Like everyone else, I realized the "DasmX86Dll.dll missing" error is really not indicative of anything. The crash is indeed totally random and can be caused by different things for different people. I found out by painstakingly troubleshooting each driver and going back to an old version for my ATI graphics card.

Have ATI Mobility Radeon x600 that is no longer supported and am on version 9.3.1. The newer versions did not work for me even when using the MMDotNet hack from DriverHeaven.net. I just used the hack to install the driver without the Catalyst Center and now my game seldom crash (apart from the patch nightmares this week...)

My laptop is @3 years old, I upgraded the HDD and RAM in '07 when I played Sims 2. Now I'm playing Sims 3 on the lowest settings in windowed mode. I can still have some programs running in the background. The low details I can live with until I get a new machine once Windows 7 is officially released & stabilizes, but at least no more crashes and no lags when playing/building.

Mobility Radeon X600 is not a supported card. These are some things you can try:

1) Try updating drivers and directx:
Since you have a laptop, you will need to go to the manufacturer’s website to get the most current drivers.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6a-9b6652cd92a3

2) Rule out software conflicts (If you have Norton, McAfee or Windows Live One Care get rid of it and replace it with Avira or Avast!.. in even try playing with av disabled plus the msconfig) http://modthesims2.com/showpost.php...45&postcount=21

3) Remove all mods/cc

4) Rename your Sims 3 games folder in My Docs and allow it to generate a new one to rule out a game corruption

5) Do a clean install of the game. backup any game files you don't want to use. Then use add/remove programs to uninstall the game. Restart your computer, then manually delete BOTH sets of Sims 3 files in My Docs (user files) and Program Files (game files). Using the uninstall feature does not always remove the game or user files, and if the problem lies in there then a uninstall/and reinstall might not work without manually removing all instances of these files from your computer. Once you've done this, you can try reinstalling. I would try running first without the patch and then apply the patch and see if either game version works.

6) If all else fails, try creating a brand new user account and do a fresh install of the game there.

Thanks, Callistra.

I can play it fine, and luckily have not yet encountered any dropped queues, pathing, sound or weird cab issues with most of my mods intact after patching with 1.3.x. I don't use global core mods other than awesomemod indirectly due to EA's unreliability with new patches.

My game is not crashing for now (knocks wood); it did for the 1.2.x patch weeks ago. I'm just pointing out that sometimes updating to latest drivers do not apply/might not help if the hardware is an old card like mine.

I've been going through your helpful thread on the Computer section and am researching/reviewing new desktop/laptop to get before the end of the year. Great lists, btw!

Anyway, you can close this thread as I'm not having a problem.

cheers..

Okay sorry for the confusion. I will marked this as solved then.