@Chocoroom1 I've moved your post to the Sims 3 PC tech section.
Please temporarily disable any antivirus/firewall program you have running, as a test. If you can launch the game, you'll need to add TS3.exe and Origin.exe as exceptions. If this doesn't work, try running Origin as an admin: right-click on the Origin shortcut and select "Run as administrator."
It may also help to add TS3.exe as an exception in Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access settings. These instructions are for Sims 4, but the principle is the same:
Although I don't think that the problem is with my antivirus or windows defender, because my antivirus doesn't alert me or do anything and I had them as exceptions as well just to see what happens. I was able to play the game earlier in the year as I had built a new PC and got a new antivirus (Which is ESET by the way) for my shiny new PC. The game ran fine and I was able to play. It's just only now that the problem is starting to happen. I did run Origin in admin mode, but the problem still exists.
If my explanation had been bad, here's what happens: Origin works fine, I click on the Sims 3 rectangle in my library. It says the game is downloaded along with all its other expansions and stuff packs. I click on the play button, but something happens. Origin doesn't open up TS3 launcher, but it instead just vanishes and re-appears in about a second. I can spam click it but it does the same thing, and will sometimes say I am playing the game when it doesn't even want to start. I've also looked in Task Manager, and it doesn't start any background applications or any regular apps, and it doesn't appear under origin at all.
@Chocoroom1 Origin is supposed to sort of disappear or minimize when you launch a game, and reappear when you quit, so that part is normal. The question is why TS3 won't run. Antivirus and firewall apps get updates, as does Windows, so it wouldn't be surprising if the game stopped working seemingly at random. But if you've covered all that, and Controlled Folder access as well, that's not it.
Do you use any fps limiter or monitoring app like MSI Afterburner or RivaTuner Statistics Server? If so, try disabling it temporarily. Of course, it's not good for your GPU to run the game like that, but the only question is whether TS3 can launch at all. If one of these apps is the issue, there are others you can try instead.
Please also check whether .NET Framework 3.5 is still enabled. It would be strange for it to have been disabled by an update, but it's easy enough to check, and this is exactly when the game would stop working if it weren't installed.
Hit Windows key-R and enter "appwiz.cpl" without quotes. In the File Explorer window that opens, click on "Turn Windows features on and off." You should see something like this, with both .NET frameworks enabled (in the first red box):
If this isn't the issue either, please run a dxdiag and attach the results to a post here.
I attached the DxDiag file to my reply. I did see Origin.exe located around the fault buckets. I did forget to mention that I don't see a Controlled Folder access area due to my current antivirus replacing Windows Defender in the settings. I do not use any programs to monitor or limit my FPS. The .NET Framework 3.5 feature is activated, along with the advanced services and media features.
Then use Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine, either regular or portable) to remove all traces of Origin, except for the Origin Games folder. Here's how:
Quit Origin, then right-click on the Task Bar and open the Task Manager. Scroll through looking for Origin entries. If you find any, click on them and End Task.
Download Revo Uninstaller from here (again, the free versions are fine).
Install Revo, open it, and uninstall Origin. When it's finished, Revo will ask you which cleaning method you want to use. Select "Moderate" and then Browse.
If Revo finds any remaining registry entries, select all, delete, and click Next.
Revo will display "Remaining Data and Folders. Select all of them except for the "Origin Games" folder. (This is where TS3 and other Origin games are located.) Delete the rest.
Restart your computer.
Next, download and install Origin—the regular version, not the beta. Here's the direct download link:
Be sure to run both the installer and Origin itself as an admin: right-click on each and select "Run as Administrator." If TS3 still doesn't launch after the Origin reinstall, let me know.
So, I cleared the cache and completely wiped Origin (Except the games folder) from my hard drive. I restarted my PC and went back here to download Origin from the link you supplied. The install went as usual, and I waited for all the currently installed games to get verified by Origin. I clicked play on TS3, and I thought I had fixed it. Instead, Origin vanished for a few seconds while my cursor turned into the loading wheel, and then origin re-appeared. I clicked on it many more times with the same effect before Origin disappeared and re-appeared in just a second.
I don't know how many potential fixes are left for my situation, but I am pretty much willing to do whatever now.
@Chocoroom1 I use a lot of Gigabyte boards and I looked up the cpu support list and for a Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400F CPU @ 2.90GHz your bios should be at F13 - yours is at F11. You may get a program like cpuz to see if the cpu is working correctly. There are three 9400F that have different stepping which may configure the cpu differently then the F11. All three use the same F13 bios.
@Chocoroom1 There's plenty more you can still try. And if the following doesn't make a difference, I'll ask for another opinion on this thread.
First, please delete or remove any Sims 3 game folder you currently have in Documents\Electronic Arts. (If there's content you want to preserve, just move the folder to your desktop.) Disable OneDrive completely, at least for now. Run Origin as an admin again, and try to launch TS3.
If that doesn't help, do the same, except while your computer is completely offline. You can sign into Origin and put it in offline mode, then turn off wifi and/or pull the ethernet cable.
