October 2018
Please read earlier answers in this thread.
October 2018
e same thing is happening to me and i have no clue what to do
October 2018
Please read previous answer.
November 2018
how do you open task manager
November 2018
Also running SiM on Windows 7 SP 1, getting the same error. I uninstalled sim , origin, and ran a service pack update , took origin out of the start up folder ....
** SAME ERROR this has to be a bug in the game, where are the EA people to fix this!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 2018
Try holding down ctrl+alt+del at the same time on your keyboard. This will open the task manager.
Windows 7 will give you a blue screen where you can choose the task manager. See if TS4.exe is running, if so force stop it.
November 2018 - last edited November 2018
Hi, Im writing this note with no solution, but if nothing else, I can sympathise and reassure you that there is no solution at your end that is simple, EA support were mostly useless as well.
Its a problem with those of us mostly using windows 7 and its some kind of permissions error, I tried absolutely everything and I am no novice when it comes to my pc.
The solution I found in the end was to go to my other pc, with reduced capabilities compared with my laptop, and sign in on that and sims 4 ran like it is meant to.
there is no instance of TS4 already running, its not that simple.
If you keep ringing EA and persist, I hope you can get them to assist you with a work around that was better than mine.
after all, not everyone has more than one device set up for game play, and we shouldn't need to, but it would appear most people dont realise that this is a REAL ISSUE and cannot be fixed with 101 pc skills, it has to be done with a permissions change that is not intermediate knowledge, EA should have a walk through method by now.
November 2018
Hi Sally Bear and thank you VERY much for the dialogue. My 12 year old started this thread and then i jumped in as a former IT guy in a different life. Like you, my instinct was the OS so i tried the Service Pack updates on Windows 7 ultimate, after i completely removed and reinstalled origin and Sim. the only account on this PC is administrator so the permissions error must be embedded somewhere in the code as it interfaces with the OS? Anyhow, this ridiculous error has gotten my attention and i intend to try a few more things because as you noted, ts4 is not running in task manager, until we attempt to start the SIM 4 and the accompanying error message.
Q: If it is a permission error, why did it crop up after 2 months? Maybe as additional items are downloaded?
just had a thought, try fresh re install without add ons to test this theory
JTS
November 2018
Could try the solution:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2015/08/game-already-running/
November 2018
Thank you it is a good idea, but the solution presented is for Windows 10 and we are running windows 7. I know it is NTFS file system on Windows 7 but not sure if same permissions issue might be occurring and where does windows 7 put the Electronic Arts\documents subdirectyory