Windows 11 and CC Magic Issues

kjesmer​  This depends on what's in each folder.  If they contain too many files for screenshots, I can suggest a workaround to see what's duplicated.  But first, do you have any files in DCCache that end in .dbc or .ebc?  If so, does it help to remove all of them?  What about files in Mods > Packages?

Thank you, Puzzle. I have one item in Mods that ends in .dbc. Nothing else in either Mods or Packages. Can I delete that? I'd love the workaround tip as, although I deleted many items, I still have a large list that requires a double screenshot to get everything. And I'm trying to clean out things I don't like anymore or use. There are sets I've downloaded that I only use, ie: bed, dresser and end table but nothing else from the set. So I cleaned those out in the regular Sims3 Launcher.  

kjesmer​  The .dbc and .ebc files go in DCCache, directly inside the Sims 3 folder, not in Mods.  These are the bundles of content you've installed through the launcher.  CCMagic may duplicate some of this data, which is why I was asking what's in DCCache.

The thing about detecting duplicates is there's really only a good way to find duplicate files, not duplicate content inside different files.  For example, you could have a custom content item bundled into a .dbc file and that same item loose as a .package file in Mods\Packages.  (I know you personally do not, but you get the idea.)  So the first step here is to define where your content is coming from.

So I still think it would be useful to pull the DCCache folder and see what's duplicted and what's not.  Do the same with DCBackup, although removing it might break your Store premium content.  (The content would load in-game but not be usable.  I'm not sure whether CCMagic duplicates the file or function of ccmerged.package, but if it doesn't, you can restore this file later.)  There aren't a lot of other places for duplicate content to hide, other than inside the CCMagic folder, but if that's where your duplicates are, you might need to redo your setup.  So hopefully that's not the case.

Still in need of help, please.

kjesmer​  I'm trying to help, but I need more information, specifically about DCCache first.

The other option is to start over, with or without CCMagic.  I don't mean losing your saves, just your installed Store and custom content.

What else can I offer to help you help me? I only have three items in DCCache:  dcc.ent, dcdb0.dbc, and dcdb0.ebc. The last two are new since I deleted the one you suggested before. And now I've lost all the work my daughter did before she moved out of state with her boyfriend, so I'm trying to follow those previous directions from EA to get that set back up. Doesn't EA care that Sims3 has so many issues? I know many people still play it. My daughter set up Sims4 for me, but I find the characters a bit cartoonish. Plus, none of my favorite creators have done anything for Sims4, so the pieces I love from Sims Resource can't be duplicated into Sims4, apparently. I spent thousands over the years on this game, so I'm really sad that something I love doesn't want to work anymore. And I'm not technical enough to fix it myself. What else can I provide to you? 

kjesmer​  I wasn't telling you to delete DCCache or its contents.  I was asking you to remove it, temporarily, to see whether you still had duplicate content.  The duplicates have to be coming from somewhere, but it wasn't clear to me whether the extra copy was within CCMagic or somewhere else.

So if you still have the old DCCache folder, delete the new one and restore the old one.  But please let me know whether you have duplicates with the old DCCache folder gone.  That has been my question for a few posts now.  I'm not telling you how to fix this, I'm asking for information.

I'm also unclear what you mean when you say you lost all the work: is none of the content showing up anymore, or something else?

I apologize. I misspoke saying they were in the Mods folder. It is in DCCache. We've been moving our adult child out of state, and I've been worn out for a couple of days. Sorry.

So first, let me explain what I meant by "I lost all the work." My daughter got Sims3 to show ALL the expansion packs we purchased. Twelve in total. But now only 8 are showing up. I'm trying to go back through the notes to her from EA and restore those, but I haven't seen any results yet. Because of that, I'm missing my in-progress games, which isn't a big deal to me, but I can't even use the locations I like to play because they're missing.

Back to the DCCache. I have restored one I found in a different location. How that happened, I have no idea. It looks like I had a lone EA Folder sitting somewhere on OS (C:), and then one in the File Explorer. The only thing in the OS (C:) had the original DCCache in it, which I have moved to the EA folder in File Explorer. I set up a quick household and the dups are gone. Thank YOU!!!!

What I'd like to know is if I can clean up CCMagic (deleting things I don't use) and then download what is in CCMagic to the Launcher for Sims3? Is that going to make a mess for me, or is it possible?

kjesmer​  It is certainly possible to get rid of CCMagic and install its contents the old-fashioned way, if that's what you want to do.  Sims3Packs are placed in ...The Sims 3 > Downloads and installed through the launcher.  Files with a .package extension go into ...The Sims 3 > Mods > Packages, no installation process required.  But is this what you want?  The point of CCMagic is to make things easier to manage, and launcher-installed content in particular can be difficult and annoying.

If you don't want to use CCMagic at all anymore, what I would suggest is converting all your Sims3Pack files (excluding Store content) to .package files.  Delphy's Multi-Extractor does this, although there's a way you can without an outside tool as well, if necessary; it's just messier.

There are two reasons for this.  One is that the launcher doesn't handle large amounts of content well, so limiting what it has to display to Store items helps a lot.  The other is that .package files can be easily removed, either for testing or permanently, without touching any other content, whereas files installed through the launcher become bundles that are harder to work with and sometimes need to be deleted if one becomes corrupt or contains bad custom content.

You could delete the duplicates in CCMagic before proceeding, which is probably the easiest way to find them, but with everything in .package form, it may be simple to find the duplicates as well, depending on whether they're exactly the same files or two different forms of the same content.

So decide what you want to do, and I can help with that.  But keep in mind that a big part of the reason to use CCMagic in the first place is the ability to disable what you don't want to use at the moment, which is not possible with the other approaches.

Thank you so much for explaining that to me. I didn't realize CC Magic was still a helpful tool. I will keep it and try going through to delete things I don't want or that I don't think work well anymore. Most items in there are from SimsResource, so I think if I don't know what it is, I can look it up there. Otherwise, I think I can look in my store content to remind myself what they were. That sounds like the best way to be able to continue to play Sims3. Let me do some clean up and then get back to you. I took a couple of days away from working on it due to frustration with my launcher not showing all my expansion pack, even though EA does show them all. I'm trying to understand the directions EA previously gave my daughter to fix it since she has moved out of state now.