Sims 4 game keeps crashing after computer factory reset

[cehhoerr]

Hi all, 

I've been playing the Sims 4 (with three expansion packs and a few stuff packs) on my HP Spectre for months without any issues. Due to some (hopefully unrelated) issues with my laptop, my IT friend at work performed a factory reset on my computer. I redownloaded my sims games, and now I can't play the game for longer than 10-20 minutes without it crashing without warning. 

I've tried: 

disabling packs or expansion packs 

repairing in Origen, as well as playing while offline

updating the graphics driver 

moving Sims files from documents 

updating my graphics driver 

removing mods 

I'm wondering if I should give up trying to have this game on my current laptop? Any advice is really appreciated. 

[roberta591]

@cehhoerr Make sure Windows 11 is up to date. I'm personally in a wait and see about Win 11. Do you have any mods? If so try game without mods. I was planning to get another computer anyway and that will probably be Win 11 and my gaming rig will stay Win 1- for now. The errors say some updates for Win 11 failed you need to look into that.

[cehhoerr]

Thanks! I don't see anything when I search for Windows 11 updates and everything says its working. Would you recommend rolling back to Windows 10 for now? 

[roberta591]

@cehhoerr You don't search for updates - you go to settings - system  and on the right you see system and below that you should see Windows update.

[cehhoerr]

Thanks-- I am up to date with Windows 11 and it's not showing any failures, errors, etc. So not sure what to do other than roll back the Windows update and maybe try to reinstall later. 

[roberta591]

@cehhoerr My gaming computer is a AMD FX 6300 which won't update to Win 11. But it is time for a new computer anyway so maybe Christmas or soon after the first of 22. Also the chip shortage has prices high right now. As none of my computers qualify to upgrade and it's been a while since I've had a new build - it's time for a new one.I don't know what to tell; you as I have heard some users say TS4 runs and others say it don't.

[puzzlezaddict]

@cehhoerr  Sims 4 runs fine in Windows 11 under ideal circumstances.  However, one potential problem for you is that the driver for your graphics chip is from the spring of 2020, long before Windows 11 existed.  I'm not actually sure whether you can update it—HP often blocks this in laptops like yours—but the worst that can happen is you'll get an error message about the driver not being compatible.

Before you do that though, please run 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, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the button to check for updates.  (Even if you did this before, it's worth doing again after running DISM and sfc.)  If anything installs, restart again afterwards.

Next, go to the Intel page for your processor, click "Drivers and Software, download the newest graphics driver (dated 10/14), and try to install it:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/196591/intel-core-i51035g4-processor-6m-cache-u...

If it doesn't work, you can check whether HP offers a Windows 11 graphics driver for your laptop.  Go here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

enter your laptop's serial number, choose your operating system if necessary, and you'll land on the driver download page for your laptop.  Look under Driver - Graphics for anything that specifically says Windows 11.  If you're not sure what you're looking at, feel free to link the driver page here; it doesn't contain any information about your own laptop, just the model.

If you can't install the driver from Intel and HP doesn't offer a new one, there are a couple other troubleshooting steps you can try as well before reverting back to Windows 10.  But that may be what you need to do in the end, at least until your laptop has driver support for 11.

[cehhoerr]

Thanks! 

I was able to run those basic checks without any errors. After running DISM and sfc, I got the following message: "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations." 

I then followed the steps and was able to download a new graphics driver from the intel page as you suggested. However, when I went to test the game, it still crashed without warning after about five minutes. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@cehhoerr  The new graphics driver didn't actually install; your dxdiag still lists the old one.  If you still have the download, please right-click on it (you should be selecting a file that ends in .exe) and select "Run as administrator," then see whether it installs.  If you get an error, look for a Windows 11 driver from HP.  If you can't find one there either, stop and let me know.

If you do install a new graphics driver from either source, try to play again.  If you then get another crash, please post a new dxdiag.

By the way, you can check the driver version yourself if you want.  Among the ways to do so is through the Device Manager.  Hit Windows key-X, select the DM, open the Display adapters section, right-click on the Intel graphics chip and select Properties, and you'll see the date and version number.  Your current ones are 4/10/20 and 26.20.100.8141, respectively; anything with a higher number than 8141 is a newer driver.