While it’s annoying to experience some FPS drops and stuttering while playing SimCity 3000 Unlimited, it’s even more irritating when the game is not launching at all. Well, this is the case for some players of SimCity 3000 Unlimited. According to reports, many SimCity 3000 Unlimited players are not able to successfully launch the game as it crashes or freezes during the startup. But there’s nothing to worry about as we’re here to provide the fix to the SimCity 3000 Unlimited startup problems.
Why SimCity 3000 Unlimited Won’t Launch?
SimCity 3000 Unlimited won’t launch at all when you have a faulty game file. But that’s not the only reason why SimCity 3000 Unlimited is stuck at startup. Below, you’ll find some of the well-known reason why it’s not launching:
- Not Meeting the Minimum Requirements
- Insufficient User Permission
- Outdated Game Driver
- Corrupted System Files
- Lacking the Required Resources
- Outdated Game Files
How to Fix SimCity 3000 Unlimited Startup Issue
Let’s try the basic troubleshooting methods before jumping into the more technical process.
Check the System Requirements
As simple as it may sound, there are gamers who won’t be able to successfully launch SimCity 3000 Unlimited simply because their system is not capable of running the game. So, before grabbing a copy of SimCity 3000 Unlimited, go through the listed system specifications on the game’s store page. If you’re unsure if you can run the game, reaching the official support may help.
Run SimCity 3000 Unlimited as Administrator
Just like any other applications installed on your computer, running SimCity 3000 Unlimited as an administrator will remove any permission-related concerns. If SimCity 3000 Unlimited won’t launch at all, then this could be a permission-related issue. There’s nothing wrong in trying, so feel free to see if launching SimCity 3000 Unlimited as an administrator will fix your problem.
To locate the executable file of SimCity 3000 Unlimited, here’s the steps:
- Go to your Library on Steam.
- Right-click SimCity 3000 Unlimited and select Properties.
- Under the Installed Files tab, click the Browse button to open the game directory.
- From there, right-click on the .exe file of SimCity 3000 Unlimited then select Properties.
- Go to the Compatibility tab and click the checkbox next to the Run this program as an administrator option.
- Save the changes by clicking the Apply button on the lower screen.
- After saving, launch and test SimCity 3000 Unlimited.
Update Your GPU and System Drivers
Hardware drivers are usually overlooked, which results in becoming outdated. Having an outdated driver such as the GPU will surely affect the startup performance of SimCity 3000 Unlimited. Make sure that you have the latest GPU update, as well as download the latest version of DirectX and Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables.
You can manually do all these downloading and updating processes but it will take a lot of time, especially finding the compatible driver for your PC. If you don’t want to waste your time searching for compatible PC drivers, we recommend using 3rd party software like Driver Booster and Driver Easy to automatically update the needed drivers of your computer.
Pro Tip: We used Driver Booster to fix the startup issues on SimCity 3000 Unlimited. This is optional but highly recommended if you don’t want to face any driver-related compatibility issues.
- Download Driver Booster for FREE, then install it on your computer.
- Open Driver Booster and click the Scan Now button. This will scan any incompatible, corrupted, and outdated driver of your PC.
- Once done, click the Update All button to automatically update your drivers.
- Wait until Driver Booster finishes downloading and updating the required driver for your PC.
- Restart your PC once all the driver updates are complete.
Disable Unnecessary Programs
If you see your computer suddenly getting slow and laggy right after you start SimCity 3000 Unlimited, it probably means that your device is struggling to give the game the resources it needs. This indicates that your PC doesn’t have enough power to run SimCity 3000 Unlimited smoothly.
To fix this, we suggest closing any unnecessary programs that are running in the background, especially the ones you’re not using. Some of the programs that consume a lot of resources are web browsers like Firefox and Google Chrome. So, it’s a good idea to close them while you focus on playing SimCity 3000 Unlimited instead of browsing the web.
Get the Latest Patch for SimCity 3000 Unlimited
When a new update is released for SimCity 3000 Unlimited, it is highly recommended to get it as soon as possible as it may include game optimizations and bug fixes. Having the latest files will surely lessen the probability of getting those crashes when you launch SimCity 3000 Unlimited.
Final Thoughts
There are still lots of alternative fixes that you can try, but what’s on the list above are the proven fixes that solved our SimCity 3000 Unlimited startup and launching problem. In case you have a better suggestion, please don’t hesitate to let us know so we can update this guide to help other players.