I apologize in advance for this post being so long...

I've recently patched to game version 1.34.27; I have the base game, High End Loft, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Town Life, Pets, Master Suite and Showtime all installed; I've been through all of the game FAQ's, followed all the steps, deleted all of my custom content, uninstalled and re-installed completely and left behind absolutely nothing to cause any remnants of lurking Sim's things in unnecessary places and still my game won't load.

It's not an issue with the game starting and crashing, nor is it that I get stuck on a loading screen. But the game won't start at all. It literally will seem as though it will be doing something, my computer will start making noises and acting as though it's about to start the game and then... nothing happens. I've tried starting it from the .exe files in the game directory (C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin) and I've tried starting the game from the launcher and still... nothing.

I have no idea what's going on here...
I've played the game for almost a year now on this same computer and I know people have said that having inbuilt graphics chipsets are never a good option and laptops can't run the game effectively but I've never had any problems up until now unless it was to do with custom content or something that I could easily resolve.

Here's my system specs;
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/5/2012, 23:36:04
Machine name: MATHEW-THINK
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120503-2030)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: LENOVO
System Model: 1143CTO
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2450M CPU @ 2.50GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 2986MB RAM
Page File: 1753MB used, 4214MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
DAC type: Internal
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_0126&SUBSYS_21E217AA&REV_09
Display Memory: 1300 MB
Dedicated Memory: 64 MB
Shared Memory: 1236 MB
Current Mode: 1360 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id: AUO23EC
Native Mode: 1366 x 768(p) (60.042Hz)
Output Type: Internal
Driver Name: igdumd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igd10umd64.dll,igdumdx32,igd10umd32,igd10umd32
Driver File Version: 8.15.0010.2476 (English)
Driver Version: 8.15.10.2476
DDI Version: 10.1
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 8/19/2011 15:20:10, 8311808 bytes

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: Internal Microphone (Conexant 20671 SmartAudio HD)
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: CHDRT64.sys
Driver Version: 8.32.0027.0000 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 3/24/2011 16:36:20, 1576064 bytes

------------------------
Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
Drive: C:
Free Space: 234.1 GB
Total Space: 459.4 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: ST9500325AS

Drive: Q:
Free Space: 6.6 GB
Total Space: 16.0 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: ST9500325AS


I apologise again for this post being so long but I just wanted to provide as much information as possible so that someone can hopefully help me out. Thanks guys

Start Task Manager, go to the Processes tab - does TS3W.exe show up? If so, what happens then?

Have you tried this with clean user files as per the Game Help:Sims 3 Game Problem^wiki FAQ?

Playing Sims 3 without a graphics card is indeed a very bad idea, and at some point it will probably break your laptop. It's unlikely, however - although not impossible - that that's the cause of this particular problem.

Nope, TS3W.exe isn't there. I was looking the other day. I even went through and was trying to see if it was a DEP problem and all of the necessary files are excluded.

Except I did try the clean user files the first time, but tried again just in case for some reason it didn't work the first time and it seemed to have fixed it! My game is running like new again and despite the aforementioned fact that the loading time may take longer it's a heck of a lot less glitchy and the gameplay and loads seem to be much faster and smooth compared to what they used to be.

Thank you for mentioning it, because in all honesty I was absolutely stumped. I'm still wondering what it was that could have done it, hah! Presumably a corrupt save file somewhere along the lines that just didn't move despite me cleaning out EVERYTHING when I uninstalled. Weird.
Thanks heaps!

Since you only have integrated graphics, you should take a look at: http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...nboard_Graphics
That has some tips on what you can do if you have integrated graphics to help prolong the life of your computer.

I'm having kinda the same problem:
I can start the laucher (but not install sims3packs (What?)) and then I press the play button. I open the task manager to keep an eye on what's going on. TS3W is on the list, then poof... It stops. The game doesn't start.
I just reinstalled, so what am I doing wrong?????

I suspect your system security is interfering.

A couple of generic suggestions for installing games:
-do not install into any "Program Files" folder; install to the drive root (C:\Sims3 or such, or, even better, to a different, internal, drive if you have one)
-right click on the launcher exe and/or game exe and select "run as administrator"

Running as administrator doesn't change a thing...

Should I try to install it on my external drive?

That would depend on the access time of the external drive, usually that is slower than the internal drive(s) so games continually transferring a lot of data (like sims3) would suffer.

But as long as the game is not in Program Files that will help if system security policies are the problem. (Installing to a different HD than the OS will give a performance boost since the task of reading game files will be handled by one drive while the OS and swap file are read by the other.)

FWIW, from Vista on Microsoft designed higher security in windows, and this is heightened even further for anything installed in Program Files. A known culprit is DEP (Data Execution Prevention); meant to prevent malware from modifying executables and dlls, it is so paranoid that it often prevents programs, especially games, from their normal operation. (In fact there are some Microsoft games which Microsoft will tell you not to install in Program Files because they are problematic there.) None of this may be your problem at all, but whenever any program which should run in windows doesn't even start this is the first thing I suspect.

One thing which may provide a clue is checking your windows error logs (search "error logs" and your version of windows to find how to access them). Don't be surprised at the number of log files in the list, 99.9% of them are redundant and meaningless (windows generates a file for every little nitpicky thing, such as a service being 5mS late responding to a request). When you know how to find them, try starting Sims again, when/if it is aborted go immediately to those logs, if the system is intentionally terminating the game there should be a new file giving specifics.

Now I got a new problem...
I open the launcher, tick the files I wanna install and wait. A black box appears, followed by a message saying "Sims 3 stopped working."
... What now?

So, I can't play Sims 3 with CC... package files nor Sims3packs.... WHAT?!

What version of Sims 3 do you have?

If below V1.67 I would recommend completely uninstalling Sims3, check the registry (if you are comfortable doing so) to remove any leftover entries for the game, reinstall just the base game you have and make sure it runs by itself, then download and install the V1.67 patch. If all works well now start adding EPs and/or CC, but only one or two items at a time, checking ingame after each addition (if you add a dozen items at once and something goes wrong you don't know which item to suspect)..

If you already have V1.67, a "...has stopped working" message is often an incompatible game setting (selecting a resolution not supported by your monitor or driver settings, etc.) or similar issue with the OS. Have you checked those error logs?

I updated it, still doesn't work... Fuck this, I'm going back to Skyrim