Re: sims 4 doesn't load my games or Sims; acts like a totally new game?

@76345a  Lots of people have had OneDrive issues of some kind, and usually the easiest intervention is to disable it entirely.  If you don't want to do that, you can instead tell it to stop syncing the contents of Documents:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/choose-which-onedrive-folders-to-sync-to-your-computer-98b8b011-8b94-419b-aa95-a14ff2415e85

Please also let me know whether your system's Documents directory is pointing to OneDrive.  Open a File Explorer window, right-click on Documents in the left panel, select Properties > Location, and you'll see a file path that does or does not include OneDrive.

Just to clarify... PDPDPD is me     pdpdp is One Drive 

Quick Access Documents : NO  points to E:\GAME BACKUPS FROM PDPDPD\pdpdp

this location is on my backup drive

"This PC": E:\GAME BACKUPS FROM PDPDPD\pdpdp\pdpdp\OneDrive

One Drive Documents : C:\Users\pdpdp\OneDrive and shares with \\SIMS\Users\pdpdp\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts 

so it is sharing with itself?

C:\Users\PDPDPD\Documents\  Unsure because it has a sharing                 with \\SIMS\Users\PDPDPD\Documents but no location tab

C:\Users\pdpdp\Documents no location but apparently shares with itself: \\SIMS\Users\pdpdp

So both versions on C: are not communicating.

E:\Game Backups from PDPDPD\pdpdp\pdpdp\OneDrive\Documents  this is a back up drive does that count?  I have several pretty much redundant backups of TS4 on my E: drive.

I like One Drive in that it gives me a terrabyte storage but actually don't like it gobbling my Sims files, as they are ever changing. 

I hope you can figure it out, puzzle lover... it certainly IS a puzzle!

Ea has been sorely lacking with finding out what's wrong.  Last night I waited for 3 1/2 hours for them to call me, gave up! went to bed cross-eyed!

Hopefully I will be better tonight.  Going to read that article you sent now. 🙂  Really, thank you so much.  I'm glad you took this on.

Also included with thos unexractables were localthumbcache and  localthumbcache-sims...I will look and see if there are backups anywhere 

@76345a  This kind of sounds like a mess, to be honest.  Some of it is normal, e.g. OneDrive pointing to or sharing with a couple different locations.  Some of it seems unnecessarily convoluted.  I can try to unpack it with you if you'd like, but the easiest solution might be to create a new admin account and move your files to that one.  That way, you can set it up exactly as you'd like, in terms of both Documents itself and OneDrive, rather than trying to untangle this mess.

Just to be clear, something like this:

---

C:\Users\pdpdp\Documents no location but apparently shares with itself: \\SIMS\Users\pdpdp

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doesn't mean the Documents folder is sharing with itself, it means it's apparently sharing with or pointing to some other folder in a separate directory you've created and labeled SIMS.  Perhaps it's on your external drive?

The files you tried to extract are not meant to be read by anything except Sims 4.  They're also irrelevant in that the game will create or recreate them as necessary.

Well, as far as I can see, it's when I did the TS4 update that really messed things up with the green dot and having to sign out to get out of the game.

I had all my sims sorted out well and sent a bunch of them through university ☹️  the houses that I built! arrrrrrrgh!

I will try to stop One Drive from saving and Sims games.

I am so depressed. You can imagine.

I'm glad the files I tried to extract are not extractable!

It's OneDrive. Business applications are not meant to be on gaming machines.

It should have been choosable, not mandatory. I'm 71 I really don't need this mess!

So you think I should just start over again?

Yikes.

If you have any ideas, please write them here.

Thanks for trying.

@76345a  I'm not suggesting you start over with your content, or with a new OneDrive/Microsoft account.  My suggestion for a new user account was so that you'd have all default settings and could configure them in a simpler way than your current setup.  The process would be something like this:

• Create new local account on your computer (i.e. don't sign into Microsoft or anything else)
• Launch Sims 4 once, confirm that user folder is in Documents > Electronic Arts where it should be
• Sign into OneDrive and configure its settings so that it's not allowed to automatically sync Sims 4 content
• If you want, move the Documents directory elsewhere
• Launch Sims 4 again, create a save, and make sure that save lands in the correct location
• Move your existing saves and Tray files to the new account

If you'd rather not do all of this though, we can try to work through your current setup.  It's your choice, obviously, since it's your computer.  And I understand why you'd like OneDrive, but at this point, allowing it to automatically sync anything at all can be more trouble than it's worth.  So even if it's less convenient, it's probably better to at least block it from touching your Sims 4 folder.  You can of course set it up to sync other folders, that's not difficult, and you can manually sync your game content whenever you want.

