I've had exactly the same problem - followed all the instructions (really appreciate PA's help and patience) but still just going in circles!
Additionally keep getting message 'creating duplicate file...' or somesuch (message only appears for a couple of seconds so I never got to read all of it!). Bottom RH corner Windows 11... running a Dell Aurora R13 with intel i7 gen 12 and NVidia 3080. Works fine on my gen 8 laptop.
@xxnixixx The duplicate file is probably because the Alder Lake patch creates a backup of the .exe. Look for TS3.exe.bkp or similar in the Bin folder, and delete it if you find it, plus any others that look like duplicates. Then if you play through the EA App, repair the game (game library > Sims 3 > Manage > Repair), and try the Alder Lake patch again. Make sure the EA App is closed and the EABackgroundService is NOT running in the Task Manager before attempting to patch again.
If that doesn't help, repeat the process, except instead of using the Alder Lake patch, try the Task Manager method mentioned in the accepted solution. The link leads to detailed instructions.
