Sims 3 Crashing Upon Switching Windows

[Execution]

Hello fellow forumers,
My Sims 3 has been crashing lately whenever I switch windows to something else when in fullscreen (I'm switching windows via alt-tab). Sometimes, the crash will last for 5-10 minutes and then Sims 3 will come back, but otherwise it's a black screen with my mouse cursor and nothing else. Task manager shows it as 'not responding' during those 5-10 minuets. And, of course, sometimes it doesn't come back.

Can I do anything to stop this problem? Will playing in Windowed mode help?

[pallyndrome]

I have recently discovered that (probably) switching between the sims and other programs (even while the game is loading) somehow disrupts the sims and can cause it to crash. That's my latest theory about my own troubles. Could that be happening to you?

[Execution]

That's what I was trying to say. Is there any way to combat it, though? I look at building floorplans and Simalogue and the guide and the forum and a ton of other things while I Sim, and having my mom's laptop isn't working out because she wants to use it too sometimes (I Sim just about 24/7)

[Pam]

I think playing Sims 3 in windowed mode might help you, Execution.  You can fiddle with the game settings until you get the biggest and clearest window of the game.  That's how I play and it works much smoother than when I played in full screen mode.

[Execution]

My computer's resolution is 1920x1080, which is the largest resolution that the game supports (I believe). Right now, I just switched it to it to 1600x900 and Windowed mode. I'm in edit town mode, and looking down, the graphics look kinda Sims-2-ish. However, I can switch to a window effortelssly, without my computer "loading" anything. The only thing I'm worried about is icons in build and buy mode since those are small enough as-is. However, the interface shouldn't change sizes, so... I'll try and play the game in windowed mode for a day and see what happens.

[Pam]

My computer's resolution is 1920x1080, which is the largest resolution that the game supports (I believe). Right now, I just switched it to it to 1600x900 and Windowed mode. I'm in edit town mode, and looking down, the graphics look kinda Sims-2-ish. However, I can switch to a window effortelssly, without my computer "loading" anything. The only thing I'm worried about is icons in build and buy mode since those are small enough as-is. However, the interface shouldn't change sizes, so... I'll try and play the game in windowed mode for a day and see what happens.

I remember it did take me a little while to get used to everything being smaller.  I fiddled with the resolution settings until the interface was big enough for me to see and the proportions were right.  But now I don't notice the difference at all and I don't miss the full screen mode at all.