I don't know if the launcher deletes the file after it's done.
Here are the links to the current manual patches: http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2012/08/patch-1-38.html
If you need to reinstall the game, get the super patch but it's 1.1 GB big in size.
Screenshots might help me determine whether it is a game message or if something is going on with your Windows system. Best thing to do is upload the screenshots to some file sharing sites like imageshack or photobucket and post the links here.
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