February 2021
I resetted my laptop and downloaded the sims 4 but when the game opens on the main menu a tab pops up to say video card unsupported, im able to play the game but cannot play on any graphic setting higher then low
Before i resetted my laptop i could play perfectly fine on graphic setting high so why is this happening?
If anyone could help me out that be much appreciated!
February 2021
@Kayleighch94 Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
February 2021
@Kayleighch94 Your dxdiag lists a few crashes of a component of the graphics driver, as well as some other errors that could be related to the driver (or a different driver; it's not possible to tell from the info listed). The graphics driver is a couple years old, and it might help to update, but you may need a special driver from HP, not one from Intel. I'd like to take a look at the options either way. So please go here:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops
Enter your laptop's serial number, choose your operating system if prompted, and you'll land on the driver download page for your laptop. Please link it here. That page doesn't have any information about your own computer, just the overall model.
February 2021
February 2021
@Kayleighch94 Just to clarify, your graphics chip is listed as unsupported within the game's database, so that part of the issue is normal. However, you should only see the message once and should probably be able to change the graphics settings. Additionally, the fact that the graphics driver is crashing does need to be addressed, whether or not it's the direct cause of your inability to change the in-game settings.
You already have the newest driver from HP installed. So the easiest step, if your computer lets you, would be to install the newest one from Intel:
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/30196/Intel-Graphics-Driver-for-Windows-15-40-
Run the installer as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator." However, you may get an error about the driver not being compatible, which would mean you're stuck with the HP driver. In that case, you'd need to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of that driver.
First though, run a couple of basic checks on your Windows system files:
For the clean uninstall, download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:
https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3430
On the download page you linked, download the last graphics driver listed, the one dated March 6, 2019.
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. Restart again before trying to play.
Please also delete options.ini, in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4, before launching the game again. You'll see the "unsupported card" message again, once, but after that the game will hopefully behave as it always did. Let me know if it doesn't.
By the way, it would be simple enough to get rid of the "unsupported" error if it comes to that. It wouldn't change anything about your hardware, just how the game reads it.
March 2021
I ran the graphic driver from march 6 after finishing the clean uninstall and restarted my computer but when i try to open sims it gives me an error that says “initialization error at startup”
im not sure if i followed the instructions correctly
Im new to this so i apologise!
March 2021
@Kayleighch94 If the driver installed without throwing an error, you likely did everything right. The initialization error has a few different causes, but I haven't heard of it being graphics driver-related.
Try moving your entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. When you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content. (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you moved but temporarily not read by the game.) Don't add anything to this new folder yet; just see whether you can play a new save.
If you get another initialization error, please post a screenshot of the error message: the exact string of characters often gives a clue as to the cause. Please also let me know what antivirus program you use. And for good measure, run another dxdiag and attach it to a post.
March 2021
@Kayleighch94 Since you're not currently using McAfee, try uninstalling it. There are directions on the McAfee support site:
Restart your computer before trying to play.
If that doesn't help, try creating a new admin user account on your computer and playing there. You can sign into your existing Origin account, and you won't need to redownload anything, but don't sync any data or services in the new account. For example, don't sign into OneDrive or any other data syncing program.
If that doesn't help either, please look for any minidump files from your computer; your new dxdiag lists more of the driver errors I mentioned before, the ones that don't specify which driver is affected. Open a File Explorer window and enter this in the address bar:
C:\Windows\Minidump
For any files created after you reinstalled the graphics driver, right-click and select Copy, then right-click on your desktop and select Paste. Please zip the files together if you find more than one, upload to a third-party filesharing site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and link it here.