Pets crashing

[pallyndrome]

I installed Pets yesterday. Ever since then the game has been randomly crashing. It comes up with an error message then closes down. It often does this just after the game has loaded (since that takes a while, this is quite frustrating). I have put in a ticket with EA and searched the EA forum, but if anyone has any tips for me they'd be much appreciated. Someone on the ea forum mentioned something called DEP. He said:

Have you added BOTH the executable BASE GAME files to the DEP exceptions list? It's now changed that a different executable file for the base game must be added to the DEP list, otherwise it's crashing for a lot of people.

 Does anyone know what that means?

[Esther1981]

Click to open System, on the control panel.

Click Advanced System Settings.  If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Under Performance, click Settings.

Click the Data Execution Prevention tab, and then click Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select. Than once you have that open, go the EA in program files or program files(86), click EA, Pets, Game, Bin, and it's the one that says TS3EP05. I had to add it to mine when I got mine. Hope this helps. And yes, I have all the games on that list.

[MoonsAreBlue]

I never had any crashing problems until Pets and then it started crashing with an error message all the time. However, I did add those files (all of them) to the DEP list and my game still crashes.

[Esther1981]

I never had any crashing problems until Pets and then it started crashing with an error message all the time. However, I did add those files (all of them) to the DEP list and my game still crashes.

Oh man. I wish I could help with that one. But last year, right before LN came out, mine was crashing. I called EA, they said it was my graphic card. I searched for it and found out about DEP and I followed those steps and it stopped crashing and I could play. Now whenever I add a new EP or SP, if I forget to add it to the list, my game crashes as soon as I take it off pause. Sorry Moons. 

[Naga]

DEP stands for Data Execution Prevention. You see, when your computer "feels" like it's going to overburden itself with work, it figures it should shut down any heavy programs you have running. For short, your PC shuts down Sims because it's a load.

You can find DEP by going to My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Performance, Data Execution Prevention. You will see an exception list. Basically, any program you put in that list will not be shut down by your computer's safety phobias.

The Sims 3 is known for crashes for 2 major reasons. One is not having enough RAM in your computer (4 GB should do it perfectly). The second is DEP.

If DEP is your reason, then all you must do is open DEP's exception list and add the TS3 executables to it. They are generally found at C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (look for TS3.exe) and and, in the case of Pets, also in C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Pets\Game\Bin (look for TS3EP05.exe). If you use the launcher, make sure to add the launchers' executables to the list too, just to be sure.

It's also good to remember to clean your game's cache every once in a while, and to make sure to have at least 10 GB of free HD space when playing. Also, make sure your computer is not overheating.

[MoonsAreBlue]

I have enough RAM, a good graphics card, and I always play sims with a cooling pad on my laptop. It's really frustrating because I have never had this problem. I do, however have two graphics card on my laptop (it switches between the two to conserve energy when not doing complex graphics) but I manually set sims to run on the better card. I have had to to add each EP and SP every time, which is no big deal, but adding Pets to the list has not helped the matter.

[pallyndrome]

I found my DEP place, but it is set on "Turn on DEP for essential windows programs and services only" and it doesn't have an exception list. Below that is a clickable option to "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select", which I assume would bring up the exception list. Should I turn that on?

I've never heard of a cooling pad for a laptop - where did you get yours Moons? It is quite hot - but I wouldn't say it's hotter than any other time I've played sims.

[Esther1981]

"Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select",

Yes that is the one.

[MoonsAreBlue]

@ pally

Yes, that is the one you need to select. Then you can add the .exe files to the list. Oops, Esther beat me to it.

I got mine at Best Buy. There are bunches of them. It's just a fan that you plug into your laptop via usb. And the bottom of mine is cushy and thick enough that my lap does not even feel the laptop's heat, which is a huge plus. But there is no difference in heat between Sims 3 with Pets and without Pets.

[Naga]

Moon, make sure you've added both the TS3EP05 and the TS3W executables to the list. I believe pets changed them both.

[MoonsAreBlue]

Moon, make sure you've added both the TS3EP05 and the TS3W executables to the list. I believe pets changed them both.

I made sure to add everything from every sims folder that didn't say launcher. And I even added the launcher from the base game folder and the Pets folder just to be safe, but it was still crashing. I just went through and deleted them all and added them again, just to be sure. I'm about to restart my laptop and see if it still crashes.

[pallyndrome]

My game has finally loaded without crashing. Could it have something to do with whether I am on firefox while I wait for the game to load? I am just going to play for a while and if it crashes again, I'll do the DEP thing. It's just, at the moment it says it's only doing the DEP for "essential windows programs and services only" so I don't want to change it if I don't have to.

[Figwit]

I believe you only have to add the base game executable which is the TS3W file though I guess it won't hurt to add more.

[Naga]

@Pally: Don't worry about making DEP exceptions only; many of us have had it like that for a long time, and nothing bad happened so far.

[MoonsAreBlue]

So I managed to play my game for a couple hours, but it still crashed even after adding the .exe files to the DEP exception list. It's really annoying, because I never know when it's going to crash. Sometimes it's a couple hours, sometimes it crashes after 30 minutes.