I'm Missing Sims 3 Content
I've been playing The Sims 3 (TS3) for over a year now, and have been enjoying it. About a couple months ago, I opened my game and saw a message (image attached). After seeing the message, I went to ...
Forum Discussion
@CariY2206 I'm not suggesting that any other data downloaded alongside the EA App or Sims 3. It's more that the data that is supposed to be present—registry entries and other hidden files—may have been corrupted or removed or not created properly. It's difficult to prove and also more time-consuming.
Revo has nothing to do with protection against malware. It's a tool to remove all files associated with a given application. When you uninstall an app through Windows or a game launcher, often only the application itself is removed, not the rest of the data. So if you currrently have broken Sims 3 registry entries, you'll still have those broken entries after uninstalling through the EA App. Revo finds those entries and deletes them too, allowing you to start fresh after the reinstall.
@puzzlezaddict Thank you so much for clarifying that for me!
I went through the steps you left for me, but I'm still experiencing the same problem as before. For clarity, should the packs be installed under the following by default:
C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 3
Or should they be installed in another folder within The Sims 3 folder? This is the exact location of the pack folders before and after I followed the Revo Uninstaller steps.
@CariY2206 That location is fine, and wherever you install Sims 3, your packs should be in the same folder. I'm not sure what's going on here, and I'll flag this thread to someone from EA to take another look in case it might require a conversation with support. There are some issues that can't be solved on the user side, and they're not always easy to identify.
However, it'll take a couple days to get a response since people are off work for the weekend. In the interim, I would suggest another clean install, except with three extra steps:
- Create a new admin Windows account which you'll use to reinstall the game. Make the account local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account.
- Create a new folder on the root level of the drive of your choice, for example C:\Games is fine, but not C:\Program Files\Games. This is where you'll install Sims 3 this time.
- If you use a third-party antivirus, disable it before reinstalling, and don't reenable it until after you've tested Sims 3 once. As long as you're not doing anything else at the same time, your computer should be safe.
The idea here is to be as thorough as possible. Even if these above steps aren't all necessary, doing them together means you've addressed everything on your end.
If you happen to have access to another computer running Windows where you could test-install Sims 3, I'd suggest that too, in addition to or instead of the above. If your packs show up properly on that computer, the problem is something on your current system. If not, it's likely an account issue. The other computer doesn't need to be powerful enough to run Sims 3—just open the launcher to see whether your packs are present, and you'll have your answer.
Thank you so much for flagging this thread! I'll try this option as soon as possible! I hope you have a great holiday season!
@puzzlezaddict Hi! So, I created a local windows account and followed all the steps you included. Since TS3 was already installed on the new account, I went through the Revo Uninstaller steps again and restarted the computer before I proceeded. In short, I still encountered the same problem as before. How will I know if someone from EA has seen this thread yet?
@puzzlezaddict I posted my concerns on Reddit, and I received a response that I'll post in brackets below.
[When I used to have issues with the Sims 3 launcher, I'd just reinstall the .exe from my disc. I did share a copy of the Sims3Launcher.exe file if you'd like to try.
Sims3Launcher.zip The .exe is in the zipped file. From the 2009 disc based version. May work with the Steam; EA/Origin based version of the game. Not sure on that though.]
Do you think it is a good idea for me to try reinstalling the Sims 3 launcher file?
[CM Edit: Link removed]
@CariY2206 No, I don't think it's a good idea to mess with the game's program files. Even more so, a 2009 disc version of an .exe is either not going to work with an EA App-installed game or it's going to be ignored entirely.
I'm sorry to have left you hanging for so long, but I'm trying to get an answer from someone from EA, as some of these issues are account-based and can't be solved on the user end. I haven't forgotten about this thread.
