Dark Screen Fixes

Does your game go Dark when in fullscreen? Whether its after minimising or after performing an action or even just after a period of time; there's a fix for it. Some people may find the fix may not work. But be sure to follow each solution.

My specific solution: Go into Task Manager, then the tab Processes, and check if you have a process called "igfxpers.exe", which will probaly have the desciption "persistence module". If you do, and it is listed under YOUR USERNAME on the computer, close it. DO NOT close it if it is listed under something else, for instance SYSTEM, Network Service or Local service - that could possibly harm your computer. Closing this process and then starting the game fixed the issue for me.

I have an Acer laptop with an Intel processor with integrated graphics, so if you have something similiar, this solution might apply to you. I believe that the most important part is that your graphics/processor are from Intel, since the process is listed as originating from Intel Corporation.

Less specific solution: Close all processes which run under your username except taskmgr.exe (which you will obviously be using for closing the processes, so closing it wouldn't be a very smart move) and explorer.exe. Sorry if I'm being overly clear, but I repeat: DO NOT CLOSE any processes running under anything except YOUR USERNAME. This means that you do not close anything running under SYSTEM, LOCAL SERVICE or NETWORK SERVICE. This is perfectly safe, although you should save all files/documents you have open and close all programs except the Task Manager, since closing all processes means closing all open programs. This solution also worked for me, but I managed to narrow down the process which was causing the issue by simply closing processes one by one and after each one check if the issue had been solved.

Another advice, was to empty the temporary folder on my computer. This will, if you have Windows 7, be located at "C:\Users\[YourUsername]\AppData\Local\Temp". Delete all files in this folder - if you get an error message for one or a few files, just skip deleting them.

To me, the problem seems to be rooted in some kind of incompatibility/conflict between The Sims 3 and the graphics card or driver. I am by no means a computer expert, so that is just a conclusion I have personally made. Although, I hope it may help you if none of the above suggested solutions helped in fixing the issue. You might also want to contact the EA Help Center yourself. Or ask the legendary Computer Master; dubbed Admin! Good luck!






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My game crashes frequently after I delete igfxpers.exe :/

In game go to options > screen & something > then something ( I think the amount of frames) says default or 60 > change it to the other option > when the window appears just cancel it and your screen should go back to normal

Haven't played my sims in a while so can't remember the titles sorry x_x

I'm gonna give this a bump.

For windows 8.1 users. 

I tried for a long time to fix my dark screen problem. It would start immediately upon the loading screen and carry on no matter what I did, none of the tips in this thread worked.

The only thing I did to make it work was to un-check compatibility mode for TS3.exe located in base game folder. I had originally checked it for windows 7 compatibility and that ran the game fine, but with darkened screen.

Running the TS3.exe itself without compatibility mode fixed it. So that's how I run the game. I only use the sims3launcher for installing mods/etc. Hope this helps.

Oxi wrote:I'm gonna give this a bump.

For windows 8.1 users. 

I tried for a long time to fix my dark screen problem. It would start immediately upon the loading screen and carry on no matter what I did, none of the tips in this thread worked.

The only thing I did to make it work was to un-check compatibility mode for TS3.exe located in base game folder. I had originally checked it for windows 7 compatibility and that ran the game fine, but with darkened screen.

Running the TS3.exe itself without compatibility mode fixed it. So that's how I run the game. I only use the sims3launcher for installing mods/etc. Hope this helps.

Hi there,

Thank you for sharing that possible fix!