Display driver

I can't play more than a few minutes before the game crashes to the desktop and erratically switches back to the game and any window I currently have open. I get a message in the corner near the clock that says "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered". I have to Ctrl+Alt+Del to quit the game, and in extreme cases I have to turn off my laptop by holding down the power button. I've tried all the "Crashes to desktop fixes" that are listed, but nothing seems to help. What's causing this and how can I fix it?

Hello,

Ah, sounds familiar. Probably a reinstallation of the driver should do.
Is your system 32-bit or 64-bit?

Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator HD
64 bit system

But I should add I've never had this problem before with the Sims games.

Alrighty. Thank you.

Hello,

That looks like a laptop, is that true?
If yes, could you please provide your laptop's brand and model?

It is. It's an Acer Aspire 5741Z.

Windows 7 OS Home Premium if that helps.

Hello,

The driver dates back to 2010, but here it is anyway: http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/Driver/VGA/VGA_Intel_8.15.10.2025_W7x86W7x64_A.zip?acerid=634037020476212866&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE%205741Z&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_7
If possible, choose "Custom" and "Clean installation" during the installation. Don't forget to restart your PC after installation!

Hello again. Sorry it took so long to get back to you.

When I go to do the reinstall, it says that the computer currently contains driver versions newer than the versions you are about to install. It asks if I want to overwrite the drivers with the older versions. I say yes to install them, but would that cause problems with anything?

Hello,

Problems? Probably not, although it's weird, because I got the driver from the official website.
I think it's the CPU integrated graphic card your laptop is using. Or one of those motherboard-integrated graphic cards. Those are not very powerful at all.

It seems to have worked. *fingers crossed* Thank you very much. If I run into another problem, I'll let you know.

You guys are very helpful and I appreciate it.

Hello,

Oh, that's great!
Please play for a while and do let us know the final result.

Good luck and happy simming!