July 2021
I just bought a new acer laptop that runs windows 10, for the soul purpose of playing the sims 3. I downloaded Origin then downloaded the sims 3 and all my expansion packs, everything went smoothly with the download. When I go to launch the game through the launcher shortcut or Origin, it won't start. I feel like I'm stuck in a loop, I'll open Origin and press play, Origin will bring up the Launcher, I'll press play on the launcher, my laptop will load for a second, then Origin will open back up without the game ever starting, and so on, and so on, endlessly. I've contacted EA once, over the phone, about this, they gave me a link to clean out my origin cache, it didn't work. I haven't been able to speak with EA help over the phone or online chat since. I'm also having a problem that could be connected to the pervious one. I cannot download custom content, it will show up in the game launcher downloads tab but won't install to the game. Please help me, I'd just like to relax and build houses again
July 2021
@marinamennear Please move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. This will remove any custom content you've downloaded, but that's the point: let's see if you can get the game running with no added content at all. (I understand the cc won't install, but it can still break the launcher just by being present.)
If the game still won't load, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
Please also let me know what antivirus you use.
July 2021
HI, so I've tried moving the folder to my desktop and sadly, that didn't fix it. I've completed the Dxdiag and attached it. I think it might also be worth mentioning that when I go into game properties and run compatibility troublershooter, it says it's an incompatible program and its bot been fixed. I appreciate the help!
July 2021
@marinamennear Please undo any compatibility setting you're using for Sims 3: the game runs fine in Windows 10. Clear Origin's cache:
https://help.ea.com/en/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/
and repair: open your Origin game library, right-click on the Sins 3 icon, and select Repair. Then try to play.
If that doesn't help, I really do need to know what antivirus you use.
July 2021
Alright, so I've completed the repair through origin as well as the clearing out the cache, neither have worked. When I press play I get the same loop of the launcher and origin opening each other, however now a window askes me if I'll allow this app to make changes to my hard drive, when I say yes the cycle just repeats. I've turned off all compatibility setting as well. As for the anti virus, I'm just using the one that comes with the laptop and the windows IOS.
July 2021
@marinamennear Please check your laptop's documentation to see whether it came pre-installed with an antivirus, which is common. You can also check the Task Manager's background processes list for anything that sounds like it might belong to an antivirus. Even if you haven't activated one, it could still be running to enough of an extent to block the game.
Please also list the patch level you see in the lower left corner of the launcher: it should be 1.69, but some people end up with a patch 0, often but not always when a certain file within the game's program files is missing or blocked. And if the prompt to allow changes to your computer is for something other than TS3.exe, please let me know what app is listed in that prompt.
Finally, please create a new admin user account on your computer and try playing in that. The name should contain only letters and numbers, no special characters, accents, etc. Make it a local account, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any of the services you normally use. You can sign into your existing Origin account and shouldn't need to redownload anything.
July 2021
alright, so I've found in the task manager that it's running an antimalware service, which is the Microsoft defender antivirus. My patch is 1.69. The file that's asking to make changes is TS3.exe. I made a new admin account, not sure if I've done it correctly, this is my first windows IOS, so there's a possibility that I did it wrong. Well in the second local admin account the same cycle of origin opening the launcher then that opening origin is still happening. It also says that I need to install originsetup or something along those lines. I installed it and nothing happened, it gave me the error message about the originsetup download every time I tried to launch the game. This is so annoying, oh my god! I really appreciate your help.
July 2021
@marinamennear In the new admin account, please try running Origin specifically with admin permissions, which is an extra step above and beyond simply using an admin account. Right-click on the Origin shortcut on your desktop and select "Run as administrator." With Origin open, do the same for the TS3.exe shortcut, or the original, which will likely be here:
Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
If that doesn't help, please make sure .NET Framework 3.5 is enabled. Hit Windows key-R and enter "appwiz.cpl" without quotes. In the File Explorer window that opens, click "Turn Windows features on or off," and you'll see this:
You can see .NET 3.5 highlighted in blue. If the box next to it is NOT filled in, click the box, let the framework install, and restart your computer, then again try running Origin and Sims 3 as an admin.
By the way, it's "OS," not "IOS," for an operating system; iOS is the operating system for iPhones.
July 2021
"OS" gotcha! So I tried running both in the second admin account while running them as administrator, but it didn't work. The NET. framework 3.5 was filled in already and well as the media features. I expanded the framework 3.5 and checked the two boxes underneath it, applied the changes and restarted, ran everything as admin again, but it didn't work. Origin will also say that I've played the game when I obviously haven't. For example, after I tired the two solutions it will say todays date (July 24th) as the last time played, but I haven't been able to play so that's strange, not sure if that's worth mentioning.
July 2021
@marinamennear The next step is doing a clean uninstall and reinstall of both Sims 3 and Origin. Start by uninstalling Sims 3:
Next, uninstall Origin:
Next, download the full Origin installer and run it. Here's the direct download link:
http://download.dm.origin.com/origin/live/OriginSetup.exe
Be sure to run both the installer and Origin itself as an admin. When it's reinstalled, download Sims 3; you can just download the base game, to save time, if you want.
Restart after installing and before trying to play.