If that doesn't help either, update your graphics card driver, which you can do directly from the Nvidia site. It shouldn't be necessary to keep up with GPU driver updates just to run TS3, but it sounds like you may not have ever successfully played the game with this particular driver (from July) installed.
@roberta591 I checked my CPU, and it seems fine. Also, I don't know if I really should flash my BIOS to F13, because the current version is fine. If you know I should, just say.
@puzzlezaddict It still didn't work. I disabled OneDrive, went into offline mode on Origin, unplugged my Ethernet, and it did not work. I also took out the game files from the Documents section. Here is the new DxDiag. I think though, TS3 isn't even trying to run at all. It doesn't chug or load when I click Play, nothing appears in the Task Manger, and no game files get altered.
@Chocoroom1 Please look at the registry entries for Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access, just to make sure there isn't anything there that shouldn't be. Hit Windows key-R and enter "regedit" without quotes. Then expand this path:
When highlighting the Controlled Folder Access entry, you should see this:
Let me know if yours looks different.
If this isn't the problem, the next step is a clean uninstall of your graphic card driver. Even after you updated the driver, there's an Nvidia .dll mentioned in your error reports. So the next step is a clean uninstall of the driver. First, download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:
Next, take your computer completely offline—disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord—and double-click the DDU.exe. Take note of where the file will land, and click Extract. If it's easier, you can copy the path and then paste it into the address bar in a File Explorer window. Open the folder and then Display Driver Uninstaller.exe, and you'll get a message that you're not in Safe Mode. Click OK, then go to Options and enable Safe Mode dialog. Here's a screenshot of what your options should look like:
Close options, and the DDU, and then open the DDU.exe again. For launch options, choose "Safe Mode (Recommended)," and then click Reboot to Safe Mode (you'll need your password, so find it before rebooting). Once you login, you'll see this:
Choose GPU in the dropdown menu (step one), then Nvidia (step 2) if it's not already showing. Then click Clean and Restart (step 3).
Once your computer has rebooted, now back in normal mode, run the driver install .exe in custom mode. Select "perform a clean installation" and install ONLY the GPU driver and the PHYSX software.
Reboot again and see whether you can launch the game. If not, let me know.
@puzzlezaddict Still does not work. Nothing was different in the registry, I re-installed my drivers using your method, but it didn't work. I can send a video on what exactly happens if you need me to.
If that doesn't work either, create a new admin account on your computer; make sure to use only letters and numbers, no symbols, in the username. Try launching TS3 in that account instead.
@puzzlezaddict I tried to launch the game from Origin during a clean boot, and it didn't work. Didn't work after too. I also made another admin account named "temp" and I tried to run it. It did not work either.
Go to your Reliability monitor > Press the Windows key and "R" at the same time and copy and paste or type "perfmon /rel" (without the quotes) in the new Window > hit “ENTER” and look if it has entries for the TS3.exe.
If yes double click at the last entry for the game executable, copy the info to the clipboard, and save it to a text file.
@holger1405 I do not have any compatibility settings, and I tested them and they don't change anything. The game doesn't launch directly from TS3.exe even if I do use admin mode. It still goes through origin and doesn't open or change anything. My other origin games work too.
@holger1405 Sorry for not replying until two months later, don't know why I didn't. After all that time, nothing changed. I did exactly as puzzleaddict said, and also uninstalled it again with nothing happening. I have nothing on my installation except for all the expansion packs. Origin doesn't crash after I try to run TS3, it just minimizes and appears again. I disabled Origin in-game and nothing happened. The only other games I run are BF1 and BFV. I cleared my Origin cache and nothing happened either, so here's a DxDiag. I would use Sims 4 but I feel like 3 has more content. Also, I only have the base game because all the expansions are so expensive.
@Chocoroom1 Since you last posted in this thread, a couple other people have reported the same symptoms as you did, both after having accounts merged. The one person who fixed it contacted EA customer support again and found that there was a problem with their base game code: someone on the support side had messed up when doing the merging. (The other person's issue was never resolved, at least as far as we know.) Here's the thread:
So it's possible that your code has been blocked, or deactivated, or otherwise isn't working correctly. Given that all the usual steps haven't helped, it's a good idea to contact support and ask someone to look at your codes, especially the one for the base game. Not only does the code need to be there, but it needs to be active and in good standing, or whatever the opposite of "blocked" is. There's no way for you to tell whether there's a problem on your own; only a support rep can check.
This was my problem as well, and it's exactly like the other person. I had my accounts merged and the game got messed up somehow. Thank you for pointing that out!! I've been trying to play for months!!
So, I finally got my game fixed after several support sessions. It was fixed by removing the game and expansions from my library and then giving me a completely new, fresh game. It starts up and everything but there's one more problem. I only get four of the expansions shown in the launcher (Ambitions, Into the Future, Island Paradise, and Supernatural). I have every expansion and a few stuff packs but only these four expansions are displayed and active.
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