Re: sims 3 launcher won't open

@1285bree  I've split your post into its own thread since the other thread is specifically about the DX9 error.

Your dxdiag doesn't contain any Sims 3 errors, but it does have a few Windows update errors, so the place to start is by running a couple of basic checks on your Windows system files:

Here's how:

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes into the window, and enter
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Command prompt (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes into the window, and enter
• Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the button to check for updates.  If any install, restart again.

Next, move the entier Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, that is if you have a folder there at all.  (Let me know if you don't.)  Run Origin as an admin: right-click on the shortcut and select "Run as administrator," and try to play.

If the game still won't open, please let me know how you uninstalled the Steam version, if at all, and how you transferred it to Origin.  There are multiple issues with product keys and registry entries that may need to be addressed.

I don't know if i did the windows update errors part right but with the "DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth" part there wasn't any errors but it did say this," Deployment image servicing and management tool version: 10.0.19041.844 Image version: 10.0.19042.1415." That all that showed after. And with the “sfc /scannow” nothing happened. After that i restarted my computer, checked for updates, installed them and restarted again. Next i followed what you said about moving the Sims 3 folder to my desktop run origin as an admin but I have all of the packs but only base game installed but for some reason all of the packs started to install. I tried playing the game but i was met with the same problem with the launcher not launching. How I uninstall the steam version was i right clicked on the application in my steam library and clicked uninstalled and i hide the game form my library. How I transferred it was i typed in individually the product codes for base game and all of the packs in origins add a game, redeem product code and type in the product code that steam provided.

@1285bree  It sounds like you need to do a clean uninstall of Sims 3, which should remove the leftover registry keys from the Steam install, and reinstall through Origin.  Here's how:

• Put aside your Sims 3 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts, if you have one, and rename it to something that doesn't include the words "Sims 3."
• Download Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine) from here.
• Launch Revo, select Sims 3 from the list, and click Uninstall.
• Once the game is uninstalled, select "Moderate" under "scanning modes," and click Scan.
• Review the list, in case there's something you want to save; otherwise, click Select All, and then Delete.
• Close Revo, and restart your computer.

Before reinstalling, check the registry for any stray Sims 3/Steam entries.  Hit Windows key-R, enter "regedit" without quotes, click Yes, and expand these folders, in order:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > WOW6432Node > Electronic Arts > Sims(Steam)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > Software > WOW6432Node > Sims(Steam)

Either the Sims(Steam) folders should be blank, or you shouldn't see either folder at all.  If you do have entries for the base game and/or packs, you can right-click and delete each one.  Please be careful when deleting anything: removing the wrong entry could have a serious impact on your computer.  Just looking won't do anything; this is only if you start deleting entries, so if you do need to remove anything, triple-check that you're looking at the right folders.

After you've uninstalled the game and checked the registry, restart your computer and try to run DISM and sfc again.  It's somewhat concerning that you didn't get any message at all; you should at least have seen sfc say it found nothing/fixed issues/found issues it couldn't fix.  (Those aren't the exact words, but the point is it always reports its results.)  The scans also show progress as they're running, so when one gets to 100%, you should see a report.

However, if you get the game working and don't want to deal with the rest, that's understandable.  So after DISM and sfc run, try installing the base game from Origin and let me know whether it works.

Did all of the steps but with checking the registry for any stray Sims 3/steam entries there were folders with all of the packs but all of them were empty so i don't know if i should delete them or keep them? so i just kept them just in case of any mistakes. Tried running the DISM and sfc again and that was successful. For the sfc Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files and successfully repaired them. For online repairs, details are included in the CBS log file located at windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For offline

repairs, details are included in the log file provided by the /OFFLOGFILE flag. And for the DISM, [==========================100.0%==========================] The restore operation completed successfully. The operation completed successfully. After that installed the base game only and it don't not work launch.

@1285bree  You do need to delete the pack folders, and it's possible you'd need to delete the Sims(Steam) folder as well, although I haven't tested that in particular.  Since you'll be removing registry entries, it's a good idea to make a backup of the entire registry beforehand.  Hit Windows key-R, enter "regedit" again, choose File > Export, and save the copy wherever you want.  (Documents or desktop is fine.)  In the unlikely event that you do delete something critical, you can simply double-click on the saved file to restore it.

If this doesn't work, please look for any crash logs related to Sims 3.  Click Windows key-R and copy and paste this:

%LocalAppData%\CrashDumps

When you enter, you'll see a list of .dmp files.  If one of them is from Sims 3 or Origin and is from after you reinstalled the game most recently, please upload it to a third-party filehosting site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) and link it here.

If there is no relevant .dmp file, you can enable them:

• Hit the Windows key, type "command prompt" in the box, right-click on Command Prompt in the search results, and select Run as Administrator
• In the window, paste "reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /d 2 /t REG_DWORD" without the outside quotes into the box, and enter
• Try to launch the game
• After it doesn't work, wait for any crash dialogs to finish
• Then hit Windows key-R and paste "%LOCALAPPDATA%\CrashDumps" without quotes into the box, and enter
• Upload the last .dmp file to a free filesharing site and link it here
• When you want to undo the auto crash log dumps, open Command Prompt as before, paste "reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps" /f" without the outside quotes, and enter.

Okay, so I backed up the Sims(Steam) folder and delete the original one. The game didn't launch. Moved on to the next step and entered "%LocalAppData%\CrashDumps" didn't see any .dmp files at all, there was nothing in the folder. After that I hit the window key and typed "command prompt" in and ran it as a Administrator. In the window I pasted "reg add "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Windows Error Reporting\LocalDumps\devenv.exe" /v DumpType /d 2 /t REG_DWORD" without the quotes, but it not work saying,"The system cannot find the path specified" tried to launch the game and seen nothing. After that nothing in the .dmp files either.

Okay so, I created and signed into a new local account tried to launch the game in the new local account on origin, don't launch on origin. Decided to uninstall the origin version of the Sims 3 using Revo. And installed the Steam version with all of the packs and base game and the launcher worked with all of the packs. The problem is the product keys for the base game and all of the packs not working on Origin. I will call customer support tomorrow but thank you so much for your time and effort, I can now play the game.