After a whole lot of attempts and not getting anywhere, I figured I might as well try my hand at asking for myself!
I have been getting this same error message for a few days now.
I got a new laptop recently and decided to install the EA app and The Sims 4 (unmodded). After buying myself a few things that were on sale in the store, I went to install and play the game. I didn't get very far because of this "Unable to start" message.
I have tried repairing the game, uninstalling and reinstalling the game, installing the game to different locations, uninstalling and reinstalling the EA app, repairing the EA app, installing the EA app to different places, and nothing seems to be doing the trick. I have browsed multiple places to see if anyone else has had the same problem, and followed what was recommended to them, but still got no results.
If anyone could help me with this, I'd greatly appreciate it!!!
Note: I don't have Origin on this laptop because Origin isn't really a thing anymore??? Tried installing that as well just in case that'd do anything, but it wouldn't work so I assumed that it was fully removed or whatever.
@Junillustrates If OneDrive is running on this computer, whether you use it or not, please try pausing syncing. You can find the option by right-clicking the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.
If that doesn't help, please move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. If it copies instead of moving, or you get an error when trying to move it, stop here and let me know.
Otherwise, when you launch the game, if it launches, a clean folder will spawn with no content. (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you moved but temporarily not read by the game.) Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just let me know whether you can get far enough to start a new save and play in live mode for a bit.
Hi there! The game randomly started working without me even doing anything lol
Thank you for the response!!! You're awesome!!!
I literally have been screaming at my computer and I moved the folder to my desktop and now it runs out of the blue. I hate EA so bad I don't even understand what was the problem.
Hi! I was having this problem, but I moved the file to desktop as you said and it allowed me to start up the game. How, from, this point, do i load in save files and any mods i could have installed?
@GamingManiac514 You can add your mods and custom content back now, but you'll need to sort through the files to find out which ones are broken and which are still usable. Here's a list of mods currently known to be broken:
For anything not on that list, you'll need to test yourself. The 50/50 method can make the process a lot more efficient:
https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Finding_Problem_Custom_Content#The_50.25_Method
Once you've done that, you can move over the contents of saves, Tray (saved households and builds), Screenshots and Recorded Videos if you care about those, plus the UserSetting.ini file for the login rewards. The rest can be discarded.
Hi! I understand it's been 2 years since you've said this but im having the same issue as this person did, but my folder is getting an error when i try moving it. It says "the folder or a file in it is open in another program". I installed sims 4 on steam because i was getting the same "unable to start error" on ea app and thought maybe switching to steam would fix it but it didn't obv lol. Anyway im praying you or someone sees this and helps because so far this is the closest i've seen to somebody help fix this problem for me!!
ASAPblicky010 That error usually means OneDrive has locked up the folder. Try pausing OneDrive syncing to get around it. To see the option, right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, or perhaps hidden in the Tray (^ icon).
This is my guide to dealing with OneDrive in general:
[CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 saves/user content disappearing (PC) | EA Forums - 11838402
The anchors don't work on this site (RIP AHQ), but you can use ctrl-F to navigate.
