March 2021
I recently purchased a new laptop and when I attempt to play Sims 4 it freezes sometimes within 5minutes of gameplay and then takes several minutes to respond. I can move the mouse around during this time and the sound works but cannot click on anything or move the screen around. I've tried repairing the game, playing offline, and checked to see if maybe the driver needed updating but it said there were no new updates. My laptop has no problem playing other games like Planet Zoo, which I believe has higher system requirements than Sims 4 so I am unsure why this happening.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
March 2021
@sward246 Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
March 2021
@sward246 The driver for your graphics chip is crashing repeatedly, which could easily explain the Sims 4 freezes. You'll need to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver. Download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3450
Download the VGA Driver (UMA) from here:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/ID/content/support-product/8239?b=1
Please also download the other VGA driver, the one dated 2020/10/05, just in case the newer driver throws an error when you try to install. It shouldn't, but it's better to be careful, and you'll be offline when trying to install. Download the VGA Utility as well.
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 installer as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator." Again, if the newer one doesn't work, try the older one. Try installing the utility as well, although don't worry if you get an error that it's arleady installed.
Restart your computer again, go online, and try to play; let me know how it goes.
March 2021
Hi, so I did all of that and it worked perfectly for the first couple of times I played it. Then I didn't play for a while and have just tried playing again and it's doing the same thing haha could it be the same problem again
March 2021
@sward246 It's possible this could be the same issue, but I'd like to see a new dxdiag first. The graphics driver errors in your previous one were very clear.
March 2021
@sward246 Yes, the new errors are the same, and for some reason, you have the same graphics driver as you did originally, not one from Acer but a newer one from Intel. It's possible Acer software identifies this newer driver as compatible, or that Windows does, and it's being installed for you. Or maybe you manually searched for an update. Either way, the driver is definitely an issue, according to the dxdiag.
What you can try first is installing the very newest driver from Intel. The one on Acer's support page is more likely to work well with your laptop, but this one may be perfectly fine. And since you can simply download and install it, no need for DDU, there's no harm in trying it.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30266/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers
Run it as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator." Restart your computer afterwards.
You may not be able to install the driver, depending on how strict Acer's software is—most laptop manufacturers only allow their pre-approved drivers, at least for a year or two. If you get an error, don't worry about it, just go through the DDU process again.
The same thing applies if you install the new driver and notice issues with your game. DDU the driver and install one from Acer. Here's the link again, since the old one is acting weird for me right now and I'm not sure whether it's my computer or the site:
https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/support-product/8239?b=1
March 2021
Okay cool, thank you so much I'll try that and let you know how I go!