Black loading screen/town load crash bug

[phantomneko]

Reinstalled after a computer crash, come back to find the black loading bug. I'm pretty sure I deal with this every time I reinstall since WA but I never remember how it gets fixed. Clean Documents/Electronic Arts folder. Tried patching and repatching and reinstalling.

Processor Name: AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1100T Processor
Processor Architecture: AMD64
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 (1.25 GiB)

Games Installed: The Sims™ 3 (1.33.2.015001), The Sims™ 3 World Adventures (2.17.2.011031), The Sims™ 3 High-End Loft Stuff (3.13.1.011031), The Sims™ 3 Ambitions (4.10.1.011031), The Sims™ 3 Fast Lane Stuff (5.8.1.011031), The Sims™ 3 Late Night (6.5.1.011031), The Sims™ 3 Outdoor Living Stuff (7.3.2.011031), The Sims™ 3 Generations (8.0.152.011001), The Sims™ 3 Town Life Stuff (9.0.73.012001), The Sims™ 3 Pets (10.0.96.013001), The Sims™ 3 Master Suite Stuff (11.0.84.014001), The Sims™ 3 Showtime (12.0.273.015001)
Custom Content: Yes (1 found)

[UNKNOWN] 5/4/2012 12:44:41 PM
OS Version: 6.1.7601
TS3 Path: E:\Games\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.1.0.34
Installed RAM: 8.00 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 2.99 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: BREAKPOINT
Crash Address: 0x0058a646 "E:\Games\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00189646

[ellacharmed]

General - Post System Specs
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Black screen crash is a symptom of outdated or borked drivers. Post Specs, please.

Have you also worked through the Crashing Checklist? See link in my signature.

This statement "Reinstalled after a computer crash ..."
"...computer crash..." - is when playing Sims 3 and it crashed to desktop or shut down with a BSOD? Or when doing something else?
"Reinstalled..." - the game (base game only or full enchilada) or the operating system?

[Whiterudder]

Remember to also check Program Files for leftover old mods. These won't have been deleted (if they were there) when you reinstalled, and outdated core mods can cause the black screen.

[Belzader]

You do know that not all install game in default location?
So saying that people should check in program files might lead them do check for someting that never was there.
Sure i know that if changed installation location they might make the reference them self to check where game are actually installed but game maybe was installed by some one else.

[Ghost sdoj]

The instructions for the old way of actually putting mods in directed people to the Program Files folder. If you have one person who is somewhat computer-illiterate and was downloading anyway, you probably do need to look in Program Files even if you didn't use the default installation. That is where the instructions told them to put it. Of course it never appeared in the game, but that doesn't mean it isn't in the folder.

(And in this case, the OP mentioned re-installing, which suggests a level of proficiency which should have them figuring out on their own where to look.)

[Whiterudder]

Very true, Belzader. However, those who install their games in non-default locations are generally sufficiently aware of how computers work, that they know to read "Program Files" as "wherever you installed your games". On the other hand, those who have no idea how application installation works, upon reading "wherever you installed your games", will generally reply "so where is that?" - and have to be pointed towards the Program Files directories. Thus, just saying "Program Files" straight off the bat ensures that almost everyone will understand first time round, even if it's not precisely accurate in all cases. :)