Game Will Not Launch/Start/LoadUpdated: May 2023Quick Links:–
In-Game/EA AppTips –
Tech Related Tips–
Notes, Other Tips and Links–
Game won't load - stuck on black screen–
Relieving Freezing and Lag–
Launcher Crashes / Launcher has stopped Working✽
(Current Issue) Sims 3 Store content uninstalls/won't reinstall, EA AppThese tips work for both the Sims 3 Stopped Working and Unable to Start error.
✅ If you have a newer computer, regardless if it's using Windows 10 or 11, you may need the Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU patch link
here to help make Sims 3 run on the new Alder Lake processor.
If you'd like to read more about this please see the thread over at answers.ea Sims 3 Tech Board
here
In-Game/EA App Tips:1. Repair Game: Open the EA App > Library > Find Sims 3 and Click Manage > Repair.
2. Turn off EA App overlay: In the EA App, click Application and look for In-game Overlay this setting needs to be turned off.
[EA App overlay is similar to what Origin in-game was. A feature that allows you to see friends online in-game as well as other game stats. However, It has been known to cause problems having this feature turned on.]3. Try playing the game in "Offline" mode:
To play offline, you first need to open / login to the EA App while online. Then click Menu (☰) up top left > Go Offline. My understanding of why is for the account/games verification.
4. Make sure that Origin does not automatically open when starting Windows.
Click Menu (☰) up top left > Settings > Application - Open the EA App Automatically on Start Up - turn this off. It's on by default and can cause issues, if you have multiple Windows user accounts.
5. Try running the EA App As Administrator: Use EADesktop.exe to launch . (C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop\EADesktop.exe) - Right-click on the EA App icon on and select Run as Administrator.
Back to top
Tech Related Tips: 1. Make sure drivers are up to date
Troubleshooting graphics on PC
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/pc-graphics-troubleshootingIf the above doesn't help, try uninstalling your graphics driver and reinstall it. -- You may need to search on the manufacturer of your video card (Nvidia or AMD) to help find your graphics drivers.
How do I uninstall my NVIDIA display drivers?
https://www.wikihow.com/Uninstall-Nvidia-DriversUninstalling AMD drivers
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/faq/gpu-601If you have a dual graphics card system, make sure the game runs on the card and not the chip.
https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/05/setting-up-a-gaming-profile-for-your-graphics-card.htmlHow-To: Get Sims 3 to Recognize a New Graphics Card
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26753.msg446248#msg4462482. Check Mods and Custom Content: Move the Mods folder to the desktop for testing purposes and try the game again. - We suggest this due to outdated/broken mods/cc being the #1 issue when it comes to games not working correctly. If you need help with these, have a look at the links below.
Sims 3 - How-To: Fix Problems with Mods/CC
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=31759.msg506010#msg5060103. Delete both game cache and EA App cache files:
-- Delete Game Cache
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,20732.msg401809.html#msg401809 -- Clear the EA App Cache Files: Select the three dashes in the far-left corner of the EA app. Scroll to Help. Click App recovery. Select Clear cache. * Restarting your computer maybe helpful after this step.
4. Try resetting the Sims 3 folder, aka Sims 3 Factory Reset (HowTo)
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,20732.msg401814.html#msg4018145. It has been reported that screen capture/recorders and instant messengers/video chat or VOIP programs, like Discord may cause issues with Sims 3 and may need to be turned off or uninstalled if issues are severe. Also turn off any overlay those programs may have as they can cause issues as well. If you feel the issue is one of these programs, please search on how to turn them off or uninstall them.
6. Disable Game DVR and Game Bar. These are known to cause issues with some games.
How to Disable Windows 10’s Game DVR and Game Bar
https://www.howtogeek.com/273180/how-to-disable-windows-10s-game-dvr-and-game-bar/7. Have a new Computer? Your new computer may need some fixes or a patch to get Sims 3 to work properly.
Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11528168#M250997–Reinstall DirectX 9: - Sims 3 still uses DX9, but isn't in Windows 10 or 11. * Restarting your computer maybe helpful after this step.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-launcher-won-t-open/m-p/10700883#M247761–Make sure .net framework 3.5 is turned on.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/framework/install/dotnet-35-windows–Limit the game to 1 CPU core via Task Manager, as it starts to load.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpUUZUJNGXM - How To Fix The Sims 3/Medieval On Newer Intel Processors
✽✽ Please remember, Sims 3 is an older game that wasn't necessarily made to run on newer hardware or software (meaning Windows 11) and therefore needs help running on newer systems. This is the same for all older games.
8. Check Online Storage (OneDrive/GoogleDrive): Uninstall, disable or pause syncing with any services you normally use, such as OneDrive, Google Drive or otherwise. These services move your game files out from (\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3) to where your game can't see them anymore.
––Before doing anything with OneDrive or GoogleDrive, if you have Sims 3 files there, copy them back to the C:\Users\Username\Documents\Electronic Arts folder.
Then turn off, disable or uninstall the service. This way the game will be able to access your Sims 3 files again and won't move them.
–Turn off, disable, or uninstall OneDrive:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b09. Ensure Antivirus or security software is not blocking the game/EA App.
Add an exclusion to Windows Security:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/add-an-exclusion-to-windows-security-811816c0-4dfd-af4a-47e4-c301afe13b2610. Run a Registry cleaner: Specially If you've recently uninstalled or reinstalled the game it maybe worth a try to use a registry cleaner such as Ccleaner or Revo Uninstaller to cleanup the files left behind from uninstalling the app and game files.
11. Try running a Clean Boot as this will help with stopping any other programs from interfering.
http://help.ea.com/en/article/how-to-clean-boot-your-pc/12. If the computer doesn't recognize that Sims 3 is installed, the game needs to be reinstalled, as something in the registry has gotten corrupted.
Information on a manual removal is here at the official EA site
http://help.ea.com/en/article/manually-uninstalling-the-sims-3/Back to top
Notes, Other Tips and Links:Make sure you are owner of computer, and not someone who has a secondary account. This may make the game not work properly.
Run a Registry cleaner such as such as Ccleaner or Revo Uninstaller to cleanup the files left behind from uninstalling any games, programs or apps. They may not help with the problem of a program not loading. However it's good to cleanup the temporary files from time to time. Specially after an uninstall/reinstall of any program. It helps keeping things running a bit more smoothly.
----
Ccleaner - Standard Edition is Free
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download -- PC
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download?mac -- Mac
How to use CCleaner to fix PC issues
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-CCleaner-- This helps clean up temporary files, internet cache files and other files that are left behind that are no longer being used.
Revo Uninstaller - Free Edition
https://www.revouninstaller.com/products/revo-uninstaller-free/How to use Revo Uninstaller
https://www.wikihow.com/Uninstall-Using-Revo-Uninstaller ✽ Please note, if you're using a cracked version of the game and getting the Unable to Start error, we cannot help. We only support the Official version.
