If your PC is black screening, read this 🗞️

Quick heads up: This post is older, but parts of it may still be useful if you’re dealing with black screen issues. Driver behavior changes over time, so take what applies and double-check anything driver-related against current updates.

Hey Babe, 🤍

If you’ve been having black screen issues while playing sims 4 — especially in build mode, live mode, literally just loading into your game (or just using your pc in general) — you’re not alone. I was having the same problem for weeks, and after way too much troubleshooting, I found the culprit: a recent Nvidia driver update.

This post is for Nvidia users only.
If you have an AMD graphics card, this doesn’t apply to you. you're safe (for now). Also, I don't know if this issue is affecting laptop users- if so, check this out.

This also mainly affects folks who’ve updated their drivers anytime between January and April 2025 — basically, since the launch of the 50-series cards.
if you’ve updated recently and you’re seeing:

• black screens mid-game (not just the sims)

• or your monitor randomly going dark while your pc stays on

This might be the fix you've been looking for.

How to fix it:

you’ll want to roll back your Nvidia driver to version 566.36 — that’s been the most stable for people experiencing issues. There are more fixes check out this reddit thread [Click Me]

But here’s the thing: don’t just uninstall your drivers like we’re living in chaos. you need to do it right, and that means using DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) in safe mode.

also:
Don’t use NVIDIA Experience. don’t let it “auto-install” anything. just no.
we’re doing this the clean, manual, “I know what I’m doing” way.

Quick check before you dive into driver drama:
If you want to be extra sure your black screens are driver-related, try checking reliability monitor and event viewer first — they’ll show you if your system’s been quietly struggling in the background.

how to check reliability monitor:

• press windows key and search “reliability monitor”

• click “view reliability history”

• if you see red X’s around the time of your crashes, click on them — they usually say stuff like “hardware error”, “windows stopped working”, or point directly to your driver

how to use event viewer:

• press windows key + X and select “event viewer”

• go to Windows Logs > System

• look for yellow warning ⚠️ or red error ❌ icons

• anything mentioning Display, nvlddmkm, or driver crash is a good clue

If you’re seeing those around the time of your crashes — yep, that driver’s the problem. let’s fix it.

how to use DDU (don’t panic, it’s not scary):

before you start:

• download DDU (Unzip and add it to a EMPTY folder on your desktop)

• download driver 566.36 (for most cards — see below ⏬for how to check which driver version you're currently using & how to find it)

• once they’re downloaded, turn off your Wi-Fi
  this keeps windows or Nvidia from sneak-installing something mid-cleanup.

then:

• extract the DDU zip folder into a folder on your desktop

• boot into safe mode:

  • go to your Start menu > search “System Configuration”

  • under the “Boot” tab, check “Safe Boot”

  • restart

  • your screen will look old school — it’s fine

• once in safe mode, open DDU

• under device type, select GPU, then choose NVIDIA

• click “clean and restart”

your pc will restart fresh with no driver installed.

• install the 566.36 driver manually (not through NVIDIA Experience)

  • use “custom installation”

  • check the “clean install” box when prompted

  • don't touch anything, don't open anything- your screen will flash a couple of times while installing your driver. It's fine- you're fine ; )

• turn your Wi-Fi back on only after the driver is installed

and done.
that’s what cleared it up for me.

For my visual learners here's so helpful videos:

• How to rollback and clean install Nvidia GPU drivers (and fix issues)

• How To Install Previous NVIDIA Drivers | Rollback To Older NVIDIA Driver

What if you have a 50-series or newer card?

unfortunately, you can’t use 566.36 — it’s not compatible with the newer models.
instead, download the latest NVIDIA patch (released yesterday) — it includes fixes for black screen issues on newer cards. How to find the right Nvidia driver for your card:

If you’re not sure which driver you need, don’t worry — this part is easy.
you just need to know your GPU model number. here’s how to find it and get the proper driver:

• press Windows key + R

• type in dxdiag and press enter

• click the Display tab

• under "Name" or "Chip Type" you’ll see your graphics card model (ex: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti)

once you know your exact card, head over to Nvidia’s official driver search page and select:

• Product Type: GeForce

• Product Series: whatever matches your model (ex: 40 series)

• Product: the full name of your GPU (ex: rtx 4070 ti)

• then choose your Operating System (windows 10/11)

• and hit Search

they’ll show you every driver that matches your card. you’ll want to pick 566.36 (unless you're on a 50-series, then grab the newest one instead).

here’s a shortcut to the official search page: Download The Official NVIDIA Drivers | NVIDIA
I hope this helps, seriously.
if you’re still feeling stuck or need help walking through it, feel free to dm me on instagram or drop a comment below — i got you.

and please, don’t go buy a whole new monitor or start rearranging your power cables just yet.
sometimes it’s not that deep.
sometimes it’s just nvidia doing the most.

At your best

— Ashley aka Simbeautyguru 🤍