My game is freezing

[InfiniSimmer]

Hi,

This started about a week ago. My game would flash black, freeze, and then shut down the computer abnormally without saving.

Eventually it stopped and I played okay for awhile, but now my game simply freezes within a few minutes of selecting my town, without going black.
I can't minimize while it does that and the only thing to do is to press the power button as if I wanted my laptop to go to sleep. I've tried turning off testing cheats and I can't figure out what's wrong.
 
One odd thing, when my game flashed black, if I switched towns (games) after rebooting my laptop, the glitch and shutdown stopped.

Why is that and do you think it will work this time?

Thanks,
InfiniSimmer           

[MrsFlynn]

Hi InfiniSimmer,

I am not sure why your laptop is acting so odd. Have you tried any of the tips listed in this thread:

Tips to Help with Sims 3 Crashing, Lag and Other Misc Tips.
http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,20732.0.html

Would you mind sharing the specs (Dxdiag) of your computer? If you're unfamiliar with knowing how to do that. Check out the following link. This will help us determine if it's something with the computer's hardware that's making it crash or behave oddly.

Topic: How To: Find System Specs - Windows 8 & 7
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,18902.0.html

Hope this helps, and welcome to the forum

MrsFlynn

[InfiniSimmer]

Thank you!

I followed your How To: Find System Specs.
My system requirements-

System Manufacturer: Toshiba
System Model: Satellite L655
Processor:Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU        P6200  @ 2.13GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601)
Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics (Pentium)
Display memory: 1696 MB
Dedicated memory: 64 MB
Shared memory: 1632 MB

I've been trying out my games to see if there's any difference in the glitching. There is.

I started my first game without any expansion packs. It works perfectly.
I started my second game with Late Night and High-End Loft. It has moderate glitches but is still playable.
I started my third game with Late Night, High-End Loft, Ambitions, Generations, Pets, Seasons, and University Life. The glitches have gotten to the point where I can't play five minutes without it freezing totally.

I wonder if it's the expansion packs? My friend told me about a late 2013 review where an expansion pack malfunctioned and the computer had to be thrown out. I'm certain my problem is not that serious.. but I wonder.

Thanks,
InfiniSimmer

[MrsFlynn]

Just from the quick look at your specs, both your processor and video card are under minimum requirements.

Minimum system requirements for The Sims 3 University Life
http://help.ea.com/en/article/minimum-system-requirements-for-the-sims-3-university-life/

I went to search out the min. requirements for University as that's the newest expansion you have.

It calls for a 2.4 GHz for Windows 7. And at least 128 MB Dedicated memory.

>> Your processor = 2.13GHz
>> Your video cards Dedicated memory = 64 MB

You are correct, integrated graphics cards are known to have problems with expansions, specially Pets and Seasons.

Thank you for sharing the extra information, It's been helpful!!

MrsFlynn

[InfiniSimmer]

Thank you so, so much! I'll be getting a new computer soon (I hope) and that should resolve the problems. In the meantime, I'll just stick to my first game, the one that doesn't freeze. Thanks again, I don't know what I would've done myself. Probably something crazy.

InfiniSimmer