New Computer and Sims 3 Won't Run

[avij77]

I got a brand new laptop this week and have been installing my games onto it, including Sims 3 and Sims Medieval.  Both games ran on my old laptop with the EA app just fine (just said computer isn't running at all anymore), but anytime I try to run either game on my new laptop, the game refuses to launch.  For Sims 3, the launcher will work but if I hit play, the launcher does nothing.  For Sims Medieval, the EA app will disappear for a second like the game is going to launch, then it crashes and the EA app comes back up.  I've tried several fixes to resolve this, including trying to run the .exe file as an administrator (it just says that there was an error because Origin is not installed) and uninstalling and reinstalling the game.  Any advice or tips to get this game running would be greatly appreciated!

[puzzlezaddict]

@avij77  If your computer has a 12th-gen or newer Intel processor, please see the accepted solution of this thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/td-p/1...

Sims Medieval is affected in the same way as Sims 3 is, and although the Alder Lake patch linked in the accepted solution is only for Sims 3, the Task Manager method should work for Medieval (applied to TSM.exe) as well.  You could also modify the PowerShell script to apply to TSM rather than TS3 and TS3W.

If your computer doesn't have an affected Intel CPU, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

[avij77]

I tried all the fixes in that post but to no avail.  Here is my dxdiag.

[puzzlezaddict]

@avij77  Your processor is one of those affected by the Alder Lake (and newer) issue, and your dxdiag confirms that you''ve been seeing this error for Sims Medieval.  So either you didn't apply the Task Manager method correctly for TSM.exe at least, or you got past that and are now having another issue that somehow doesn't cause any errors.

If you want to double-check, please look for new errors in the Reliability Monitor.  Try again now to start each game so they crash, at least in theory.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Today is on the right.

Look for an error that happened at exactly the time of your most recent attempt to launch each game.  If you find one, double-click it to see more details.  The relevant portion is this:

Exception Code: c0000094

That would mean you're still seeing this error for the game in question.  If you get a different error, please post all the info you see under technical details.  If you get no error, check back in an hour or so—the RM doesn't always update right away.

By the way, I'd forgotten that someone edited the PowerShell script to specifically work for Sims Medieval, if you want to try their script (post 57):

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11...

[avij77]

I finally got Sims Medieval up and running no problem!  Sims 3 is still a problem, even trying the Task Manager method.  I watched a youtube video to make sure I was doing it correctly and I can get the launcher to pull up but the game still won't launch.

Pulling up the Reliability Monitor, it's not showing an error with the Sims 3.  I waited an hour and tried again only for it to not show an error despite there being an error for the Sims Medieval that happened around the same time (before I got it working).  It's as if the computer isn't even trying to launch the game from the launcher.  I tried going to the TS3.exe file in my Game/Bin folder and tried launching it that way, which is when I got the "Origin is not installed" error.

[puzzlezaddict]

@avij77  The fact that there's no error at all strongly suggests the game is being blocked from starting rather than crashing.  If you use a third-party antivirus, please check it for any actions related to Sims 3, either TS3.exe or Sims3Launcher.exe.  And if you use OneDrive, please try pausing it before playing.  You can find the option by right-clicking the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

If that doesn't help, repair the game in the EA App (game library > Manage > Repair) and try again.

Please keep checking the Reliability Monitor for new Sims 3-related errors.  And you'll need to keep using the Task Manager method for now.