Help! my sims 3 keeps crashing!

stellasaurus · Aug 1, 2013

When I play Sims 3 every now and then a box pops up with the message: Sims 3 has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

There is literally nothing I can do after that but click close program.
I have windows 8 and it's happened five times in one day. This has never happened before.

HELP!

Tabris DarkPeace · Aug 1, 2013

Run this overnight.

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
www.memtest.org/‎

Take a photo and upload it somewhere of the resuslts.
Post a link to that photo here.

It's a process of elimination, might not be RAM but it's easiest to check and you have to sleep eventually anyway...

Kurifox · Aug 1, 2013

stellasaurus :

Does this only happen in sims? or any other games/ aplications.
I Have windows 8 at work and sometimes the explorer and programs would randomly crash several times a day. I ddid some reserch and discovered it was some problem with dropbox that just by being iddle in the background would crash my stuff for no reason.

bryonhowley · Aug 1, 2013

Well I can't say that it has anything to do with DropBox either as I run Windows 8.1 and have DropBox running on all of my rigs and have never had a single crash in any game or application.

Is this happening with just The Sims 3 or have you had problems with other games/applications also? As suggest though burn memtest86 to a disc or USB stick and check your memory would be a good place to start. If all else fails you might need to re-install the OS to fix the problem.

It could also be just a corrupt game install. So before you go so far as to re-install the OS you might try to un-install the game and then do a complete re-install. Also make sure that your GPU drivers are up-to-date as well as DirectX runtime.

There are alot of things that it could be really such as a background task. Also some virus can cause games to crash.

Since you said this has never happen before can you think of the last hardware/software change you made to your system before this problem came up?

stellasaurus · Aug 2, 2013

It is only happening with sims 3 and i do have an antivirus installed. I dont think its my ram because my laptop is still pretty new.I have recently downloaded sims 3 supernatural, could that be why?. Thanks for your suggestions i will try them tonight

Xeres6 · Oct 8, 2013

stellasaurus :

Its happening with mine too! And i dont have windows 8

I have windows 7

LauraW · Nov 3, 2013

I'm having the exact same issue and it's because the sims 3 only works best with Windows Vista, Windows 7 and I think Windows XP. Windows 8 is not compatible with the Sims period and makes it very difficult to play. I have windows 8 on my laptop and that shit is always fuckin up. It's annoying especially since I want to just play my damn game!! Dx Nothin you can do about it unless you downgrade your OS or find a laptop or desktop that's not windows 8.

Good Luck

ericaM · Nov 13, 2013

It might also be from the custom content. I have windows 7 and my sims 3 worked perfectly until I started to install stuff from the exchange

aimrea · Nov 24, 2013

hi, mine is doing the exact same, i removed my mods as people say if they expire or they weren't updated for the new patches etc. i tried uninstalling and reinstalling but thats not it? i am really annoyed now as i adore the game and the expansions/stuff packs
:??:

SierraSommer · Dec 1, 2013

I HAVE THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM! I have Windows 7 and have been playing Sims for years and this has never come up. Just over the past month or so it had a couple crashes every now and then, now it's within the first 2-5 minutes of playing the game. My mom's boyfriend is an IT Tech and he's tried clearing the cache files, downloading the hot fix given out my EA, changing the DEP Files, everything. Tomorrow we're wiping my computer clean to see if it's just some bug on my computer (I might be a tad obsessed.. Don't judge) but I have a feeling it's something going on with EA, there most be a bug in the server. But if I can figure it out I'll post back again.

WhatsUpDoc · Dec 1, 2013

I have the same problem

!! I have windows 7 and this has never happened to me before. I installed Sims 3 Seasons. Before I had late night, pets, island paradise and university but I un-installed them all. When I did, I installed Seasons, cracked it and clicked the Sims 3 Launcher to start playing. When it started to load, it crashed and a box popped out saying : Sims 3 has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available. Blahhh -.- !!! I searched everywhere for answers. Google, You tube I even went to EA's bloody website. I even un-installed and re-installed it ! .. but it just keeps doing this to me

..I tried going to the DEP , And I even went to properties and changed it to windows 7. But its just no use

.. please do reply to me if anyone finds out the matter of this cause.

FinalDrive · Dec 2, 2013

Have you tried running TSR Rigfix? These types of crashes are usually a result of incompatable Custom Content, there is more information on how to use the tool at http://www.thesimsresource.com/fixyourgame/step1. If pulling all the Custom Content out and the game still crashes Uninstall, defrag the drive and reinstall, and carefully add back in custom content.

Rachelsunshine90 · Dec 29, 2013

WhatsUpDoc :

Have you tried running it through Windows XP? Just right click on the icon you use to open your game, go to properties, then go to the tab where it says compatibility. There should be a drop down box at the top. See if it makes a difference.

