Crash to Desktop? Look here first.

[tjh876 31]

If you have recently come over a big issue that has your game crashing to desktop (CTD), then it can be a bunch of different reasons why. CTD can be caused by a number of different things. Like if you have recently installed a pluggin, and you went to go play SC4 and it crashed, or that it suddenly just starts randomly crashing. These things can be determined by your operating system (Windows XP, Vista, Mac OSX, etc). Also it depends on if you have just SC4 (Vanilla), Rush hour, or deluxe Here are some things to consider that might cause this issue for you.

1) Did you recently install something into Sim City 4? If you did, try removing it, and see if that helps.

2) Did you upgrade your OS recently? Maybe you need to see if it is possible to run in compatibility mode or as an administrator.

3) Did you recently install SC4? Maybe you do not have all the patches installed, and installing them can help greatly.

4) Is your copy of SC4 legal? If not, help is very limited, as well as that could be your issue. Please consider obtaining a real copy legally.

5) Did you recently change a setting on your computer? Maybe it has impacted the stabability of SC4. Try undoing that setting and see if it helps.

6) Did you mess around with critical SC4 files? If so, then you might have to reinstall the game due to the fact that critical files might be corupted or messed up.

7) Do you maintain your computer often, or do you just not care what goes on and off it? This can be due to possible virus, trojan, etc., or a drive in need of cleaning.

For increased stabability when running Sim City 4 on Vista or WIndows 7 (often refered to as 7), keep in mind that this directory can be different from yours. C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c START "high priority sc4" /high "C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -w -introff

By doing this, you skip the intro, and increase the priority. This makes multicore computers more stable with the game. You can put this in your target box or by running it directly in Command Prompt.

9) Disk Error checking can also help SC4 by doing this on the drive that it is stored on, which is usually the C: drive.

10) Try using this auto save. You can adjust the save frequency, and also, its automatic. You can find it here

11) Try also using the Save Alarm. You can find it here (requires LEX account)

12) Conflicting plugins, one of the most common cause. If you have multiple mods for the same thing, like terrain mods, cars, etc. Read readmes when installing, and no, I am not joking. Please, if you want something to install right, and no issues, 1 minute of reading doesn't hurt. (Thanks Josh)

Hopefully you can find some help in this thread regarding you CTD issues.

[joshriddle 29]

It could also be poor disk maintenance. Try defraging your hard drives (or at least the one with SC4) every few days and remove TEMP files by running disk cleanup.

Anyway, you make some good points there. This is a very useful thread.

[tjh876 31]

If anyone has anything else they would like to add, just feel free to post here, as that the more possibilities are here, the more useful this thread becomes.

[Sniper296 83]

Don't remember where I found this one but changing your SC4 shortcut to:

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /c START "high priority sc4" /high "C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -w -intro:off

can make it more stable on either Vista/7 or a multi core CPU (one or the other, can't remember).

Keep in mind your SC4 path might be different.

Updated: Removed smiley from path

[joshriddle 29]

Also running Chkdsk on your drive that holds SC helps too.

Can you apply this technique to a W7 with a 1665 Mhz AMD Athlon XP?

[Sniper296 83]

I think so, there are no negitive effects from this cmd method, it seems to make it more stable on my system. (waits for ctd tomorrow).

[joshriddle 29]

Is that the target path in your shortcut or from a Command Line? Cause I have no idea how to work the Command Prompt.

[Sniper296 83]

It goes in the shortcut, but it could be run from cmd, the shortcut opens cmd then tells it to run SC4 in high priority, never do realtime as it makes it less stable.

[joshriddle 29]

Long path. I will try it and see. Cause recently I have had a lot of trouble with CTD. Also my computer crashed twice today. That may also be it.

[tjh876 31]

Thanks, and just I'd request that you make longer posts instead of shorter, more frequent posts, just so it can keep the thread easy to access. And also, thanks for some more info, its been added as it comes. If you have some things to add again, just post, it could save someone some time in the future.

[joshriddle 29]

New discovery.

If you have recently downloaded some stuff off of the STEX, or any other exchange, and you are getting CTD, remove it. If you are unsure of which one it is, then it is most likely a newer one. To solve that problem and other miseries stemming from faulty plugins, keep them organized, for quick and easy access. You need to keep track of them as well, one thing that costed me half a day one time when I didn't, trying to remove something that was causing the game to screw up.

