Re: Re: Sims 4 stuck on Verifying Game Files

Oops, yes, I meant also the TS4_x64.exe in the Bin folder. Sorry about that.

I'll give your other uninstall/reinstall in new folder a try and update once I'm done - thanks!

I uninstalled on Steam, uninstalled with Revo, and then reinstalled in the new folder (antivirus off). The game worked after that at first (yay!), so I copied in my saves folder (just the saves, nothing else from the Sims 4 backup folder) and tried to load the game. The game still ran (yay), but it gave me the warning that I didn’t have all the DLC needed (maybe because I bought some of the DLC on Origin and some on Steam? I didn’t have a problem before, though…), so I exited and made sure the DLC had downloaded, etc., and the game was set to the right folder. Everything looked okay, but the Origin “Play” button had changed to “Install,” and it’s now back to my original problem of Origin acting like the game hasn’t been installed, and clicking Install does nothing (it is stuck on “finalizing”). My antivirus has been off this entire time.

Any ideas?

Thanks again for all your help. I’m completely lost on what’s wrong with my game and really appreciate the advice.

Sorry for the double post - I decided to experiment and re-verify the game files on Steam, and after I did that, I was able to run the game from Steam, even though Origin thinks I haven’t installed it. This didn’t work before, but maybe I just needed to re-verify the game files on Steam?

Anyway, it’s working for now, so I’m happy! :] I’m not sure if this will be a one-time success like the last time I got it to work, but I’ll post here again if the problem comes back.

Thanks again for all your time and help with troubleshooting this, @puzzlezaddict! Can’t tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for folks.

@mahamari  I'm glad to hear this worked.  For the missing packs, in case you haven't fixed that issue yet, anything you've bought through Origin needs to be installed through Origin, but you don't need to click Install on the base game.  You should be able to just install the packs themselves from their list.  If Sims 4 is listed twice in your game library, check both entries' pack lists for Download buttons.

Thanks for the tip. @puzzlezaddict - I'll have to check that next time, if it's an issue. 🙂

I have a bit of bad news, though. I played a bit of Sims 4 earlier when it was working, then shut down the computer to take care of some things, and when I turned the computer back on to resume Sims 4, the original problem had returned. It again says that Origin hasn't installed Sims 4, so I can't play it, and it's redownloading the game again, same as when I first posted my issue.

Any idea if there's something I can do to keep it from coming back?

Thanks again!

@mahamari  What does Steam say about Sims 4?  When you've installed through Steam, you do need to launch the game through Steam, or at least that's how things normally work.

Did you happen to activate your antivirus again?  It's possible that that's the problem: the AV quarantined the game .exe (again), which made it look to Origin like Sims 4 wasn't installed at all.

If the AV is the issue, you might need to dig further into the settings to find what's interfering.  I don't know much about how Webroot works, but it looks like there's plenty of documentation online.  If you get stuck sorting through the settings, let me know, and I'll do some digging.  But the first step is to find out whether the AV did in fact quarantine TS4_x64.exe.

I have to launch Sims 4 from Steam, but Steam then launches Origin to run the game. I did turn my antivirus back on, so that could be it. Thanks for the tip - I’ll have to take a look. I’ll check back in if I can’t find a way to get things to work - thank you again for everything!

please tell me how to physically do this

 For your antivirus, you'll need to add TS4_x64.exe as an exception as well: that's the .exe that runs the standard (as in, not Legacy Edition) version of the game.

@takart  The exact instructions will depend on what antivirus you use, and that program should have documentation on the product website.  You need to add TS4_x64.exe as an exception, perhaps in multiple places (refer to the documentation), and it's a good idea to add Origin.exe as well.

If this doesn't help, let me know what antivirus you use, what you're trying to do (install, update, repair), and exactly what happens when you do that.

