December 2019 - last edited December 2019
I'm about to scream and cry and jump off a cliff. I accidentally logged into an alt account and had to struggle to get back out. when I got into my main account, I tried playing Sims 4. However, every freaking time I asked it to update, it would just go 'YOU NEED TO HAVE YOUR COMPUTER'S PERMISSION, CLICK RETRY TO GET THE PROMPT. And yet, the prompt never comes, it never updates, and I'm stuck outside my favorite game forever. Please, please, how can I fix this?! I'd so, so so love some help, thanks!
(Also, sometimes it'll *repair* but it never gets ANYTHING done, as shown in the screenshot posted. I took that after AN HOUR had passed with me waiting for it. Help! Also, I got a screenshot of the main issue itself)
(EDIT: a THIRD issue, it won't let me log off. It always crashes when I try! IO seriously need help!!!!!!!)
Solved! Go to Solution.
December 2019
@LoveisLove767 A clean boot wouldn't affect your other content, and you wouldn't be opening any of your other projects anyway. So you wouldn't change any of the data already installed or saved on your computer. You'd just clean boot, download the update, undo the clean boot settings, and continue normally.
If you want though, you can use the clean boot approach but only disable the Origin Client Service and the Origin Web Helper Service. That seems to do the trick for at least some of the people with this issue.
December 2019
@LoveisLove767 For the issues with repairing and signing out, try clearing Origin's cache. If that doesn't work, clear its cache again and then uninstall Origin "the hard way" and reinstall.
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/
For the inability to download the update, try a clean boot. It's possible the repair will only work in a clean boot too, although that's usually not necessary.
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10
The lack of a permission prompt is a known issue, and EA_Tom is looking into it. Regardless of whether the clean boot works, it would be helpful if you could generate an Origin error report and post the report number in the master thread for this issue. More instructions are here:
December 2019
But will I lose all my mods and games if I do all this? It would take me hours to redownload them all!
December 2019
@LoveisLove767 No, you won't lose anything. Uninstalling Origin doesn't touch your installed games.
It's a good idea to back up your user generated content regularly anyway. Your saves, builds, mods, etc. are all located in your Sims 4 game folder in Documents\Electronic Arts. You can copy the entire folder (right-click and select Copy) to somewhere else on your computer (right-click where you want it and select Paste), or to an external hard drive or USB stick. That way, you'll always have a backup if you need it.
December 2019
Thank you so much! How long should it take me? I'm already on my way doing it, but I'm just curious.
December 2019
@LoveisLove767 That depends on the speed of your hard drive, and how comfortable you are navigating the files and folders described. It's not that long a process though, certainly in the order of minutes rather than an hour.
December 2019
Heya. i'm back, and with another concern. I'm SERIOUSLY hesitant to preform a clean boot. I have MANY personal projects and saved games on my PC, and I'm worried that I'll losr or corrupt all of them if I clean boot. I'm sorry to be paranoid, but I just can't risk it!
December 2019
@LoveisLove767 A clean boot wouldn't affect your other content, and you wouldn't be opening any of your other projects anyway. So you wouldn't change any of the data already installed or saved on your computer. You'd just clean boot, download the update, undo the clean boot settings, and continue normally.
If you want though, you can use the clean boot approach but only disable the Origin Client Service and the Origin Web Helper Service. That seems to do the trick for at least some of the people with this issue.