Okay, since you've made this public I'm going to post my results here.
I've been experimenting but I'm going to call igazor in here to make sure I'm on the right track.
Start with a clean install (take your Electronic Arts folder out and place it somewhere else, then open the launcher to generate a new one) then transfer your store content and saves over to the clean folder. Transfer only the EBC files, not the DBC files! The DBC files are custom content. Putting your saves back in to the clean file should not reinstall the counter. When you open the save that had the lot with the counter it should be replaced with a base game counter I think?
Then any cc you want to keep, use the S3P extractor to turn it into a package file and put it in your mods folder. Don't install through the launcher!
Calling the expert who scared his neighbors by screaming at 2 AM when he finally was able to rid his game of this corrupt CC.... @igazor
ETA: The question being, could this counter hide in a save file if it's been deleted from the dccache and dcbackup folders?
Today I will be cleaning my 'creations' up and making them available for the community again. Please delete any previous version you have and replace it with the new one. I wanted you all to know the exact process I would follow. The new file will have the word "clean" in it for easy identification. Again, this file is harmless and only a nuisance. If you do not create and share files you can choose to do nothing and simply live with it.
I'm keeping in mind that @crinrict's original blog post, Feb 18, 2014 here, indicates that individual users can usually delete this from their games, and therefore from content they create and share going forward, simply by deleting through the Sims 3 Launcher. But, if you have created and shared content, like I have, you will probably want to clean that up and re-post it. More on that later.
Now, simply is a relative term since you have to pore through page after page of content to find the offending item. But, I feel this is still easier than juggling folders' worth of content. Personally, I couldn't use/test this because my Launcher kept crashing before I could locate the file to uninstall it. So, I am doing the short re-install ZeeGee is describing. It is actually quite painless. Unless you have a lot of non EA custom content. But, like me, you'll probably want to check that for bugs before reinstalling it anyway.
To do that there is a simple program called TheSims3PackCleaner. Affectionately called Custard (I don't yet know why.) It will look for errant content in downloaded files before you install the content and allow you either to remove it or just not to use the content. I've seen it mentioned for years but never used it until now. Obviously, it will now be my best friend. I don't know if I am supposed to link to outside software from this forum, but send me a message and I'll send you a link.
As for re-posting my created content. Here is how I am doing it. Today I will create a new game. I will load every lot and every shared Sim/Household into that game. I will then delete all of them from my bin so that no other versions exist. I will quit the Sims and move any copies I have of them to a quarantine folder (just in case.) Then I will follow ZeeGee's instructions for purging my game. I will then return to that saved game and confirm that the Arezzo Bathroom CounterRight is no longer showing up in the build catalog. At that point I will upload the now clean files back to the exchange.
Calling the expert who scared his neighbors by screaming at 2 AM when he finally was able to rid his game of this corrupt CC.... @igazor
ETA: The question being, could this counter hide in a save file if it's been deleted from the dccache and dcbackup folders?
The answer is yes. The unwanted content attaches itself to actual sims and lots. If the affected sim or lot is present within a saved game, and hasn't been removed or cleaned out with Custard or any other tools, then finding/removing the item from DCCache and DCBackup would not be sufficient to keep it out of the player's game. It's just going to keep coming back. Sounds like the OP is on the right road for full removal, though.
Much to my surprise, by the way, I learned later on after my own experiences with it that there is a "real," not broken or viral, version of the Arezzo counter that had been fixed. Found it on a few downloads from TSR. But the "real" one is actually a very nice two-part surface object, not the unusable one that pollutes all of the Build/Buy catalogs with its unwanted presence.
Thank you @Igazor. So, I have one more question. If the infected lots/households are deleted from an active game and the game installation is cleaned, can the saved game then be played safely? I haven't infected peoples' favorite games because they installed my park next door to their fifth generation legacy Sim, have I? And does the Sim get infected at creation or when shared?
And, yes, Angela created a newly renamed version of the lovely counter that had the code error. Angela's work is beautiful, after all. Which is why it ended up so widely spread. It's a shame she couldn't just create a corrected version of the counter with the same file name that could replace the damaged one and just make it harmless wherever it already existed. But I'm sure there are technical reasons why that didn't happen.
Not entirely sure how this one spreads within a game once it's present, to be honest. If the affected lots and sims are removed and the player is able to purge the counter item from DCCache and DCBackup -- Method by Mell for the first one or rebuilding the entire dbc collection as you are doing instead -- then it should no longer exist in the player's game to return again or spread on to others. http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/tutorial-how-to-get-rid-of-unwanted-custom-content.html (near the bottom of the page)
The answer is I believe you have potentially affected other players' games who have already downloaded your lot and placed it into their game, but it's really up to the player to inspect their downloads no matter what source they come from. You are just as much a victim of this file as everyone else is/was and I think everyone would know you weren't being vindictive in any way by not realizing it. The mistake I made was that the sim that was carrying it in my case was from a colleague at NRaas so I skipped the Custard step and just trusted that it was already clean. That's not going to happen again. And yes, the sim's mere presence in my game folder affected my long running legacy game, hence the AHA! 2am moment that @ZeeGee remembers my reporting when I was finally able to get rid of it. My game has been free of it ever since.
Ok, EVERYTHING has been cleaned and reposted. All links are restored. If you have installed any of my content, please delete it immediately and check your build catalog for the item:
Arezzo Bathroom CounterRight
It actually appears in your catalog in two pieces, the left side and the right. And if you place it in game, then move it, it changes entirely.
