Restarting computer

[ryanrossl0ver]

Hi! I apologize I don’t know how to use the topic bar. Yet, anyways.

I have had my sims on my computer ever since I had bought it, last year around July 4th. I have never had any problems with it (except for the occasional glitching and slowness of the game). Just recently, I don’t know what happened at all (since I’m NOT the best with computers) but my computer went through an update and deleted basically all my folders and everything, and it unfortunately deleted my sims 3 save folder. I have never had this problem before and I don’t know how to fix it. Is it my computer or is it the sims 3? 

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@ryanrossl0ver  There are any number of reasons folders can disappear during an update, from malware to the OS changing a setting to move the contents of Documents to cloud storage.  And of course, if someone else uses the computer, they could have accidentally deleted your content.  Without knowing what kind of update happened, it's just speculation.

A good place to start is by checking your cloud storage (OneDrive in Windows, iCloud in macOS) for a Sims 3 folder.  If you find one, you can disable cloud syncing and move your folder back to Documents\Electronic Arts on your machine.

If this isn't the issue, it would be helpful to know what kind of update this is.  And did you happen to set up a new user account, or choose to restore your current one to some default?

This is almost certainly about your computer, not Sims 3.  The game can fail to load or even display corrupt saves, but it won't delete its own user content folder or any folders inside it, and it certainly can't delete unrelated content you have elsewhere on your computer.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@ryanrossl0ver  There are any number of reasons folders can disappear during an update, from malware to the OS changing a setting to move the contents of Documents to cloud storage.  And of course, if someone else uses the computer, they could have accidentally deleted your content.  Without knowing what kind of update happened, it's just speculation.

A good place to start is by checking your cloud storage (OneDrive in Windows, iCloud in macOS) for a Sims 3 folder.  If you find one, you can disable cloud syncing and move your folder back to Documents\Electronic Arts on your machine.

If this isn't the issue, it would be helpful to know what kind of update this is.  And did you happen to set up a new user account, or choose to restore your current one to some default?

This is almost certainly about your computer, not Sims 3.  The game can fail to load or even display corrupt saves, but it won't delete its own user content folder or any folders inside it, and it certainly can't delete unrelated content you have elsewhere on your computer.

[ryanrossl0ver]

@puzzlezaddict It just automatically sent me to a new user, even after I signed in. Deleted my background and my sims 3 saved files after the update and it does it EVERY time I shut down my computer down. I don’t understand, I’ll try to find the save files from my cloud.

[ryanrossl0ver]

@puzzlezaddict I’ll also try to find the update, don’t know how to find it. It’s an hp laptop, if that helps any!

[ryanrossl0ver]

@puzzlezaddict 2 problems. A.) it literally says I haven’t updated it since last yr around December, and b.) i never set up anything about restoring my history so I lost everything and I’ll continue to lose everything. Thank u for the help, I jus won’t play it anymore. It ain’t worth it (:

[roberta591]

@ryanrossl0ver   Sims 3 does not support cloud storage. Windows 10 has a function that can sync a users files with other computers. Microsoft wants you to use this feature because they built data centers for cloud storage. This features involves the movement of user files to another location in preparation to sync. This is one possibility. Is Sims 3 registered in Origin? It needs to be if the installation files were 2012 or newer. It should be at version 1.69 which is an Origin only patch. You need to check if your operating system is up to date. Then have you downloaded and run the Sims 3 manual 1.67 patch?

add: You wouldn't be running the game from a usb drive?

[puzzlezaddict]

@ryanrossl0ver  Sorry for the late reply.

Are you saying that your computer created a new user account for you, or is even generating a new one each time you login?  That would be very strange.  But it would also explain your disappearing Sims files: the Documents folder, which contains the Sims 3 game folder, is specific to each Windows user.  So even if your saves were intact in your original user account, you wouldn't be able to see them unless you signed into that account.

If you'd like to keep troubleshooting, let me know.  I understand how discouraging this would be, but there should be a way to fix it.