Patch 1.50.56 and Sims 3 University Life

I just bought Sims 3 University Life and Sims 3 Hidden Springs.

Hidden Springs downloaded and installed perfectly.

On attempting to install University Life, I was informed I needed the new 1.50.56 patch. After several false starts when I had to restart the download of the patch because it froze, eventually the patch downloaded. Then I installed University Life. Afterwhich, I was informed I would also need to download Origins to be able to download future patches. I did so.

Everything seemed fine except when I tried to click on the icon for University Life to begin playing, nothing happened. No game play screen opened. I attempted to open Sims 3 and nothing happened again. Instead I was shown this message: Missing shortcut. The icons for my Sims 3 and the other extension packs I have installed- except University Life which still shows the correct icon - are now showing the same message.

I have attempted to uninstall University Life but despite the wizard informing me 3 times that is has been successfully uninstalled, University Life remains on my computer. I also attempted searching for the original file for Sims 3 to see if merely the shortcut was broken, however it no longer seems to exist.

The missing icons and files for Sims 3 and the other extension packs seem to imply that they have been broken or uninstalled by either the patch or University Life. Either way, none of the games are now working and I have been unable to discover an answer for why and how to fix it, online. I saw one idea that part of the patch might have been blocked by Norton anti-virus, but I do not have that.

Please can someone advise me what to do as I have spent £40 on these two games and all they have done is break the Sims I already owned.