Origin: Windows 10 issues... Sims 4

[byers2791]

I am fully aware Origin was not designed to run on Win10 BUT it has been years, YEARS! This issue should have been fixed ages ago rather than the consumer needing to go out their way to fix your issue.

All I'm trying to do is relax and play Sims 4 but nah... we either need to pay money to downgrade to Win8 or continue playing on my Mac. A fat no thank you to both.

So what do i need to do to be able to play my game? I cant downgrade to Win7 because I share this desktop with another. I am at a loss :/

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@byers2791  First of all, you'll get better performance if you plug your monitor directly into the graphics card rather than the motherboard.  This is a diagram I like to borrow from someone else:

For the issue itself, the driver for your graphics card is from 2018, and it's crashing and bringing Sims 4 down with it.  It's easy enough to install a newer driver—just download the latest version from Nvidia:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/176267/en-us

Run it as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Select the custom route and the option to "perform a clean install."  Restart your computer afterwards.

[TheMelodyPheles]

Do you have  a windows 7 install disk and a place to back up your files and put them for transferring them to another computer?

[puzzlezaddict]

@byers2791  Origin runs fine in Windows 10.  What error are you getting when you try to install?  One common one is the MSVCP140.dll/VCRUNTIME140.dll error, which is easily solved.

Spoiler

Those files are part of the 2015-2019 VC++ runtimes, which Origin and Sims 4 use.  So it's best to uninstall your current copies, if you have them, and download new ones from Microsoft.

Click Windows key-i, select Apps, and scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables.  Click on the 2015 (or 2017, or 2015-2019) versions, both x86 and x64, and Uninstall.  (Don't touch the versions from any other year.)  Then download and install new versions directly from Microsoft:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

You need both the x86 and x64 versions, but you can skip the ARM version, which is for a different class of device.  Restart your computer before trying to play.

If that's not your issue, please post a screenshot of the error.

[byers2791]

I just saw my email notification for this, sorry. Origin runs fine, Sims 4 refuses to launch. It will show as a white screen and immediately go back to Origin. I don't have any mods or cc's added in yet. I've uninstalled & reinstalled multiple times and I've tried many other tricks I've seen online. I'm at a full loss :/ 

[puzzlezaddict]

@byers2791  Try disabling Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.

If that doesn't help, please move your entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  When you launch the game, if it launches, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  Don't add anything to this folder yet; just see whether you can get far enough to start a new save.

If you still get a white screen, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

[byers2791]

My Origin in-game was already disabled. I just tried your Microsoft Visual C++ Redis. suggestion and it launched the white screen a bit longer so I guess we're getting a bit closer lol. I did both the 2015-2019 x86 & x64. I also just did your recent suggestion and I'm not sure if that helped but it did take a bit longer to launch as well.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@byers2791  First of all, you'll get better performance if you plug your monitor directly into the graphics card rather than the motherboard.  This is a diagram I like to borrow from someone else:

For the issue itself, the driver for your graphics card is from 2018, and it's crashing and bringing Sims 4 down with it.  It's easy enough to install a newer driver—just download the latest version from Nvidia:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/176267/en-us

Run it as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Select the custom route and the option to "perform a clean install."  Restart your computer afterwards.

[byers2791]

@puzzlezaddict !!! It finally works Thank you so much!!

[HeikeJ1964]

Hello.

I have this problem, too. I tried everything that was suggested as far as I understood it ... I'm from Germany  However, I attached my DxDiag-file, maybe you can help me out. I have been waiting to play SIMS4 again for some years and I am quite frustrated now. Yesterday, after I had installed the game, everything was fine. It was just this morning that it suddenly didn't work anymore.

Thank you for your help!! 

[puzzlezaddict]

@HeikeJ1964  Your dxdiag lists a couple of errors related to the graphics driver as well as some other more generic Windows errors.  Please start by running a couple of basic checks on 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 afterwards

If sfc reports that it found corrupt files and was unable to repair some of them, please stop here and let me know.  Otherwise, test the game.  If it still won't run, the next step is to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of your graphics driver.  Download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3513

Download a fresh copy of the newest Intel driver here:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30381/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers

[If you're having trouble following the instructions below, you can find an excellent German guide here.  You'll still use the above downloads.]

Next, take your computer completely offline—disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord—and double-click the DDU.exe.  Take note of where the file will land, and click Extract.  If it's easier, you can copy the path and then paste it into the address bar in a File Explorer window.  Open the folder and then launch Display Driver Uninstaller.exe, and you'll get a message that you're not in Safe Mode.  Click OK, then go to Options and enable Safe Mode dialog.  Here's a screenshot of what your options should look like; make sure the box in red is checked:

Close options, and the DDU, and then open the DDU.exe again.  For launch options, choose "Safe Mode (Recommended)," and then click Reboot to Safe Mode (you'll need your password, so find it before rebooting).  Once you login, you'll see this:

In the blue box, choose GPU, then Intel if it's not already showing.  Then click Clean and Restart (red box).

Once your computer has rebooted, now back in normal mode, run the driver install .exe as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart again after the install is complete.

Test the game, and if it still won't open, please post a new dxdiag.  Please also let me know what antivirus you use.