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aytimothy's avatar
aytimothy
9 years ago
Solved

What do I have to do to fully reinstall Spore? Am I missing a step?

I've got Spore for quite some time now, and just one day, it's decided to stop working, so, I decided to uninstall and reinstall the game. What could possibly go wrong?

Everything apparently.

I have everything installed and patched (in the following order): Base Game > Creepy & Cute Parts Pack > Galactic Adventures > Patch 4 (Bugfixes) > Patch 5 (Creature Export) > Patch 6 (Robot Parts)

So, the first steps I took was to clear the InstallShield information, which was located in C:\Program Files (x86)\InstallShield Installation Information\{A hash}.

That cleared up the installer, and allowed me to use the installers again, along with their uninstall Registry Keys (since henceforth, using the Program and Features window will just yield "program not found" errors), which were located in Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{The same hash}.

Next, I went over to the Origin folder, and deleted the game files:

  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\Spore (Base Game, Patch 4, Patch 5 and Patch 6)
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SPORE Creepy and Cute Parts Pack (Self-explanatory)
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SPORE Galactic Adventures (The expansion)

Finally, I deleted all cache, which was located in: C:\ProgramData\Electronic Arts\spore, along with the save data (though was completely pointless) in C:\Users\<My Username>\AppData\Roaming\Spore.

With all the game files gone, I decided to reinstall Spore again... So, I reboot and ran the installer.

Spore redownloaded and was reinstalled via Origin. This was just the base game, with no patches; v1.0

In the game, then, it prompted that an update to Spore was available. I downloaded the patch, it installed, and everything was fine...

Until the end of the patch, when it said "Patching Galactic Adventures", and from that point on: Spore broke; it starts looking for Galactic Adventures and Creepy and Cute Parts, which at the time - Obviously does not exist... Yet.

From that point on, trying to uninstall or install Spore or any of its DLC/Expansions resulted in an error in Origin.

With that scrapped out of the window, I decided to just install all in one go; start over, with the install information all removed... This time, I didn't update Spore. I just installed it in the Base > CC > GA order that many of us have established.

Spore (the base game) installed properly, along with Galactic Adventures. However, Creepy and Cute Parts Pack did not. The InstallShield installer simply just errored.

Was there something that I missed and forgot to remove?

Like another hidden registry key or file that contains install data that Spore itself uses?

spore
  • aytimothy's avatar
    aytimothy
    9 years ago

    Update: I found a solution!

    1. First, uninstall Spore like you did - Delete all InstallShield Installation Information, its registry entries, and game files.
    2. Next, restart Origin (so that it refreshes its cache)
    3. After that, install Spore in the order of Base Game, Creepy and Cute Parts Pack and followed by Galactic Adventures. At any point, do not open the game.
    4. Once all the components are installed, you can open the game and it should prompt you that "a new patch is available". Simply click "Yes" and "Install".
      You have to be logged in to spore.com to be able to see the "There's a new patch" dialog.
    5. Spore should close itself, and the installer should update you to Patch 5, and Patch 1 for Galactic Adventures.

    Now, you can start playing Spore as per normal.

    As for why the installer was installing it all at once: It was because you have all two DLC's purchased.

4 Replies

  • aytimothy's avatar
    aytimothy
    9 years ago
    Hello ,

    Unfortunately, most of the links in the FAQ lead to broken (old/deleted) support articles and that Disk cleanup only removes temporary and unrelated files that InstallShield makes.

    While this indeed saves a little bit of space (unless your temp folder is cluttered by other programs like Blender or OneNote) or have old versions of Windows (if you're on insider builds or have recently upgraded), it does nothing in regards to the removal of any of Spore's components; and instead, slows other programs down that use the temp folder as a cache.

    Also, this does not touch any of Spore's files as IT DOES NOT EVEN TOUCH THE PROGRAM FILES FOLDER.

    Perhaps you should think over your answer.
    Anyway, good luck with it, and thanks for trying.

    Regards,
    Timothy
  • Freggi-Liz's avatar
    Freggi-Liz
    Hero+
    9 years ago

    Thanks for teaching, but I already think about every  answer.

    I am a graphic artist myself, working with great programs like Autodesk, Cad, I know where they are on my Mac etc.

    How exactly physical process works under windows systems, I can't always  answer 100%. 

    1. I'm just a normal user, who helps others players. Don't forget  ; I'm not a EA engineer
    2. The broken left affects. Again, I can not help it if these are not maintained. Also here I have no administrative rights, which I could use. But I can understand your frustration in these things

    If Spore can't be installed, it can have many reasons. Either a missing update of your BIOS could cause this, especially by Skylake processors. The game is very sensitive in this things

    If there is already a problem with Origin, then it can be a wrong setting

    Make sure the cloud storage is disabled in Origin

    Install all Spore patch,  when all EP are installed.

    For further technical questions, feel free and contact EA Game Advisor

    http://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/new/

    http://answers.ea.com/t5/Answer-HQ/How-to-contact-a-Game-Advisor-using-the-new-EA-Help-page/m-p/2161281/thread-id/426

  • aytimothy's avatar
    aytimothy
    9 years ago

    Update: I found a solution!

    1. First, uninstall Spore like you did - Delete all InstallShield Installation Information, its registry entries, and game files.
    2. Next, restart Origin (so that it refreshes its cache)
    3. After that, install Spore in the order of Base Game, Creepy and Cute Parts Pack and followed by Galactic Adventures. At any point, do not open the game.
    4. Once all the components are installed, you can open the game and it should prompt you that "a new patch is available". Simply click "Yes" and "Install".
      You have to be logged in to spore.com to be able to see the "There's a new patch" dialog.
    5. Spore should close itself, and the installer should update you to Patch 5, and Patch 1 for Galactic Adventures.

    Now, you can start playing Spore as per normal.

    As for why the installer was installing it all at once: It was because you have all two DLC's purchased.

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