Ok I have been fiddling around a bit....

I asked Origin to repair my TS4 and lo and behold it gave me this: 

"We detected that the Content Delivery Network used to deliver your game content has a local IP. This can happen when you are using a local cache server to distribute game content locally, for example at LAN parties. In order for local caching to function, you must first disable TLS encryption between Origin and the CDN,  Disabling TLS means your game content is delivered insecurely.  If you are not part of a LAN gaming event or host a local CDN cache server, we do not recommend you do this unless you understand the risks TLSfor game downloads will remain desabled until they are manually reset, or when    Origin client is restarted or a change in network connection is detected.  You can also change this setting manually by navigating to Application Settings>Diagnostics>Troubleshooting.Safe mode downloading." 

Then it gives me a choice to disable safe downloads or "Not Now" 

So if the downloading is coming from my MS OneDrive accountwhich is presumably safe and I do not stray from the game and reset this thingamabob after playing....?  What do you think?

How to set up the account without using Microsoft?

Ok I got through the first part of creating a new local user account...! 

But I will pick this up again tomorrow. 

Thanks for your continued affort to help! It is Very Much Appreciated!!!

@76345a  The message you saw when repairing has to do with an Origin feature that lets people cache downloaded files within a local network, as you might see at a LAN party where a number of people need to download the same game in a short period of time.  I don't know why you'd see the message on your own computer unless somehow OneDrive is caching Sims 4's program files, which it shouldn't do.  The files need to be installed on your hard drive, and you don't need your own backup: you can always redownload those files from Origin if necessary.

Anyway, if you're creating the new user account, all this is moot, or it should be.  Let me know how it goes.

Hi puzzle lover

I did put a new local user on as administrator without MS. That action sounded better than it was… my pin for my primary username was taken away and I don’t know if I have the MS password to get it back 😱

So my new entity has no desktop to speak of and no internet access. And I can’t login to my first user account. What now?

@76345a  Strange that the PIN for the first account wouldn't work, I mean it wouldn't work in the second account, that's the point of making it a local account, but the first one shouldn't be affected.  Regardless, if you can't remember your Microsoft password, you should be able to reset it easily enough:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/account-billing/reset-a-forgotten-microsoft-account-password-eff4f067-5042-c1a3-fe72-b04d60556c37

You just need a device with internet access—even a smartphone should be fine—and a way to get into the inbox of the email linked to the account.

The new admin account should still have internet access even if you don't sign into any Microsoft services.  My accounts are all local, no OneDrive or other syncing for me, and it's never been a problem.

I did … can’t get online. Going to switch to a wired connection …. This is awful. I’ve been on the phone to my isp they couldn’t do anything. So no internet now. I am reduced to using my

 phone for wifi.  Still can’t get into primary account. Changed my pw for MS and chatted with them for a while like 2 hours…. They couldn’t help because .. no internet!!! 
I will keep you posted but it may be a long while…..☹️

My computer does not work at all now. 
it has power because it starts. My monitor is working because it says there is no signal to it. I am not sure if it boots… it comes on then a red light appears. Maybe my video card?

I am having the geek squad over to see what they can do for it. Maybe the hard drive? Maybe they will have to reinstall Windows? Maybe a virus?
Well, that’s my weekend and last couple days for now. Argh 😖 

Ok got it fixed.   The Geek Squad came and reinstalled windows. 

I was still having problems though.... the trouble seemed to stem from the files in my Sims 4 folder.  

I had three of each file, for instance avatarcache, clientDB, files that regenerate when you play  etc....  had avatarcache-Sims,  clientDB-Sims

etc.  I deleted the extra files from my game files and VOILA!  

I reinstalled Origin I repaired my game BUT

I also added nother drive to my computer that I can turn on and off so when I play the game I immediately back it up then turn it off. I have secrity

knowing the game is backed up where Onedrive cannot touch it ( I pause Onedrive before I back it up)  What a difference!!

I can actually build now, build and edit etc.  Most of my characters and buildings that were stored in my gallery are now showing up too .!!

@76345a  I'm glad to hear the Geek Squad fixed it.  I was hoping that the in-person visit would be more useful than I could be over the internet.

The extra files in the Sims 4 folder may have been due to OneDrive syncing back and forth, and deleting the files would definitely help.  And yes, a physical local drive is much better than automatic cloud storage.

Hopefully your game is stable now.