Sims 3 unknown, really odd sound glitch

@ashleena123  I read your posts on the Sims forums, and I'm stumped too; I've never heard of a sound glitch that persisted in a clean folder.  I have the same questions igazor does though—are you sure you don't have a second game folder somewhere?  The easiest way to find out is to type "deviceconfig" (without quotes) into the search bar in a File Explorer window.  Each game folder will have exactly one, and the modified date (right-click and select Properties) will match the last time the game folder was used.  So you can easily figure out which one TS3 is reading.

If you find multiple folders, rename them all before launching the game again.  Something simple, like game folder 1, game folder 2, etc. will work.  The game won't be able to use a renamed folder, so it will create a new one.  You'll know it's a new folder because none of your saves will be present, and when you load a new town, you'l be in the tutorial again, with limited options for what you can do.  (It's easy to exit the tutorial: just go to Edit Town.)

If the trash compactor issue persists even in a completely clean folder, one that you're sure has no trace of your earlier data, then the only option might be to not use that compactor.  I'll ask around if there's another solution, but I can't think of anything else.

Thank you for the reply. 

I did find a "deviceconfig" file indeed however that's where I'm kind of stuck. There is only one of this file in my Documents/ Sims3 main folder. Upon opening, I see tons of details, which exactly do I need? Also, what do you mean by multiple folders (I mean where exactly)? 

I'm sorry I'm not too good at these sort of things... But I'm willing to learn if could explain to me, I'd really appreciate it. 🙂

About the last part: I tried using different trash compactors but the result is the same. No matter which one I buy, the game links the sound with the sims instead of the compactor itself. Basically like sims were the trash compactors yet the devices remain silent... 

@ashleena123  Your game folder should have exactly one deviceconfig.  The idea is that if you have more than one game folder, each one will have its own deviceconfig, so searching for that file will show you where the other folder(s) might be.  When you search in File Explorer, how many of the files do you see?

And you don't need to open the files.  Just right-click on them, select Properties, and get the last modified dates.  The date and time of the one the game is using will match the last time you opened TS3.  Let me know which file that is, as in, where it is on your computer.  It should be in Documents\Electronic Arts, but I'm asking about the part before that, where it might say C:\Users\[username], or something else.

I checked my "deviceconfig" file. It says it was made on 15th May, 9:11:12 PM. Modified date is 16th May, 1:38:57 AM. 

The next I checked was my whole, main folder of Sims3 that contains saved sims etc and is located on my drive "C" / Documents folder. This one only lists the day is was created which is 15th May, 22:35:22 PM. (the whole main folder)

Upon opening File Explorer, I see only one deviceconfig. 

So basically this file is located in c:\Users\(username)\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims3

Upon scrolling down I can find the file "deviceconfig". 

Is this how it should look like? Or did I miss something else? I hope I got it right. Don't know what's next though.

@ashleena123  Alright, if that's the only deviceconfig you can find, then your game folder situation is as it should be.  (You wouldn't believe the places that folder can land sometimes.)  So just move the entire TS3 folder to your desktop, not parts of it, but the whole thing.  Then launch the game again, start a new save, and experiment with a trash compactor.  Let me know how it goes.

If you still get errors, please run a dxdiag and attach it here.  There aren't many system errors that would cause an issue like this (or maybe none), but it doesn't hurt to look.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

I followed your instructions, whole folder moved to desktop. Glitch is still present. Not surprised.

Next thing I did was launching dxdiag. Followed every step, now attaching results. 

I'm really, really clueless. This is just simply weird and makes no sense at all. My computer is hardly 2 years old, completly only used for gaming. 

@ashleena123  There's nothing that stands out in your dxdiag, and your computer is perfectly capable of running TS3, as you probably already know.  It's still possible that there's an issue with the game's program files, even though a reinstall should have fixed it (and even though sound issues are almost always due to a problem with the user game folder).

You can try repairing the game in Steam, just to see if it helps.  In your Steam library, right-click on the Sims 3 listing on the left, and select Properties.  Under the Local Files tab, click "verify integrity of files."  Make sure that your existing game folder, the one you moved to test on a clean folder, is still somewhere else on your computer, not in Documents\EA, so the repair can't affect it.

One other thing you can try is a clean boot.  Here's how:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

Open only TS3, not even Steam, and see if if makes a difference, again in a clean folder.

I could follow up to the point where you said to open only the Sims 3 without Steam. How can I do that? I tried searching for a launcher file but found none. Sorry for the trouble, I guess I need more explaining. Sigh.

(I got to admit I'm pretty upset at this point. Like it just doesn't want to work at all.)

@ashleena123  You can launch TS3 directly by double-clicking TS3W.exe (with the "W") in the game's program files, or you can create a desktop shortcut to the file and use that to launch TS3.  Here's where to find the file:

Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\game\bin

Right-click on the file and select "create shortcut" if you want a desktop shortcut.  From now on, you won't need to open Steam at all, unless you reinstall the game or download another pack.

Wow, I don't have anything like that. So that's why I couldn't find it.

Mine looks like this:

Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist - from here, there are 2 folders. One is called "DirectX" while the other is called "vcredist". These folders contain more files but none of them seems to be related to Sims3. 

I attached a quick screenshot compilation to make it more clear. That's odd...