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ladee3061's avatar
ladee3061
12 years ago

Sims 3 Error: Service initialization failed (0x039e8474)

I know this question has been posted a ton of times in a ton of places already, but I've tried so many things that have been suggested, and none of them have worked.

After updating my game to the latest patch, (1.67) My game keeps beginning to load up, but then I get a frozen black screen, and the Service Initialization Failed error, and I have no idea what to do. I have already tried:

  • Clearing the game's cache or whatever it's called
  • Restored my computer to a previous point in time
  • Removing all CC and Mods
  • Moving the Sims 3 folder to the desktop and launching the game
  • Reinstalled origin
  • Clearing Registry with CCleaner

I've tried to uninstall and re-install the base game, but it won't work. I currently have Late Night and Supernatural installed, along with outdoor life stuff and CAW. The expansion packs and stuff packs uninstalled and re-installed fine, but nothing happened. I have no idea what to do, and I need to fix this soon because I'm planning on using the sims 3 for an RME project, which counts as my exam. If more details are needed, just ask.

pc
technical issues

5 Replies

  • roberta591's avatar
    roberta591
    Hero (Retired)
    12 years ago

    Do you have mods? You can only have one core mod at a time. uninstall CAW and try the game. I you moved the user files and still have the problem that indicates an issue with the basic installation. What antivirus do you have?

  • ladee3061's avatar
    ladee3061
    12 years ago

    The only mod that I still have isntalled is the hidden skills mod. Looking at my computer now, I remembered that I did already uninstall CAW, just because I couldn't be bothered with making worlds until I'd become familiar with all the controls and stuff by wathcing videos. I've got Norton Antivirus on my laptop just now, and it does a lot of frequent scans. It's always told me if any downloads were safe or not. I don't think I touched any of the User Files, but I'm not actually sure what those are. I haven't move any files around that I remember of, though.

  • roberta591's avatar
    roberta591
    Hero (Retired)
    12 years ago

    Can you disable the antivirus while playing the game? I use Microsoft Security Essentials and have no problems and it works well and it's free. I am unfamiliar with the hidden skills mods so I don't know how that effects the game or needs to be updated when there is a game patch. Did you try resetting the game? Here is a link - reset game This will tell you if user data is causing the trouble or the game files are corrupt.

  • ladee3061's avatar
    ladee3061
    12 years ago

    I tried disabling the antivirus, which didn't work. My computer already has Microsoft Defender installed already, but I got Norton as a free trial. The Hidden skills mod is used by a lot of people, and doesn't cause any problems that I know of that stop the game from working. I tried resetting the game following the instructions, but that didn't work either.

  • roberta591's avatar
    roberta591
    Hero (Retired)
    12 years ago

    If the reset didn't work that means something is corrupting the game files. This type of error means the application can't find a file like a .dll file. This is usually caused by something blocking or corrupting the installation. Sometimes a manual uninstall and reinstall will fix this problem. Did you enable .net framework in windows features?

    Using restore should be the absolute last thing to use if all else has failed as at this point you don't knowwhat was restored.

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