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din0ra1te's avatar
din0ra1te
Rising Newcomer
8 months ago

There was an error during startup. Please see the Log for more details.

The base game does not work. It still throws the same startup error every time.

Full uninstall and reinstall of EA App and The Sims 3 (multiple times). Deleted all remaining folders (Program Files, Documents......). Used both C and D drives. Tried launching without expansion packs. I  used the Alder Lake fix for newer CPUs (also failed). Registry cleanup via Regedit. Just launching the base game causes the same error... It still throws the same startup error every time. My PC is strong, I have enough space and all drivers are updated.

I have purchased The Sims 3 Seasons and base game key code, but I can't even get the base game to work. Please help me fix this.. I don't know what to do, i did everything i could, i read today (ALL DAY) every forum, i watched every video with this problem and still the same startup error.

2 Replies

  • din0ra1te​  Given what you've done so far, I'd suggest the next best thing to the nuclear option (wiping your computer, which I'm NOT suggesting at this point).  Please uninstall the game and the EA App as described here:

    [Read First] Running Sims 3 in Windows | EA Forums - 8323446

    Before reinstalling, do a repair install of Windows:

    https://www.elevenforum.com/t/repair-install-windows-11-with-an-in-place-upgrade.418/

    AND create a new admin Windows account and install the game there.  Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address.  You can skip that step if you keep declining.

    Create a new folder into which you'll install Sims 3.  The folder should be on the root level of the drive of your choice, for example C:\Games is fine, but not C:\Program Files\Games.

    Finally, if you use a third-party antivirus, disable it (temporarily of course) before installing Sims 3, and don't reenable it until you've tested the game once.   As long as you don't do anything else at the same time, your computer should be safe, and you can reenable the AV and set exceptions for TS3.exe and TS3Launcher.exe, plus EADesktop.exe for the EA App.

    I'm not saying you need to do all of this, but you might as well just to be thorough.

    Please do NOT run the Alder Lake patch again.  It's unnecessary for an EA App install, as EA fixed the issue a few months ago.  And for other types of installs, it's still required, but running it does occasionally produce an error of some kind.

  • Diane362's avatar
    Diane362
    Seasoned Newcomer
    7 months ago

    Have you tried moving the EA/Sims 3 folder to your desktop? That’s all I did and it worked.