Service initialization failed 0x039e8474

@leahmay74  Did reinstalling the game help?  The most common cause of this error is uninstalling an expansion or stuff pack: the uninstall process doesn't remove the associated registry entries, and those entries interfere with the game's ability to launch.

If you never uninstalled any packs, it's also possible that a registry cleaner or other type of cleaner tool could have removed or altered some essential data.  If that's not relevant to you either, please let me know whether you can remember doing anything in particular before you saw this error.

@puzzlezaddict I have run a couple cleaning tools. Ccleaner and revo uninstaller cleaning option but no registry cleaner, just junk files. I had also gone through my sims 3 doc files, cleaned out .package files also a few other files. I left things that i had read was important to not delete. I had also emptied out temp file in the user file. I have my game install on a ssd drive and i had to make a junction link for the sims 3 doc folder in order to play the game. My main drive is too small maybe so i figured. I cant think of anything else i did. But definitely the both times it happened was after i cleaned out my sims 3 docs. Now I'm scared to do that again tbh. And also, yes, reinstalling helped but having to restore saves and setting it all up again, painful.

@leahmay74  This error shouldn't be caused by deleting any data from the Sims 3 user folder, the one in Documents\Electronic Arts.  However, if you used a junction to move the folder, it's possible that could cause the error under the wrong circumstances.  For example, if your user folder is on an external drive and that drive isn't plugged in, or it is connected but receives a different drive letter from Windows, the link would be broken.

Just to be clear, if there's an issue with the user folder, you never need to uninstall and reinstall the game.  User folders are designed to be swappable and replaceable, with no harm done; the game will recreate the necessary files as it goes along.  That also means that if you're having an issue that's related to that folder, you can move the entire folder elsewhere and let the game generate a new one, then move your saves and other data to that new folder, without needing to reinstall anything.

@puzzlezaddict  Okay good to know about the sims 3 docs. Thank you. What I don’t get though is if you can download sims on a separate drive than your main drive why wouldn’t there be an option for your sims 3 docs? The junction is the only way as far as I know. I can’t play without it. Is there a way to fix windows reading the wrong letter on my drive? Windows is on my main drive obviously but I only have like 43gb of room left. The drive my sims is installed on is 1tb, now I’m wondering if it would be better to have windows on the larger drive. This all seems like a nightmare. 

@leahmay74  Sims 3 is programmed to look for and store user data in the Documents directory regardless of where the game is installed.  In a way, it's makes things a lot simpler—you can make changes to your saves, mods, and other user content without messing with the game's program files, where one mistake could mean reinstalling everything.

If you want to move the entire Documents directory to your larger drive, that's simple to do and supported by Windows.  However, you should only do this if the second drive is internal; if it's external and is ever disconnected, Windows may react badly.

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/74952-move-location-documents-folder-windows-10-a.html

You didn't mention whether your secondary drive is internal or external; if it's external, using a junction is your only good option.  As for the drive letter issue I mentioned, I don't actually know that that happened, I'm just suggesting it as a possible issue for an external drive.  The way to prevent it is to always plug in your devices in the same order, since Windows assigns drive letters in the order it reads the devices.

Windows itself should always be on your fastest drive regardless of its size.  Moving it to a larger, slower drive would cause a significant drop in performance, enough so that you'd notice even in some basic tasks.  Everything else can be moved to another drive if necessary, for example you can move Photos or another user directory to a secondary drive in the same manner as above.

@puzzlezaddict Okay I've run into a problem doing this. I need help now I'm so pissed. I tried to move the documents folder but kept getting an error. I realized that ONEDRIVE has it synced therefore won't let me move it. I then remembered I had uninstalled one drive because i hate it! But i had to reinstall it in order to unlink the documents folder from it. So I did all that and was able to move it finally. I then was in the midst of copying my sims 3 doc backup folder that was on my desktop to move it into the electronics folder and realized one drive had highjacked that folder as well, so i went back into one drive to unlink my desktop from syncing and ALL MY F$%^&^% Files are gone! I have this stupid shortcut link where are my files? I go into my drive where i had originally moved my docs folder too and it's not there either. I have no documents folder, no electronic arts folder, no sims 3 folder (that is my backup folder with all my saves and whatnot) I'm freaking out now, And absolutely HATE one drive!! 

I was able to figure out, on each individual file that one drive "stole" I right clicked and picked always keep on this device and then dragged the files to where i wanted them.

Ugh! So my documents directory is where I had moved it to in the first place and the electronics art folder I took back from one drive and put it back where it belongs, I then copy and pasted my sims 3 backup folder back into EA folder. Game works! It's weird tho that my documents folder isn't named documents. It's just named the drive I moved it to, so in file explorer quick access its named H:\  Anyways I guess I fixed the issue blindly kind of, but I really don't want one drive on my pc and i don't want it controlling any of the files.

@leahmay74  I'm glad you got your Sims data back at least; that would have been awful to lose everything.  Right now, before doing anything else, I'd suggest making a copy of your critical data and storing it somewhere not on your computer.  An external drive would work, as would a filehosting site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.) if you prefer.  Those sites usually offer about 2 GB of free storage, more than enough for your saves.

Once you've done that, you can pause OneDrive syncing and/or cancel the current sync, then unlink OneDrive entirely.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/office/how-to-cancel-or-stop-sync-in-onedrive-4885c27e-3d89-4d69-be75-2646c71367d3

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/turn-off-disable-or-uninstall-onedrive-f32a17ce-3336-40fe-9c38-6efb09f944b0

Before getting rid of OneDrive entirely, check the location of your Documents directory, and if it's stored in OneDrive by default, move it back to your computer.  The same instructions as before apply here:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/74952-move-location-documents-folder-windows-10-a.html

In this case, you'd be changing the location from something with OneDrive in the file path to C:\Users\[your username]\Documents , or to your other internal drive if that's what you prefer.