Re: Any ideas on how to stop auto downloads
unfortuntely, Origin has a mind of it's own and tries to download them at any opportunity it gets. You can try to turn off automatic updates in Origin: https://crinrict.com/blog/2014/08/origin-turning-automatic-updates-on-off.html but each time you patch the game manually, it will try to download them again.
Cancel them as soon as you see Origin doing it. I'm also unsure of turning off automatic updates is enough.
You could also disable the packs but that won't help with freeing up disc space: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2017/03/disable-single-packs/
