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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 6th Jul 2013 at 1:56 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life
The Sims 3 keeps SWITCHING to desktop, then to the game, over and over?
So, it SWITCHES, it doesn't crash or freeze. It just keeps switching between desktop and the game itself. It does it non-stop.
I cannot play the game because of this. I don't have any problems with my game (my computer is top-notch for gaming experience) and this is the first time this ever happened! I don't know what to do, and when I search this issue on the Google, the only thing that comes up is "crashing to desktop/freezing and exits" etc. but for me, it doesn't. My games seems intact while it does, and Sims 3 runs smoothly.
Help guys! Thank you.
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#2 Old 6th Jul 2013 at 4:59 PM
That has usually been caused by a background task taking over the memory when it happened to me. You can use the Task Manager to try to see what else is running.
Running it through a Game Booster setup might solve the problem, too.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 7th Jul 2013 at 12:41 PM
No, Game Booster doesn't help. It starts switching as it uses to.
Eminence Grise
#4 Old 7th Jul 2013 at 8:22 PM
I think Ghost is right that it is not likely to be the Sims doing that; rather, something else running on your computer is taking focus away from it. Take a look at Task Manager and see what is running.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#5 Old 8th Jul 2013 at 2:27 PM Last edited by HakuXDeidara : 8th Jul 2013 at 2:38 PM.
Thanks for the replies! I have kept the Task Manager up while I ran Sims 3, so that I could see if something was pulling more memory than the game, but no luck. The highest memory drain is the Sims game with 1.4GB, followed by the explorer process at 30MB. While it keeps the Sims icon once it swithces to desktop and I can't really click on anything, I have noticed that I can move back to the desktop if I alt/tab to it, but if I go back to the game it is still not responding (until it decides to start working again, and pops back up on its own). I've tried playing in windowed mode, changed resolutions, reduced all settings to lowest, tried playing it in compatibility mode... I am running Windows 7, 64 bit, if that could help. I'll apreciate any help anybody can offer.

*Also, I've been playing other games to see if they have the same issue and it turns out only Sims 3 does it.*
Test Subject
#6 Old 17th Aug 2014 at 7:41 PM
Default sims keep crashing to desktop
Quote: Originally posted by HakuXDeidara
Thanks for the replies! I have kept the Task Manager up while I ran Sims 3, so that I could see if something was pulling more memory than the game, but no luck. The highest memory drain is the Sims game with 1.4GB, followed by the explorer process at 30MB. While it keeps the Sims icon once it swithces to desktop and I can't really click on anything, I have noticed that I can move back to the desktop if I alt/tab to it, but if I go back to the game it is still not responding (until it decides to start working again, and pops back up on its own). I've tried playing in windowed mode, changed resolutions, reduced all settings to lowest, tried playing it in compatibility mode... I am running Windows 7, 64 bit, if that could help. I'll apreciate any help anybody can offer.

*Also, I've been playing other games to see if they have the same issue and it turns out only Sims 3 does it.*




try this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IQHdc7NOpw
Test Subject
#7 Old 12th Nov 2014 at 2:08 AM
I'm having this EXACT same problem but with the Sims Medieval.
It wasn't happening before, but about two weeks after initial install, Sims Medieval switches to desktop on loading.
I click the play icon in the launcher, the game loads and switches to desktop at the same time. I try switching to it, tabbing, bringing it to front, and it switches randomly back again and again. It just keeps minimising. When I tab to it the sound turns on, and turns back off again the moment it minimises back out.
I'd much rather not have to run this game in compatibility for Win95, and the game used to run perfectly without switching.
Win7 SP1 Ultimate 64bit, and tons of memory..
Any ideas?
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#8 Old 12th Nov 2014 at 11:40 AM Last edited by Nysha : 12th Nov 2014 at 3:48 PM.
Are you both using AMD graphics cards? I was chatting to someone yesterday who had what I think was a recently-updated bit of AMD bloatware constantly alt-tabbing her out of TS3; you can probably stop that in the settings, if that is the cause. I'll double-check with her what the name of the program is when she comes online.

ETA: It asn't an AMD thing after all, it was Arcsoft i-magic, which is webcam software. Do either of you have that?

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Field Researcher
#9 Old 15th Nov 2014 at 9:31 PM
I actually started battling this issue myself in September. I found out it had to do with the stupid software client that comes with my internet service. It kept sending me alerts about this, that or the other thing. Once I disabled it, the minimizing stopped.
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