Sims 3: Mods folder & mods not working

@CatSimmer123  Please post a screenshot of the contents of the folder that contains your mods, as in, I'd like to see the list of mods themselves.  Include the address bar, above the list of files and folders, in the screenshot.  From your description, I'd guess everything is fine on this end, but it's always better to be thorough, and a new pair of eyes can't hurt.

Please also let me know what kind of install this is—EA App, disc, Steam, something else—and what game version shows in the lower-left corner of the launcher.

EA App install, running 1.69. 

I really appreciate your help, thank you for this 🙂

Update: I'm noticing you can't expand these, so I'm just attaching them here. 

@CatSimmer123  How did you move the Sims 3 folder to E: by moving all of Documents to E through the Windows option, by using a symbolic link, or something else?  (I realize your other files work but am trying to cover all bases.)  Is E an internal drive or external device, and if external, what format does it have?

Additionally, if you use a third-party app or Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access, please set exceptions for TS3.exe and EADesktop.exe.  It would be best to download a fresh copy of one mod and test it after setting the exceptions.

I actually don’t exactly remember the details, but it’s an SSD that I linked through properties of the .exe file.

It’s been that way for years and has always worked just fine, but I was having issues with the launcher and renamed the entire folder as a backup and put the old mods into the new, fresh folder and it seems that that’s when it got messed up. 

All files related to EA are checked as exceptions to defender & antivirus. 

From what I see in the screenshot 3, the resource.cfg file is in the Packages folder.

It should be in the main Mods folder. - See attached screenshot.

Also the smooth patch files (ld_SmoothPatch.package and ld_SmoothPatch_MasterController.package should not be in the main Sims 3 folder. These files can be either removed or placed in the Package folder. Depending on if you're using Nraas Mods or not. From what I have read it's best to remove them if using Nraas Mods.

Checked and realised that weirdly, I had those files in the correct place and ALSO as duplicates in the packages/mods folder! Thanks for catching that.

I did try to run the game again to no avail; the intro is still playing and none of my other package files are showing up. 

Apologies for my poor formatting: got thru to the initial menu and crashed upon scrolling through my installed worlds. No idea if this is relevant, but I figured I'd attach the exception file just in case. The world I had highlighted at the time the game crashed was Oaksoak Hollow. I figured it's likely just a corrupted or buggy file so I deleted it, but hey, the more info the better. The earlier attachment (marked #1) is another exception generated after I closed the game without a crash, which I thought might help identify the mod folder issue, or at least narrow it down. 

@CatSimmer123  The crash logs don't say anything useful here, which is typical of these files.  It reports an access violation, which is too generic to be any help here, and you already know the cause anyway.

As an experiment, please move or rename the Sims 3 user folder (again) and open the launcher to spawn a clean folder.  Download one Sims3Pack that's not from the Store or Exchange, and manually move it to DCCache within the new folder.  It's important to move it manually rather than double-clicking to install because the point here is to see whether the download shows in the launcher.

I'd also like a bit more info on how this setup works.  Search Windows for Command Prompt, open it, and enter this command:

reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal"

Then post the results.