Problems with starting The Sims 3

[hanibalic]

I installed The Sims 3 again, after i deleted it few months ago. The icon is on the desktop and when i click on the icon it won't open. I troubleshooted the problem and it says that application is incompatible. It used to work normal before. Please help me i 'm despearate. Thanks in advance. ♥

[roberta591 · Accepted solution]

@hanibalic  The software on the discs is dated. The software installs the old DRM and pack discs work with the old DRM. In 2012 the DRM was changed to Origin and all the packs and items were updated to work with Origin. This was because the DRM SecuROM and SafeDisc were no longer supported bu Windows and OS X. Most of the time the disc version software will patch to Origin but sometimes the patch doesn't work and the packs/items won't work correctly until uninstalled and reinstalled using the digital download from Origin and the thesim3.com store. This game does not like to be uninstalled and reinstalled. I recommend you uninstall the game through the control panel - programs and features. Get a registry cleaner like ccleaner (there is a free version) and clean the registry. If there is any files in the Documents - Electronic Arts -Sims 3 folder I recommend moving that folder to you desktop so you can recover your user data later if you need to. This way your doing a clean install. THEN install the game. Test the game to live mode. THEN install packs preferably in the order the packs were released to market. This seems to lead to a cleaner install with less issues. Test each install to live mode to see if the game runs. Then start adding your worlds and store items. See if this helps.

add: use the digital download from Origin for the game and all the packs.

[roberta591]

@hanibalic  Is your computer a pc or mac? Did you install from disc?

[hanibalic]

My computer is a PC.I downloaded it from Origin and i have a disc.

[roberta591 · Accepted solution]

@hanibalic  The software on the discs is dated. The software installs the old DRM and pack discs work with the old DRM. In 2012 the DRM was changed to Origin and all the packs and items were updated to work with Origin. This was because the DRM SecuROM and SafeDisc were no longer supported bu Windows and OS X. Most of the time the disc version software will patch to Origin but sometimes the patch doesn't work and the packs/items won't work correctly until uninstalled and reinstalled using the digital download from Origin and the thesim3.com store. This game does not like to be uninstalled and reinstalled. I recommend you uninstall the game through the control panel - programs and features. Get a registry cleaner like ccleaner (there is a free version) and clean the registry. If there is any files in the Documents - Electronic Arts -Sims 3 folder I recommend moving that folder to you desktop so you can recover your user data later if you need to. This way your doing a clean install. THEN install the game. Test the game to live mode. THEN install packs preferably in the order the packs were released to market. This seems to lead to a cleaner install with less issues. Test each install to live mode to see if the game runs. Then start adding your worlds and store items. See if this helps.

add: use the digital download from Origin for the game and all the packs.