Re: EA App states game is already running when it's not

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

Thank you for your response. I tried all these and still yielding the same result ☹️

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Please try playing in a new admin Windows account.  Make it local, as in, don't link it with your Microsoft account.  You'll be able to open the EA App and (try to) launch Sims 4 without reinstalling anything, but your saves and other user content won't be available.  That can be addressed later; for now, just let me know whether this works.

Sorry for the delayed response on this. I attempted your suggestion and switching profiles seemed to fix the issue. Is there anyway I can have this working on my main profile on the device? 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  It's sometimes difficult to fix this kind of issue, but one thing you can try is running the takeown command on your Documents folder.  You're going to use this command:

takeown /F "C:\Users\username\Documents"

Write your actual username for this Windows account (your main one) instead of username.  Since the syntax needs to be exactly right, please copy this command to a Notepad file, substitute in your username, and then copy that string when you're ready to use it.  Hit Windows key-X and choose either "PowerShell (Administrator)" or "Windows Terminal (Administrator)," whichever option is offered, paste the command into the window, and enter.

Then restart your computer and try again to play.

If OneDrive is syncing the contents of Documents on this computer, please let me know.  To find out, right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of your screen, if it's present, and select Settings > Backup > Manage Backup.  Don't change any settings; just let me know whether OneDrive is backing up Documents or not.

Hi @puzzlezaddict 
So I tried your latest suggestion and it’s still giving me the same message when I attempt to launch the game. ☹️ 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Is OneDrive syncing Documents?  I do have another suggestion you could try, but I need to know beforehand whether OneDrive is in the picture.

@puzzlezaddict 
I’ve had One Drive disabled so no documents or anything is syncing 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Okay, please create a new folder on the root level of the drive of your choice, called Documents (exactly that, nothing else in the name).  So C:\Documents would be fine, but not C:\some name\Documents.  Use the built-in Windows process for moving the location of Documents as described here (option one):

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/move-or-restore-default-location-of-documents-folder-in-windows-11.8708/#One

If you get an error when trying this, let me know what it says.

@puzzlezaddict 

I attempted your suggestion and followed the steps shown in Option One but received this message: "Can't move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access is denied." 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Okay, let's see what Windows thinks is the full file path to the Documents folder.  Search in Windows for "command prompt," open it, and enter this:

reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal"

Please post the results here.

@puzzlezaddict 

Sorry for the delayed response. I followed your instructions and it shows C:\Users\LadyLucinaTwitch\OneDrive\Documents as the full file path for Documents. I'm a bit confused since I had disabled OneDrive on my PC. 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  It sounds like OneDrive decided to reenable itself at some point.  This might have happened after a Windows update, with the screen showing you some prompt about backing up your files.  The error you mentioned when trying to move the location of Documents is common when OneDrive is involved.  At any rate, please follow these instructions for disabling OneDrive, or at least its control of Documents:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370#Remove

You'll also see a registry-related method.  This is safe to use in that Microsoft says it won't break anything, but it would be best to try to change OneDrive's settings first.  And once you've moved the locations of Documents, Pictures, and Desktop, if that's what you want to do, signing out of OneDrive will disable it.  You can double-check your work by running the same command.

Once you've done that, it's worth trying to play Sims 4 before moving the location of Documents a second time, as in, try it when the location is Users > your username > Documents.  That might well work, and in that case, it would be unnecessary to move the folder again.