Sims 3 Crashing

[isisx3]

I installed the game, It runs fine, I make Sims fine, I moved in, but then when it starts at their house and I click for my Sim to do something like walk or talk or anything at all they just jump to the mail box and get stuck there, then they don't move or do anything! And if I go into buy mode the game just shuts down. Whats going on??? How do I fix this?? Help please!

I have all the patches downloaded and installed..

I have a 2.1 processor and on the Sims 3 site it says for vista you should have a 2.4, would this really shut down the entire game? I just thought it would make it go slower... Besides that I meet all the other requirements.

I have a Compaq presario cq50 laptop with vista.


I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game twice, it still won't work.

[RockmasteR]

Hello and welcome to TSF,
can you please post your full laptop specs?

[isisx3]

Yes, Vista home premium
2.0GHZ, 3GB RAM, 250HD with 500HD External HD
Video Card is a NVidia GEForce 8200M G and it is up to date on the software.

When I first ran the game it said that they didn't recognize the card, but I really didn't have any problem with the game loading, nothing looked weird or less realistic or anything..

[RockmasteR]

as long as your CPU is dual core, you'll do OK

the game didn't recognize the card because it is not listed in the supported graphic cards, but your card is low end, even lower than 8400 GS
try to build another house and see what happens (or move to another one)
lots of people are getting the freezing problem
also make sure that you get the latest drivers for your video card from here:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/noteboo...6.81_whql.html

get the latest directx 9.0C from my sig

next thing, I want you to check your laptop temperatures
download SIW from my sig, open it, Choose "Sensors" under "Hardware" check your Laptop's temps (CPU Core, GPU Core, HDD)

now play the game for about 20 mins, minimize it and recheck the temps again.
Please report back with both temperatures states

[isisx3]

Thanks for your reply,
I have tried moving to different houses, and no matter what house I'm in I get stuck at the mail box if I try to do anything with my Sims, and/or crashes on the buy mode.

I went to device manager and checked for new drivers and it told me it was up to date. But, I downloaded the 8M series update driver from the NVidia site.

I'm downloading directx 9.0C right now and I'll look for SIW. I didn't get them from "my sig" though, because I'm not sure what that is?

[isisx3]

oh right, I feel like a total idiot, your sig meaning, your signature. yeah okay. that makes sense. Okay, I downloaded and installed Directx 9.0c. Do I need to unrar the rar files? Do I need to keep the files after the installation? If I do need to keep it can I move them to a different place? It says that it installed correctly. I'm going to try to play the game now, I'll record the temp now and in 20minutes hoping it runs for that long since it usually doesn't!

Thanks for your help so far! :)

[isisx3]

Okay, I did everything you said, installed the drivers, restarted my computer, and when I ran the game. Same thing. I move in, click to do anything and they get stuck at the mail box, run the buy mode, and it crashes. I restarted the game, tried in a different house, different family, and still, the same thing. Here are the temps.

1-Records before, 2-Records after
ACPI
1-TZS0 53C-Value 53C-Min 60C-Max
1-TZS1 53C-Value 53C-Min 60C-Max

2-TZS0 69C-Value 69C-Min 75C-Max
2-TZS0 69C-Value 69C-Min 75C-Max

AMD Turion X2 RM-70
1-Core0 60c-Value 59c-Min 67c-Max
1-Core1 59c-Value 59c-Min 68c-Max

2-Core0 74c-Value 73c-Min 82c-Max
2-Core1 74c-Value 73c-Min 82c-Max

NVIDIA GEFORCE 8300M G
1-GPU Core 57c-Value 57c-Min 63c-Max

2-GPU Core 69c-Value 69c-Min 81c-Max

ST9200827AS
1-HDD 57c-Value 57c-Min 60c-Max

2-HDD 60c-Value 59c-Min 60c-Max



Do you have any other ideas on what should I do? Oorrr.. does this basically mean I can't play the game? :(

I run other games fine, like diablo and dungeon siege, yes they are a lot less graphic but still... I don't know why sims won't work for me.

[RockmasteR]

ok, your CPU and HDD temperatures are really scary!!
the CPU is getting 82C max
and the Hard Disk is getting 60C max!!!
not good at all!!
the CPU should be at the most on 65C and that's on the most
the HDD should not get beyond 40C!
so what you need know is to get a cooling Pad ASAP!
even if the cooling pad did not fix the problem, but please don't keep your laptop at those temps
a good cooling pad:
Antec Cooling system for notebook computers Model Notebook Cooler 200

[isisx3]

Oh they were worst, to the point where my computer would beep loud and then shut down from over heating. Well, I assumed it was over heating, I brought it to a tech but he couldn't find anything and of couuurse it didn't happen when he was using it. So I got this white base thing that has a fan to it and it never happened again. But.. the fan recently stopped working. It was in my suitcase when we came to Europe and they must've thrown it around too much and broke the fan.. Anyway I'll get the one you recommended once we're back in the US. Thanks! :)

But as far as the Sims go, can you offer me any more suggestions?

[RockmasteR]

let's try this:

Download Revo uninstaller from my signature,
use it to remove the game and all its remaining from the registry and from you HDD
Restart your PC
reinstall the game.

locate your save games for Sims 3 in here:

Documents\electronic Arts\Sims 3\Saves

Backup the folder "Saves" by copying it and paste it somewhere else
Delete the Folder "Saves"
that way, you are starting a new game (but of course you backed up the saves folder)
what I meant in this, is to see if the save file is corrupted, and the sims are freezing besides the mailbox.
so start a new game and build a house and see what happens
report back with the results

[isisx3]

Yess, It worked! Now it's working flawless. I did what you asked, which I had done already both times I uninstalled it before. But I also switched the patches. I had downloaded them not from EA b/c I needed one specific for Europe and I think that something was wrong with them, even though they sad they installed correctly. So now it works great! Thank you so much for all your time and help!

[RockmasteR]

Glad to hear that you solved it, I'll mark your thread as solved,
if you need anything else, don't hesitate and ask

[Foxster]

Originally Posted by isisx3

Yess, It worked! Now it's working flawless. I did what you asked, which I had done already both times I uninstalled it before. But I also switched the patches. I had downloaded them not from EA b/c I needed one specific for Europe and I think that something was wrong with them, even though they sad they installed correctly. So now it works great! Thank you so much for all your time and help!

Hi ISIS, I have exactly the same problem as you. Would you mind telling me which European patch you used, and the download location? Thanks v much.

Foxster.