Game freezes and stops responding at start up

[soft-n-fluffy]

I have had this problem for a long time, despite the fact that my computer's specs are well above the minimum requirements. Every single time I open the Sims 3 it freezes just as the EA logo appears and the program stops responding. I am patched to 1.55 and have all of the expansion pack besides Island Adventures. I also have High-End Loft Stuff and Outdoor Living Stuff. I do NOT have any custom content, mods, or pirated games.

Here are the things I have tried, none of which have worked:

Running TS3 as administrator

Running TS3 in Windows XP (service pack 2) compatibility mode

Updating my video card

Making sure I had DirectX and an updated sound card

Starting TS3 in windowed mode (by changing the full screen setting in options.ini to "fullscreen = 0")

Removing my Sims 3 folder from My Documents/Electronic Arts

Reinstalling base game, expansion packs, and stuff packs (this one made my game work for a while but then it randomly started freezing again about a week after reinstall)

Adding all the application in the bin folders to the DEP exception list



Here is my DxDiag info: http://pastebin.com/1ys2vtTC


Hopefully given all this information, somebody will be able to help me. Thanks in advance. I'm really not sure what else I can try that I haven't already so I'm at a loss.

[Firefly]

You might want to try checking out your hard drive. I had a problem getting the game to load and then it would freezes on and off through out game play.  I reinstalled windows and reinstalled the game but the problem continued. It eventually made the game totally unplayable like what you are experiencing.

I used Crystal Info which provides information about your hard drive. The program said my drive was good. I followed up by using Crystal Mark which benchmarks your hard drive. Turns out the reading speed of my drive was the problem. New drive and my game plays fine again.

[SJActress]

You might also want to try IObit Game Booster. It turns off all non-essential crap while you're playing a game. It could be that something is running in the background interfering. I've never used it for the Sims, but I had a lot of crashing issue with GTA IV, and this solved it.

[wizard_merlin]

Have you verified that EVERY EP/SP is patched properly, not just the base game?

I do NOT have any custom content, mods, or pirated games.

I also find this claim to be borderline given that people seem to think saying this makes everything perfect.  If you really have no mods/CC as you claim, what are you doing here looking for help instead of EAxis?  The people who have reported similar problems ended up with either old/out of date mods in their folders or an improperly patched game.

I have had this problem for a long time

What do you classify as a "LONG" time?  Seems like if you haven't been able to load and play for so long, why have you bothered patching and adding EPs/SPs that you can't play?

[soft-n-fluffy]

@Firefly
Hmm, both of these things say that my hard drive is in good health

@SJActress
Thanks, that's a nifty program.  It didn't seem to fix my Sims problems, but I'm definitely going to keep it for other stuff.

@wizard_merlin
I patch from the launcher so I think everything is all patched up.  And I'm posting here because the official Sims 3 forums kind of suck.  I did have some mods and pirated stuff before, including awesomemod, but I deleted them when I reinstalled so I could see if I could run TS3 if it was completely vanilla.  As for how long I've had this problem, it's been at least two years.  One thing I probably should have mentioned; I CAN play my game if I leave it frozen like that for about 3 hours.  Then it just pops back to normal and plays well, without freezing.

[Skadi]

@Firefly
Hmm, both of these things say that my hard drive is in good health

@SJActress
Thanks, that's a nifty program.  It didn't seem to fix my Sims problems, but I'm definitely going to keep it for other stuff.

@wizard_merlin
I patch from the launcher so I think everything is all patched up.  And I'm posting here because the official Sims 3 forums kind of suck.  I did have some mods and pirated stuff before, including awesomemod, but I deleted them when I reinstalled so I could see if I could run TS3 if it was completely vanilla.  As for how long I've had this problem, it's been at least two years.  One thing I probably should have mentioned; I CAN play my game if I leave it frozen like that for about 3 hours.  Then it just pops back to normal and plays well, without freezing.

Completely vanilla, no CC hairs? This happened to me with bad downloads, I had to use process monitor to sort out which ones were loading over and over again.

[Andygal]

You should patch using the Superpatch, the launcher is suck.

[wizard_merlin]

I patch from the launcher so I think everything is all patched up. 

Funny thing is, that is no guarantee that the earlier EPs/SPs updated properly.  Use the updater from MTS to verify every patch.