The game crashes
and dumps me out to my desktop. What can I do?
I get an error message: “Invalid page fault
in module unknown” or “Invalid page fault in module
Sims.exe.” What now?
What do I do if my computer locks up on the
loading screen or in the game?
End
any background tasks in order for the game to
run stably:
-Hold [Ctrl] and [Alt] and then
tap the [Delete] key. This should bring
up the "Close Programs" window.
-Highlight an unnecessary application and press
"End Task".
-Repeat this procedure to close any other programs
(excluding "Explorer" and "Systray")
Disable
any anti-virus and/or crash guard software you
have running.
Lower
the video hardware acceleration to “basic”:
- Right-click "My Computer" and select "Properties"
- Pick the "Performance" tab
- Choose "Graphics"
- Lower “hardware acceleration” to basic.
Try
selecting "game compatible device" or "use any
available device" from the multimedia control
panel.
Make
sure that your desktop is set to at least 800x600,
16-bit high color and that you are using
the latest driver for your sound and video cards.
If your drivers are out of date or lack DirectX
7 support, there is a workaround:
- You'll need to modify the shortcut to The
Sims. Browse to the Program Files\Maxis\The
Sims directory (or whatever directory you've
installed the game to), right click on Sims.EXE
and drag it to your desktop, and select "Create
Shortcut(s) Here".
- Once you have the shortcut on your desktop,
right-click on it and select Properties.
- In the ‘Target’ field it should say:
"C:\Program Files\Maxis\The Sims\Sims.exe" (or
the path to whichever folder it’s installed
to).
- Add the following to the end of the “Target”
line: “-nodx6 -skip_verify -skip_intro -w”
If
the game still crashes, you may be having sound
problems. As a last resort, add “ -nosound”
to the desktop shortcut as well.
To return to the list of help questions
click here.