Having problems with Windows 8.1

[ladybug53]

I just upgrated to Windows 8.1 . There is writing at the bottom right corner that is obstructing the game . In edit town where I'm working on my Building Contest entry ,the building is full of blue and red line and I cannot see what I'm doing . All the colors even in loading the game is wrong . For example , the plumbob is yellow and the background screen is burgundy . I'm not very techy so I don't know how to correct all the problems .

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Ladybug53,

Is the graphics issue happening in other programs as well or just Sims 3?

Could you maybe tell us what kind of graphics card you have?

Here's how to do that.

Go to Desktop, right click on an empty area of the screen. Select Screen Resolution. There's a link called Advanced Settings, click on that. That will bring up your graphics card information.

One suggestion is to make sure your graphics drivers are up to date.

MrsFlynn

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I just upgraded to Windows 8.1 . There is writing at the bottom right corner that is obstructing the game . In edit town where I'm working on my Building Contest entry ,the building is full of blue and red line and I cannot see what I'm doing . All the colors even in loading the game is wrong . For example , the plumbob is yellow and the background screen is burgundy . I'm not very techy so I don't know how to correct all the problems .

[ladybug53]

It's only happening in the Sims3 game . I need to continue building on my contest entry in Edit Town but cannot see what I'm doing . My graphic card is GTX560 . My computer is an Asus Intel Core i7-3770 desktop .

Edit - Just rechecked the graphic card info and it says it's a GT630 .

[MrsFlynn]

So Hubby searched out the video card and found it should capable of running Sims 3 with Window 8.1. well enough.

He does suggest that since it's happening in Sims 3 only to try doing a factory reset.  If that doesn't help you might need to reinstall the game.

MrsFlynn

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It's only happening in the Sims3 game . I need to continue building on my contest entry in Edit Town but cannot see what I'm doing . My graphic card is GTX560 . My computer is an Asus Intel Core i7-3770 desktop .

Edit - Just rechecked the graphic card info and it says it's a GT630 .

[ladybug53]

So Hubby searched out the video card and found it should capable of running Sims 3 with Window 8.1. well enough.

He does suggest that since it's happening in Sims 3 only to try doing a factory reset.  If that doesn't help you might need to reinstall the game.

MrsFlynn

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Thanks so much for your help . I will go and read about how to do a factory reset and try to do it . 

[Mogg]

This can happen if the resolution changes AND you're playing in Windowed mode. Start the game and under Options > Display > Change to Allow Fullscreen Mode, then enter the resolution of your new computer. If you are not sure, try 1024 x 768, since this is the default for Win 8.1) . Restart the game and it should be clean.

[ladybug53]

I downloaded a gaming driver update and my sims game is now working great . Wooo !


Edited January 25th , 2014 to add : The driver update I used is , GeForce R331 game Ready Driver . It did help and my game is working fine now . Thank you MrsFlynn for all your help .

[Stray Cat Mom]

I just downloaded Windows 8.1 today and I'm having the same problems with my game. I checked my graphics card driver but it is up-to-date. I'm now doing a reinstall of the game. Hopefully this will fix my problem!

[Stray Cat Mom]

Well, it turns out, it was the graphics card driver. After uninstalling and reinstalling the game, which didn't help, I continued my search on the internet for a solution.

I have a Nvidia Geforce GTX650 graphics card. The driver I was using was version 331.65. I found a forum where Windows 8.1 drivers were being discussed. The Nvidia driver specific for Windows 8.1 is version 326.01. I was initially thrown because it is a lower number. Never thought I would go down instead of up.

This driver includes a stereoscopic vision setting in the control panel. Be sure it is not enabled, otherwise you end up with the discoloration and blurred images.

I'm so glad I got this figured out!

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Stray Cat Mom,

Thank you for posting the tip. It will definitely help others that may come along with the same problem.

MrsFlynn

[NonaMena]

To everyone who has installed Windows 8.1: You need to re-install your graphics driver, even if your graphics driver is up to date. Windows 8.1 has a number of issues with drivers, and many of them were not even compatible with 8.1 at all. From what I've seen and experienced, Graphics drivers are fine once you re-install them.

About Nvidia drivers: it does not actually matter what version of the drivers you are using, as long as you just re-install the driver. I know this from first hand experience (and currently I'm on 334.67 while running 8.1).

If you have special drivers for your mouse and keyboard (such as gaming mouse or keyboard), you might also need to re-install the drivers for those as well. A number of specialty drivers related to specialized equipment, such as music equipment, also required updated drivers. If you have any of that, you'll want to make sure to download new drivers or re-install them.

[DanykaFaye]

I've recently had a problem with my laptop where I had to update to Windows 8.1. Now whenever I try to get to my Sims 3 Launcher, a box pops up that reads, "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."  I'm not sure what it means or how to fix it. Please help!

[KhaineGB]

I've recently had a problem with my laptop where I had to update to Windows 8.1. Now whenever I try to get to my Sims 3 Launcher, a box pops up that reads, "Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."  I'm not sure what it means or how to fix it. Please help!

This normally means the directory you're trying to access either doesn't exist anymore, or it's now considered "protected."

What I would suggest, is go to computer and check to see if your Sims 3 installation is where the launcher shortcut says it should be. If it's not, then something has gone wrong and you need to start searching your hard drive for it. If it IS there, then your folder is now locked down. I would suggest backing up your saves (under Documents\Electronic Arts... just back up the entire Sims 3 directory), uninstalling the game and then reinstall it...

And put it somewhere other than Program Files (x86). That can cause issues!

[eljis]

My problem was gyazo because everytime i tried to open the cheat box internet chrome came up