Zarok Aleon · Jan 4, 2014

Well I just got the sims over Christmas and I just got around to playing it and every time I load the game it crashes. I havent even gotten a chance to play it yet. I get to the part were I can pick a neighborhood but I have been trying to get that free downloadable town. So I load my game and get to the menu and then look on my laptop for stuff about the neighbor hood then look up and it says Sims 3 has experienced a problem.
I have no mods. No saves. Not even any games. I t crashes before I can start that and I dont know why.

I am running windows 7 pro with a I7 4770k 8GB of corsair vengance, of of a 1TB HDD. I have had no issues with any other games.

IMakeSandwiches · Jan 6, 2014

Try running the program in a different compatibility mode?
Right click on the Sims 3 shortcut>Properties>Compatibility>Check the box 'Run this program in compatibitlity mode for'
I seem to remember Windows vista works best with it as the Sims (Although I hate to say it) Is pretty outdated for windows 8 operating system.

Hope this helps!

Helpingsomeoneout · Mar 17, 2014

TRY TO RESTORE IT BEFORE THAT SHITTY UPDATE. THAN TURN OFF THE AUTOMATIC UPDATES OR YOU WILL FIND YOUR
SIMS UPDATED AGAIN CAUSE SOMEONE PRESSED OK. NOW MY SIMS ARE ON THE FRITZ AGAIN. I DIDNT CREATE A RESTORE POINT SO MY SOLUTION DOESNT WORK ANYMORE SO SAVE RESTORE POINT.

Ashleylight · Mar 20, 2014

Xeres6 :

Yep this is happening to a lot of people. I still can't figure out why. I've tried everything. It happened after I installed the sims seasons expansion pack so I'm guessing it's because of expansion packs. I guess all we can do is hope electronic arts finds a solution for this problem.

Jamaan13 · Apr 8, 2014

LauraW :

Rachelsunshine90 :

I found this actually quite helpful, there was a drop box. I recommend doing this for every sim expansion pack though because each one has a different compatibility setting.
But this really helped my game play, thankyou guys

SimsLover · Apr 15, 2014

This happens to me too! :|
I have the new Windows 8 computer and I only have Pets installed atm.
I play for about 45-60mins and then it comes up with the same message.
I click 'Close Program' (cause that's all I can do) and then I try and start Sims up again.
This time, it closes after 5 mins.
I keep restarting it but the same thing happens, although the time Sims works for keeps getting lower and lower until it hardly loads.
I do have quite a bit of CC off different websites but I deleted half of it (I have checked if it's bad CC or not) but it still doesn't work.
I tried to install Pose Player yesterday (I can't get that to work but anyway

) but it's not that cause this has been happening for 3 days.
I'm going to try and fix it today, but I'd love it if anyone has any suggestions.
Thanks

briso · Apr 18, 2014

omg ok so same thing happen 2 meh i have the windows 8 n my game automatically stop working idk y but im mad now i gotta watch the sims 3 on youtube n i could be playing it right now. but, idk wats wrong with it. idk if its that i didnt download in time. OR IS IT THAT NEW INTO THE FUTURE GAME hmm idk. but im just mad right now.[strike][strike][/strike][/strike]
[strike][/strike]

Makayla23 · Apr 20, 2014

What you need to do is download CC Cleaner Pro have that delete unwanted files from your computer.Then go to your start menu.and click on that.Go to computer and click on that.once your in computer click windows.now look for "prefetch" and delete the whole file everytime you open up your computer.because prefetch holds every action you do since you first started using the computer.Once you delete that open cc cleaner back up and clean the file left behind.Now open up your sims game.then press ctrl,alt,esc and go to your documents delete the empty folders and uwanted files.Now go back to your sims 3 game and it should run smoothly c;....If that doesnt help..Do all the above and then go to computer...then program files..then electronic arts.....and go in and open up your expansion pack..go to game...then bin..Look for something that looks like "TS3EP04" The last two numbers will be the expansion pack like that o4 means generations anyways... right click on it..click properties..go to compatibilty mode... and click windows vista...then click run this program as administrator..then click apply..ok then restart your computer and play your game c;

Pieguy1eye · Apr 25, 2014

Same with me i have windows 8 the same thing happens every 1-5 minuts it never haplend beofre i got a few more packs. I saw that its because sims 3 is not compatible because sims is a big game. I dont want to beleive it but i think its trew... DAM WINDOWS 8

CatherineEmily · Apr 29, 2014

Compatibility mode for Windows Vista seems to be working now for me. Thanks! But, now that I have Windows Vista compatibility mode turned on, my sims game is super-dark. It's not the brightness setting on my monitor. Anyone know how to fix that?

xhannahrose97 · May 7, 2014

This happens to me too, I'm on windows 7 and I've tried DEP, changing the compatibility to Windows XP, deleting ALL of my custom content, uninstalling & reinstalling. It's been doing it for absolutely ages and I have sims pets and generations expansion packs. It's super annoying!

killerbunny · May 13, 2014

This is happening to me to after about 8 minutes of playing the game. I have windows 8.

Help! my sims 3 keeps crashing!

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