Breh! What is really going on with Origin and the Sims 3 launcher?(2020)

[MissJag93]

Origin keeps saying it needs to update and to "restart", yet never really updates. 

Just repeating the same message any time I launch Origin.

Now, not only with the Sims 3 launcher not download content, it won't launch to play the game AT ALL. 🙄🙄🙄😒 Aggy asf for real. Origin is slippin'.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@MissJag93  Okay, did you ever move your Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and let the game generate a new one?  If not, please try it now.

Please also disable Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then Origin in-game, and disable the option right at the top.

And clear the cache for Internet Explorer.  Even if you never use it, the launcher does for some purposes.  Be sure to uncheck the box to preserve data for favorite sites.

https://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=15141

If these steps don't make a difference, please try playing while your computer is not connected to the internet.  Sign into Origin first, then put it in offline mode, and disable wifi or pull the ethernet cable.

[MissJag93]

Sighs....again with this annoying launcher. It won't download any content whether custom or from the Sims 3 store.

At first it seems as if it will, when the progress box pops up. But only after a few seconds does it cut off or crash.

Nothing gets downloaded. Oh, I even deleted whatever history/cookies/cache on Internet Explorer. Didn't help matters.

Anyone else with this issue? 

[puzzlezaddict]

@MissJag93  Please use either Firefox or Internet Explorer to download the content; these two work better with the store than other browsers.

If that doesn't help, please move your entire Sims 3 user data folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to create a clean folder, and try to download just one store item into that folder, again using either Firefox or IE.  Let me know whether it works, and if it does, whether the item installs properly and appears in-game.

[puzzlezaddict]

@MissJag93  Please clear Origin's cache, then uninstall it "the hard way."

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/manually-uninstalling-origin/

Restart your computer, install Origin, and let me know if you still get an error.

For the Sims 3 launcher, please test it after Origin is working.  The Origin issue alone could explain why the game isn't working.  If it doesn't, please move your entire Sims 3 user data folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, then try again.  If that doesn't help either, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

[MissJag93]

@puzzlezaddict  Where is the 'Sims 3 user data folder' located exactly? Thank you.

[puzzlezaddict]

@MissJag93  I meant the "The Sims 3" folder that contains your user data, as opposed to the "The Sims 3" folder that contains the game's program files.  The user data folder is in Documents\Electronic Arts.

[MissJag93]

@puzzlezaddict Okay, so I cleared the cache for Origin. Uninstalled, then reinstalled. Nothing worked. The Sims 3 launcher still won't download anything, nor start the game. The ONLY difference I've noticed with Origin after the cache clean and reinstall, is that the "update" message is no longer there.

[puzzlezaddict]

@MissJag93  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

[MissJag93]

@puzzlezaddict 

What is this supposed to show exactly besides computer information?

[puzzlezaddict]

@MissJag93  The dxdiag shows a lot of basic information, not only hardware but drivers and their dates, free storage, that kind of thing.  It also shows the last ten Windows errors, or rather a subset of them.  Like this one:

Windows Error Reporting:
+++ WER0 +++:
Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: TS3.exe
P2: 0.2.0.32
P3: 568d4bac
P4: MSVCR80.dll
P5: 8.0.50727.9659
P6: 5c7d6589
P7: c0000005
P8: 0001500a
P9: 
P10: 

Sims 3 (the Origin version) crashed, and MSVCR80.dll was involved.  (There are a number of identical crashes listed.)  That's part of the 2005 Visual C++ runtime, which the game uses.  It's best to uninstall the runtime and download a new one directly from Microsoft.

Hit Windows key-i, select Apps, and scroll down the list to Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable.  Click on the x86 version—if you have two versions, leave the x64 alone—and select Uninstall.  Then download a new one from Microsoft:

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26347

You only need to install the x86 version.  Restart your computer, and test the game.