What you have to do is search out each plugin you have. Meaning you remove all but one plugin, enter the game, test it ON A BLANK AND EMPTY TILE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, and exit the game, WITHOUT SAVING, and put another one in, enter the game, test it. If you have a lot of them then it may be hard work, but your download of that plugin was your own risk to take.

So a rundown of what I have discovered so far.

• Run Disk Defragmenter ever other day at least. This can be found by going to My Computer, your drive, clicking the tools tab, clicking defragment now
• Run disk cleanup every day by following the same path, and clicking the appropriate button. (clean now)
• Chkdsk does a good job as well. Run it every other week or so. Follow the same path stated and click the appropriate button (check now)
• Check event viewer in the SYSTEM logs for major errors. The most severe errors would be the ones that have "disk", "ntfs", or "system error" next to them. If you come across a log that states a bad sector, commonly referred to as block errors, run Chkdsk, check attempt recovery of bad sectors, click Start. Or run a bootdisk device such as SpinRite to fix it. If there is one that says the file system is corrupt and unusable, reboot it. It will run Chkdsk automatically to fix it. Takes no more than about 30 seconds.
• Keep the game on the C Drive
• Make sure the game is legal
• Reverse any settings that may have impacted the games performace
• Make backups often when running stuff such as the iLives reader. DO NOT DELETE SC4 CRITICAL FILES OR MESS WITH THEM OUTSIDE OF EVENT VIEWER! If you open one in something such as Notepad, you will find that there is a bunch of computer coding. One single screwup can damage the system. Also pay attention to this. They are mostly .dats. Don't try messing with them. Wonder why you get this:
• Take note of the last sentence stated in the picture.

[theclashrules 0]

I use Daeley's Save Alarm. One of your advisors pops up every 20 minutes and reminds you to save. That ways the impact of CTDs can be minimized. It can be found on the LEX. 

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: theclashrules

I use Daeley's Save Alarm. One of your advisors pops up every 20 minutes and reminds you to save. That ways the impact of CTDs can be minimized. It can be found on the LEX. quote>

Good boy!

Which brings me to this. If I have gotten this whole RAM and Virtual Memory thing right, it keeps the part of the city that you haven't saved in memory until it is saved. How else would it do it? Saving often could minimize the chance of CTD, and like theclashrules said, if your game does crash, won't be so much impact and frustration.

Another thing too. Don't get carried away with plugins. You only get what you think you need. I have set myself a limit of 2 GB. Why, I am allready using up 1.6 of my limit. However datpacker helps that go down.

Get rid of the compressed (zipped) folders if they are in your plugins folder, and that is where you saved them too when you downloaded it.

So a review of todays lesson in minimizing CTD

• Save often
• Set yourself a limit to your amount of plugins
• Datpack if possible

[tjh876 31]

I use the save alarm myself now too. Really helps you stay on top of saving. Unfortunately, no autosaves exist that I know of, and if one ever does arrive, it will be big. I do recommend getting the alarm even if you don't have many ctds, it will still be very helpful, and can save your hard work from destruction.

[nerdthisname 1]

Well, the thing I always do that improves it from 30 mins to heck... I've left it for a day running and it didn't crash is to (ONLY FOR VISTA WITH DUAL CORES!!!):

-Start SC4

-When the region loads DO NOTHING

-Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc

-Task manager should appear

-Go to process

-Find Simcity4.exe

-Right-click and select "Affinity"

-Untick CPU 0

-Close Task Manager and go back to SC4.

[nerdthisname 1]

Originally posted by: Tommy7777

I use the save alarm myself now too. Really helps you stay on top of saving. Unfortunately, no autosaves exist that I know of, and if one ever does arrive, it will be big. I do recommend getting the alarm even if you don't have many ctds, it will still be very helpful, and can save your hard work from destruction.quote>

Sorry for double post

THERE IS AN AUTOSAVE!!

The link to it was in the SC4 general discussion in a thread that one had a problem having CTDs (it shouldn't be more than page 5) and someone posted a link to a page that was called "SC4 Tools" (Don't exactly remember) which has a slogan "for the serious player" (remember exactly). That page had an autosave.

[nycsc4 5,250]

Very nice suggestions. This thread helped me solve many problems. I would make one suggestion to a mod though, maybe try pinning this at the top of the topic room to elimate the new topics about CTD that seem to pop up every few days.

