Forum Discussion

ingeborgslinnin's avatar
2 years ago

Help. Sims 3 Launcher won't install Store content

I just reinstalled sims 3 after not playing for a few years. I tried to download and install content from my purchase history as I have bought some on the worlds and other content. 

After I download the store content to the launcher nothing happens when I click on Install. It turns grey for a few seconds then go back to normal as if nothing happend. If i click on the install butten too many times the launcher freezes and won't work. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the game three times and its the same. 

I dont have any cc installed and all files are empty.  I tried installing CC from a third party website and the same thing happened. It goes grey for a few second and then back to normal without anything happening. I have a fearly new pc so that should not be the issue. 

What can I do? I dont wanna buy these worlds and items for a second time.. 

3 Replies

  • @ingeborgslinning  If you're using one of the Alder Lake workarounds to get Sims 3 running, as described here:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11057820#M248615

    you'd also need to apply it when installing content through the launcher.  The launcher's installer also uses TS3.exe or TS3W.exe and will crash for the same reason the game itself does with no workaround applied.

    If that's not the issue, please move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  If it copies instead of moving, or you get an error when moving it, stop here and let me know.

    Otherwise, when you open the launcher, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you moved but temporarily not read by the game.)  Don't add any of your previous content to the new folder yet; just download one Store item and see whether it installs, then check whether it loads in-game.  If it doesn't, let me know what you see.

    If the one item works, download a few more items and test again, and if everything still works, proceed to install all the Sims3Packs you'd like to use.  Do so a few items at a time, and worlds separately—the launcher doesn't handle large amounts of data very well.

    Once you've installed all your launcher-based content, you can move your other content from the old Sims 3 folder to the new one.  Here's a description of everything in that folder so you know what you'd want to preserve:

    https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-user-files.html

  • Thank you so much for the help! 


    After downloading the Alder lake workarounds the Laucher starts to install the store content, but after the installation  it says that there is nothing to install. I tried with a few different items and worlds but it just says the same thing. 

    I tried to move the sims 3 folder to my desktop but it says that I cant move it as the file is open in another program. 

    What do I do next? 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @ingeborgslinning  The "file is open in another program" error is usually caused by OneDrive.  You may want to address that at some point, but the actual error with installing that you're seeing now has a different cause and fix:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-Launcher-quot-There-are-no-packages-to-install-quot/m-p/11941548#M252628

    For OneDrive, if you want to stop it from syncing your files or get rid of it altogether, please choose whichever option works for you in this guide:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370#M249772

    The guide itself was written for Sims 4, but the OneDrive info is universal.

About The Sims 3 Technical Issues

Get help with issues in The Sims 3 from fellow Simmers.82,857 PostsLatest Activity: 2 hours ago