Sims 3 crashing [Solved/Closed]

I found the solution!!!!! I tried almost everything there was out there from updating my drivers, getting rid of all my downloaded content, unintstalling the game and re installing it... but then I found this out. All you have to do is disable Data Excecution Prevention (DEP) for The Sims 3.

FOR WINDOWS:
Go To Start - Settings - Control panel and select System. Click on the Advanced tab and in the preformance section click Settings. Click the tab for Data execution prevention and click the option to [Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select] go to browse then find where your game was installed and add TS3.EXE to the list. (The program may just be called TS3) Make sure it is an EXE extention (right click, go to properties and it will tell you) Try to add all versions that you have ( TS3, WA, HELS and Ambitions).
MAKE SURE YOU APPLY THE CHANGES AND REBOOT YOUR SYSTEM.

TADA :D

Sorry, not too sure how to do it for Mac :(

Some people have reported crashing with Sims 3: Ambitions. It seems the expansion has an issue with the DEP (Data Execution Prevention) on your computer. Here's how to fix it. This will work for Windows XP (which I have) and hopefully others. If you don't have crashing, then don't bother with this.

Feel free to copy this and repost it on Sims forums or on other sites. I don't deserve the credit for this information; I'm just passing along some info I saw on another site.

1. Go to Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance Settings.

2. Go to the Data Execution Prevention tab. Click on "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select" and press "Add." You will now add your Sims game, expansions and Stuff Packs to the DEP exception list. Copy-and-paste these "C:" locations in the spot where it says "File Name."

Sims 3 base game:
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe

World Adventures:
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 World Adventures\Game\Bin\TS3EP01.exe

High-End Loft Stuff:
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 High-End Loft Stuff\Game\Bin\TS3SP01.exe

Ambitions:
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Ambitions\Game\Bin\TS3EP02.exe

Click OK. You'll have to restart the computer for this to take effect. It should stop the crashing.



Any other issue's.
email me at: joshkingsland@hotmail.com

I have had the Sims 3 for 1 day, I can play in build mode with no problem as soon as it goes to play mode it crashes. It isnt my computer, it is a bran new gamer computer.
It is EA...they need programmers that have knowledge to program.
Alot of people are having major problems with sims 3.
I will go back to 2, it doesnt crash.

I had it crash to desktop straight after loading (about 20 seconds of actual ingame before the crash) and having had a similar problem on Fallout 3 that a modder on a forum had fixed, I decided to give it a go with this. It worked for me, maybe it will for you:

Download and install (I am not a bot or an evil virus-spreader, honest folks!):
http://www.ntcore.com/files/ExplorerSuite.exe

Go to "C:\Program files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Ambitions\Game\Bin"

And find a program called "TS3EP02"

**Copy this file somewhere where you can find it again, we need to make a backup (for when EA releases an official patch)**

Right click the original file > "open with CFF explorer"

You now have a window open "CFF explorer - [TS3EEP02]

On the left, under "NT Headers", there should be a tab called "File Header" Click it.

Then click on the area, towards the right of the window, labelled "Click Here"

A "Chacteristics" box will open. Check the option "App can handle >2gb Address space"

Click ok

**MAKE SURE YOU HAVE DONE THE BACKUP AS I SAID EARLIER**

Close CFF explorer

save changes to original file.

Hopefully it will work for you too. :)

When EA releases a patch that fixes this, or if this didn't work for you, simply find the original copy you made (because you did do that didn't you?) and overwrite the modified file with the original copy. This will allow the patch to install (because it won't on a modified .exe) and will revert the changes we made above

Not one bit of useful information here...
"Not up to specs...", "correct power supply...", "integrated video card..." ??? What a load of xxx
Sims 3 crashes on many different systems, from low to high end. Only thing you can try is to update your graphics card drivers until Electronic Arts releases a patch that fixes the problem. It seems to crash on Vista more often than XP, and with NVidia graphics cards more often than others. I had the problem with XP and an older ATI Radeon graphics card UNTIL the first patch, from then on it was okay. My friend has the problem now, AFTER the patch 1.6, and also after installing the expansion, with Vista and a new NVidia graphics card. So I guess there must be something wrong with the game, not with the systems on which it is running. Hope EA will (and wants to) fix it.

My system is definitely up to spec - in fact, exceeds specs for the game. It also has the newest drivers. Still, after I've played the Sims for about an hour, the screen will go black and I have to reboot. This happens if I'm playing or building. The computer is not getting too hot. I have a supported video card. I agree that this sounds like an issue with the game.

Sims 3 was a nightmare for me. I have a high end gaming rig that runs Crysis and Section 8 without a hitch but when I installed Sims 3 and updated it per the updater message, I would get as far as the launcher. Hit the "play" button, and get a black screen for 1-5 seconds before I would be returned to the desktop.

Uninstalled the game, reinstalled, patched..same problem. Tried to shut everything down in the background ( anti virus, etc etc ) - no change.

Uninstalled the game again. Updated my video driver.

Installed the game again, this time I SKIPPED the updater when it asked me I wanted to download the latest whatever - and finally it works.

Now, I'm not sure if it was because I didn't update it as prompted, or because I updated the video card, but I'm afraid to update it now that I started playing it.

There's nothing you can really do. You just need to wait until EA releases a fix for the game. Currently they have some bad code that causes the game to crash in fullscreen mode. I have had some success playing the game in windowed mode, but it will quit as soon as I shift the focus away from the game, even for just a second.

Wow.. I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one with the same problem.
After installing the latest patches it crashes even more frequent.
It's not my pc, but it's the game.
I think that goes for most of you.
Let's hope EA comes with a solution soon. I mailed the help desk.. so keeping my fingers crossed

Has Sims 3 running perfectly for some time but now has started crashing before you can get to play it. Tried uninstall and reinstall, makes no difference. Something has changed but can't figure what it is.

Same problem here.. And I've menage to play it normal yesterday (base game, CAS, build mode and play mode), today I was installing some coustum content and it crashes now when choosing type of game to play (so - before actual game play).. :((

Guys, just save the game every 10 minutes in order to not lose the data. At least it worked for me :) Give it a try!