an error, right-click and select View technical details, then copy the info you see and paste it here.  If you don't see anything, check back in an hour or so—the RM doesn't always update right away.

Thank you for your fast reply. Unfortunately, none of the solutions worked.

DISM.exe returned no issues. While sfc reported a few issues, they were not specific about them and it indicated that all were fixed. It produced a log file. After performing both checks, I went ahead and check for Windows updates and there were two optional feature updates. I installed the updates and rebooted my PC.

For the clean boot, I disabled all non-Microsoft services and processes but EABackgroundService and Steam Client Service. (Since I tried the Steam version of Sims 4, it does not want to do anything with the EA Play version). Despite the clean boot, I received the exact same message as in my original post.

The Reliability Monitor does not mention Sims 4 nor my Event Viewer. I will wait for it to update.

I also tried to run the game as administrator but that did not change the outcome.

About 2 hours has gone since I attempted the solutions and the game does not appear in my Reliability Monitor. Other softwares that I used in the meantime did appear.

I attempted to do a clean install of the latest Nvidia drivers (Uninstalled the drivers using DDU and reinstalled 528.24). I also tried to downgrade using the same steps to 516.59 and neither fixed my issue.

@HokuHakase  I'm glad to hear that worked but sorry it was such a headache.  It's good that you fixed it on your own because the person whose opinion I asked for, when I wasn't sure what to recommend next, also didn't have any troubleshooting steps he was comfortable suggesting.  It's always a bit dicey to start changing settings or disabling software on a work computer, even if it's really a personal computer where someone also works.  Between the normal work-related software and the potential additional security settings, a lot can go wrong or respond in unpredictable ways.

That's all a long way of saying I'm glad you got it fixed, but you might want to consider altering your current setup to keep your personal and work files separate.  A dual-boot configuration would do it, if you're willing to take a little time to set it up.  If you run into issues in the future, it's worth considering at least.

Thank you for your message. Rest assured that I am already slowly working towards a more reliable setup. I already have many systems to support my work off my main work PC. This is the reason why I was comfortable to just reinstall Windows on my PC, I saw it only as a minor inconvenience and a step worth to do to run one game. Most of my useful data was already safe outside of the machine.

As a matter of fact, doing this step actually fixed another issue that I had with my networking hardware. So trying to fix The Sims 4 helped a lot more than expected!

Hello, im dealin' with the same thing! sadly i have tried multiple alternatives but to no good result. Im a laptop player and i have a good amount of modes and game add-ons, packs etc. im scared i might to delete all of that for my game to work! do you think you can help me throught the process a bit? im good with tech but i dont know the issue!

Heres my dxdiag. 

@Wowdragonz  You probably don't need to delete anything to fix this issue, although you could test with no mods or custom content present by moving the Mods folder to the desktop.  This is always a useful test when Sims 4 isn't working as normal.

Your dxdiag lists a number of generic update errors, so it's a good idea to start with 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, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the button to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

Next, try installing the newest graphics driver from Intel.  Your currently-installed driver is from 2020 and may no longer be compatible with the game.  Here's the driver:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/149090/intel-core-i38145u-processor-4m-cache-up-to-3-90-ghz/downloads.html

You'll want the driver dated June 15.  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.