Hi, again,

I wanted to post an update on my game situation, since it's been about a month - I'm able to run the game reliably again (from Steam instead of Origin), but Origin always goes through the lengthy verification process for Sims 4 (and all the DLC). I'm not sure if there's any way to avoid this, but at least it runs. 🙂 Is it normal for the game to have to verify files every single time? I've already done the whole clearing Origin cache and uninstalling and reinstalling Origin a few times previously, so I don't know if repeating that process will help, but I think that was usually the fix recommended?

Thanks again for all your help.

@mahamari  No, this is not normal, and when clearing Origin's cache doesn't help, it usually points to either an antivirus being overly aggressive or a cleaner app deleting essential files.  So I'd double-check your antivirus settings: make sure there isn't some other category of protection where you'd need to add exclusions for Sims 4 and Origin (even though you use Steam), or try removing the exceptions and adding them back.

Thanks, @puzzlezaddict. I'll try redoing the exceptions.

Unfortunately, redoing the exceptions hasn't seemed to fix it. I just redid the exceptions, and it's still reverifying everything again.

This is happening to me too!! Every time I open Origin it "re-verifies" all my files AND it won't download The High School Years expansion. I have been going back and forth with support for a week and they haven't told me anything helpful. Just told me things I already tried, like all of the things in this thread...

@mahamari  The only other thing I can think to suggest at this point is to uninstall Sims 4 and reinstall it to a different location on your computer, specifically a new folder that you create for that purpose.  I don't remember where the Steam setting is for this, or to be honest whether Steam even allows you to choose a custom install location, but if not, you could uninstall Steam too and install it into that new folder.  The default install location is within Steam's program files, so that's where the game will land too.

You'll need to redo the exceptions after reinstalling, and I'd suggest leaving your antivirus disabled during the install process and only reenabling it afterwards.

@SheepyCakes  If you've tried the other suggestions in this thread, you can try reinstalling too.  This is simple for Origin-only installs: open Application Settings > Installs & Saves to choose the default install location.  Or you can instead use the Move Game function to move Sims 4's program files without uninstalling.  Right-click on the game's icon in your Origin library to see the option.

I said I already did this... I already uninstalled with the Revo uninstaller. I reinstalled. I reset the install location. I created a folder specifically for the Sims 4 installation. I have already done everything suggested here.

@SheepyCakes  Does the same thing happen if you use the EA App?  Do you have a third-party antivirus, and if so, which one?

Yes the same thing happens with the EA app. I tried with the EA app first before trying with Origin. I use Malewarebytes and already added everything to do with the EA app, the Sims, and Origin to the exceptions (and yes, I re-did the exceptions after encountering the problem, and I have never encountered this problem before trying to download/install this expansion pack). The EA app would tell me "Sorry, there's a problem with your download" after repeatedly verifying the files for the other packs. People suggested trying Origin first so I did that but it didn't help with anything. In origin when I look at the High School Years Expansion, there is no option to download. No option to purchase. It's just blank. In-game, it says "you already own this expansion" but the content for the expansion isn't there.

Hey there @SheepyCakes,

Can you please check your Order History in Origin for High School Years and let me know if that's fully processed through for you? It sounds like the content hasn't been fully redeemed to your account. 

I've just looked, and it does still say "processing." Why does it say this? I've already been billed.

@SheepyCakes 

Thanks for checking- in that case you'll need to get in touch with the live support team so they can look over these transaction details with you and get more details on what's happened- here on AHQ, we wouldn't have access to look into that info with you. 

You can reach out to live support for more assistance on this through the help site here, or you can request help via Twitter or Facebook as well. 

I’d moved my Sims 4 install to a different location already, and that didn’t fix the problem, unfortunately - but apparently changing over to the EA app (I got an alert that Origin was being retired and switched over to the EA app, so I went ahead and made the switch) somehow that fixed the problem. Steam still made me reinstall Origin, so it’s still using Origin to launch Sims 4, but it’s stopped reverifying the game every single time! I don’t know if this will help you, but hopefully it will?