My Sims 3 keeps freezing.

[maddypineda29]

I am very frustrated. Just installed Sims 3 via Origins on my Windows laptop. I will be playing like normal, but then everything will freeze. Happens maybe twice per minute. Freezes for 20 seconds at a time.I have a whole TB of memory. Why is this happening? Please let me know if any further information would be helpful.

[puzzlezaddict]

@maddypineda29  Please run a dxdiag and attach the results to a post.  This will give information on a number of potential issues at once.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

By the way, the fact that you have 1 TB of storage is great, but it doesn't matter nearly as much as the other specs of your computer.  The dxdiag will list those specs too.

[maddypineda29]

That was helpful, thank you! I attached the DxDiag text.

[puzzlezaddict]

@maddypineda29  There are a few different system errors listed in your dxdiag.  So it's a good idea to start with the basics.  First, make sure Windows is completely updated; there was one update failure referenced.  Click the Windows icon in the lower left corner, then choose Settings > Update & Security, and click the button to check for updates.  If there are a number of pending updates, it might take more than one pass to run them all, so check for updates a few times.

When the updates are done, run a couple of checks on your Windows system files.  Here's how:

• 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

Please also disable the Origin Web Helper Service both in Origin and in Windows.  In Origin, hover over your username and select Application Settings.  Under Application (the first header), scroll down to Start-up options and disable the service.  For the Windows setting, hit Windows key-R and enter "services.msc" without quotes.  Scroll through the list until you come to Origin Web Helper Service, double-click, select "Disabled" under Startup type, and click Apply.  Then restart your computer.

Once you're done with that, please remove your entire Sims 3 game folder from Documents\Electronic Arts; you can put it on your desktop.  Launch the game, which will create a clean folder with no content.  (Your existing saves and other content will still be in the old folder you moved.)  Create a new save in Sunset Valley, just for testing, and let me know how it runs.  This will give you a baseline with which to compare performance in your existing save(s).

Please also let me know which packs, if any, you have installed, and which world(s) you're playing in.  Some are better made than others.