Data Execution Prevention + Latest Patch
PA:
tizerist, have you tried the crash log analyzer at MTS? I've had it give me false positives (said it was custom content and then unknown when it was actually Sims 3 being grumpy I had set XP to boot with /3GB) but otherwise it has been accurate.
IgnorantBliss:
Quote from: Anach on 2011 June 10, 13:53:17
Quote from: IgnorantBliss on 2011 June 10, 11:21:05
I've definitely had DEP related crashes after installing each EP. It basically made the game unplayable, because as soon as I'd unpaused it it crashed. I don't remember fiddling with any DEP settings prior to that, including changing it from the default, but it's possible my ex-husband who built my computer had done it originally. The last time the crash happened after installing Generations (and the patches), my computer actually helpfully suggested adding the game to my DEP list (in a message in a pop-up window).
The reason you get a DEP crash after installing a new EP, is the game uses a different .exe to launch. So each EP/SP .exe needs to be added to the DEP whitelist. If DEP. If your DEP wasn't enabled, you wouldn't have a list to add it to in the first place. Easy to tell though. Just press Windows Key + Pause Break (Or right click my computer and click properties). Then under the advanced system properties (Advanced tab), you have a settings button, and within the settings window is your Data Execution Prevention tab. By default the top option (Turn on DEP for essential Windows Programs...) is selected. In this configuration you won't need to use the whitelist to add each .exe everytime you install an EP/SP.
Yeah, I was aware of the reason I needed to add a new .exe to the list after each EP. I was only surprised to hear that, by default, this shouldn't be necessary, since I don't remember changing the default settings originally. But if you're saying that's the case, then the only explanation I can think of is my ex-husband who built the computer and installed the Windows had changed that setting. I don't have access to my game computer at the moment, but as soon as I do, I'm going to change it back to the default setting.
PorcelainVal:
I have had CTD's due to low RAM before the Generations patch but I know that I get a little, yellow, triangle icon with an exclamation point when those happen. Until I added the recent .exe a few days ago, my computer was giving me notices (in the bottom right corner) about it being DEP related and I was crashing within 10 minutes of loading the game. Now that I fixed that issue, I'm back to having my RAM related CTD's, every few hours.
Speaking of RAM...does anyone here have experience with using ReadyBoost to alleviate some of the pressure Sims 3 puts on RAM?
tizerist:
^^ GameBooster is highly recommended. Strips your computer to the bone to free-up everything for the game.
I got something called Tune Up Utilities today, and it stopped quite a few unnecessary processes. About 6 or 7, which is always welcome.
And no, I haven't tried the crash analyzer. I'll check it out thanks.
Anach:
Quote from: tizerist on 2011 June 11, 21:47:36
^^ GameBooster is highly recommended. Strips your computer to the bone to free-up everything for the game.
I got something called Tune Up Utilities today, and it stopped quite a few unnecessary processes. About 6 or 7, which is always welcome.
And no, I haven't tried the crash analyzer. I'll check it out thanks.
I used to stuff around with tools like this back when I had a single core and was trying to get every ounce of free memory and cpu, and in the end I made myself a custom batch script to shutdown my own list of stuff. Since multi-core systems with oodles of RAM, its really became pointless.
Gamebooster is simply a tool for temporarily turning off background services that hog system resources. You wont see any FPS boost, the most you will reclaim is a small amount of memory (at the most a few hundred Mb on a fully loaded system). If you have a system with limited memory, then it's very unlikely it's going to make that much difference anyway due to the small amount of memory reclaimed, and if you have a system with lots of memory, then you wont need it. Before you "highly recommend" it. Check out some reviews and actual tests of this software from known forums, not the reviews on dodgy fake paid review sites. You can also test it yourself by looking at your available physical memory and CPU usage (in task manager) before and after using it and then tell people the real difference it made for you.
My opinion is this kind of software is mostly pointless placebo software, similar to those RAM management programs that claim to free up your system RAM, but at the end of the day do nothing (or make things worse). Back when I was working in a Tech room of a PC store, I had a client who would constantly install loads of different "Booster" software on his system (Usually full of spyware). He would always complain his system was running like crap, so I would clean out all the nasties, and dodgy software, then within a few weeks it was back. All this crap actually used up more RAM and CPU time than not having it in the first place, but he would insist it helped. You can find all sorts of stuff, from modem boosters, game boosters, ram booster, you name it. Along with each of these is a dozen so-called review sites with 10/10 stars or such. It's all crap.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page