[joshriddle 29]

OK. With me today CTD has reached an unbearable point. 3 times today it crashed. I think something happened in the system outside of SC4, and it "must-have" caused a hiccup in the page filing or something, therefore causing an ACCESS VIOLATION. (ctd)

Whoever didn't think to debug the game before releasing it on the market should be violated.

[tjh876 31]

If anyone has a link to the Auto Save, then please post it here. I can then add it.

[kpaski 0]

Always when I play SC4 I close my antivirus and every other program I may have running. I then start a program called game booster (http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html). It shuts down unnecessary processes that Windows is running all the time and saves me from shutting things down one by one in the Task Manager.

Gamebooster has pretty good default options, but one can also edit these according to ones preferences. I believe that using Gamebooster decreases the risk of CTD.

Otherwise I fully agree with the other above written instrictions.

[Yuu Caa Sim 55]

Thanks to nerdthisname, I decided to search the site a bit, and found this page which has some programs and code for autosaving your cities. But I haven't tried any of them out. I kind of prefer having the Save Alarm so I can save when I want and not when I'm in the middle of a large construction project that's just messed up

[joshriddle 29]

Plugin Conflict

Sorry if this has been stated before but one thing that you may want to take into consideration is the fact that 2 or more plugins are conflicting. This is common if you put 2 terrain mods in your plugins folder and try to launch the game.

Fact of the matter is, if there is conflict, the game will crash. Period. That is why it is important to read the readmes and remove stuff that it says to get rid of, and collect necessary dependencies. While most of the time to result of a missing dependency is a brown box, sometimes, especially with most terrain mods, results in crash.

^^Tommy7777 should add this to the list at the top.^^

(BTW, I think that this list (or at least the majority of it) should be stickied?)

[tjh876 31]

There is something like that already up there Josh, and I understand what you are saying. You are right, as that can be the issue.

Also, if anyone makes a new thread using the information posted in this topic, I'd recommend PM me and give me a link to the place it will be posted. This thread has taken a lot work, and I don't want someone to just be ctrl+ving it all over the place. I want to make sure the people who have something in here are acknowledged. Thanks.

[croelca 0]

I'm so happy that I found an active SC4 community. Ok, so here is my issue. I just unearthed my old copy of SC4, so ive got it installed on my Vista Laptop (for those long and boring school breaks...LOL)

I'm not really getting CTD much, and I have never experimented with Modding or Plugins, so thats ruled out as my issue. The issue I'm having is that my game won't load up consistantly at all, I typically will need to reboot my machine 2-3 times before I can even get the game to load. When I click my shortcut I see the splash screen with the suspended bridge, then my CD drive kicks in...then it just quits and the game doesn't ever load. Just tried changing my shortcut to the suggestion from this thread, and I got the same results (with the added split second of command line window..so i changed the shortcut right)

Any tips/tricks....links to other areas of this forum? THanks!!

[joshriddle 29]

Your CD drive might be damaged, or it could be that your disc isn't clean. Try that.

[CaptCity 4,793]

For those asking about making this a "sticky"...

Since this forum already has a "Read This First..." thread, I have added a line and link to this thread there. Perhaps when this is in some finalized form, other options could be considered. Thanks.

[tjh876 31]

I understand CaptCity. That makes complete sense. It is a bit unorganized right now, and doing that helps out. Thanks a lot.

croelca, I'd recommend getting another computer, get a flash drive, copy the bases of SC4 (Program Files, My Docs) and then run it. If taht works, then its your drive, if it doesn't then I would ask a few questions.

1) How long has this been happening

2)What is your OS

3)Have you heard this noise before.

If I have more, I'll add them.

[milanxyz 2]

hi!

ive tried all what ypu its been said here and nothing has helped the game still crashes to desktop!

i ve re installed the game and deleted also the pluigin from the map!

what could be the problem??

please help

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: milanxyz

hi!

ive tried all what ypu its been said here and nothing has helped the game still crashes to desktop!

i ve re installed the game and deleted also the pluigin from the map!

what could be the problem??

please helpquote>

That is exactly the situation 2 days before my computer crashed and went out. It may be singing to you. What are the specs on it anyway?

[milanxyz 2]

its a Dell Intel 1 860 notebook

what happened to you?