Re: Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU
@Poppytastic To go into more detail, in case it helps: The Alder Lake issue probably happens first, as in, if you haven't applied the workaround, the game crashes immediately and with no error. If you have applied the workaround, or your computer doesn't need it, then the game checks for whatever is throwing the service initialization error. And reinstalling the game would remove the Alder Lake patch, so you'd need to apply one of the workarounds again.
At any rate, this could be an issue with Windows rather than Sims 3. Instead of going incrementally, I'd suggest a repair install, which can fix registry errors as well as a long list of other issues. Here's how to run one (option two):
https://www.elevenforum.com/t/repair-install-windows-11-with-an-in-place-upgrade.418/#Two
This shouldn't delete any of your data, but if you get to step 14 and are NOT asked to keep personal files and apps, back out and start over.
Once you've done this, repair the game (again) and try to play, with the Task Manager workaround. If that doesn't help, please do another clean install of Sims 3, in another new folder, but this time, do so in a new admin Windows account. Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address. If the game works in the new account, we can try to get it working in the main one too.