If the item is not in your catalog, and you have not exported/shared anything up to the web, then deleting my original lots should clean out your games. You may want to clean your installed content to be safe, but your saves should be clean and you shouldn't have any problem playing them going forward. But, if you want to continue playing your primary game and are concerned about it being infected, there is a way to insulate that game from all others. Let me know if this is something you are interested in and I'll get you the information.
I have done a little research and determined that the original, corrupt file was only posted by the creator for one day. One day. Too bad she is such a good designer and her stuff is so popular. Right?
Okay, in review. Delete any of my creations you've installed. Check your registry for the counter. If it isn't there, your game/file wasn't infected.
And, in my personal opinion, if you do not create/share content, I would not be overly worried. This thing only misbehaves when you hit the "Share" button. It does nothing until then. @Crinrict's blog never mentions games being infected. She never mentions half of the measures I've taken to clean out my system, but that is because my launcher malfunctioned and also because I needed to clean the files that I knew were on the web. I am providing as much information as I can find out from the web and fellow Simmers to err on the safe side. What you decide to do is up to you.
Well, I came back to post some pics of your adorable bakery in my game. I've been having so much fun with it!
Sorry this happened to you with the counter. It's always something, isn't it? Do you think I have the problem too, due to the bakery? I downloaded the base game version.
Here are some pics of the bakery so you can see how it looks in my game. Then I added the props (though I can't find my "mmm cupcakes" in the game yet lol). Here are a few pics. I'm putting the rest of them on imgur later so that I don't hog up all your space here. It's so nice for Sims to have a place to hang out.
*Edited to show my pics in a spoiler instead*
I just thought you might like to see how it shows up in someone elses game with the base game version.
The pics below show some of the props I added ~ keeping with the blue theme.
I used Paint to print the letters (for the picture only, not in the game). I have very limited graphic capability.
@funkeeferret Nice pics! For some reason I wasn't able to download the original bakery to check it, so go look in CAS at the men's beards and see if you have a store icon on the 'no beard' option. Or upload a sim and post a link. I'll check it with custard to see if you have the corrupt cc.
Actually @funkyferret you've just inspired me! I'm pretty sure it would be relatively simple for me to create custom wall textures that contain a "sign." It wouldn't be an item, it would just be a graphic on the wall assembled from a series of individual wall patterns. So gotta do this.
@jude525, I'm glad you are inspired. That is such a neat idea!!! Also, if you had any doubts as to how much fun I had with the bakery, I uploaded MORE PICS of it with some of its customers. Here are the rest of the images: https://imgur.com/a/zBnbz
@ZeeGee, thank you so much for your offer to check my upload with custard (fits right in with the bakery, don't you think? j/k) to see if my uploaded girl is corrupted. Also, In CAS, there is no store icon on the 'no beard' option, if that tells you anything. Now to go look for the counter.
@funkeeferret Looks like you're clean! No counter hanging on to your sim.
And, sorry to hijack your thread here Jude, but @funkeeferret your mini bakery story was really cute and did you think about entering it into this month's gift of creation drawing? Ciane's wishlist specifically asks for mini stories. Just sayin...
OMG @funkyferret that was amazing! And I'm so glad that it didn't infect your game. Maybe not all my lots carried the dreaded counter. Several had damaged thumbnails, so I didn't notice when I was cleaning them if it was just damaged or damaged and infected.
@ZeeGee I plan on being as flexible here as I've always found the Daily Deals thread to be about staying on topic. And, really, it is still about my bakery, so.....
As I've mentioned to ZeeGee, I'm already making progress on the signage. I've done some quick learning in how to edit Sims 3 content, and I've also made good use of some new Photoshop skills that I just learned this past week from a class I'm taking. Who knew I'd use those skills so soon?
@funkeeferret Looks like you're clean! No counter hanging on to your sim.
And, sorry to hijack your thread here Jude, but @funkeeferret your mini bakery story was really cute and did you think about entering it into this month's gift of creation drawing? Ciane's wishlist specifically asks for mini stories. Just sayin...
@ZeeGee, thank you so much for checking my Sim through custard and I'm thrilled that she is ok because now I can keep the bakery and the fun will continue (as soon as I find out why so many of my store items have disappeared from the game and I have to download them all over again. ... but I will check on that problem in other threads, not here, I've seen that problem mentioned before).
Thanks for the compliment on the story and no, I didn't even think about entering the mini story, it sort of just happened when those Sims showed up at the bakery. Once Judy Bunch showed up with that face on her, things just started to roll. Haha. Thanks so much for suggesting it. I will maybe take the discussion to that thread because I have a question on that.
@ZeeGee I plan on being as flexible here as I've always found the Daily Deals thread to be about staying on topic. And, really, it is still about my bakery, so.....
@Jude525 I don't have to worry about the 25 Cute Street house, do I? I DL'd it from your SimFile because the exchange wasn't working on any of your items before. I noticed this morning that your builds are now working on the exchange.
Glad you were able to figure this all out. Your builds are awesome!
@FairyGodMother Sadly, it doesn't matter where the file was uploaded to, it was the process of exporting it. Unfortunately, I think Cute Street was effected. Please check your catalog for the counter. Again, here's the link to Crinrict's blog entry for identifying it in your game LINK.
O M G... I screwed up!!! Because my Launcher kept crashing, I decided to delete and reinstall the whole game. But, somehow, I neglected to save my saves folder! I could have sworn I'd moved it somewhere. My legacy family is gone! And, I hadn't uploaded my Simself to the Exchange. If I hadn't randomly backed up one of the earliest saves from the legacy family game to a random folder than I wouldn't even have that. I'll keep looking to see if the Saves folder did end up somewhere on my system, but for now it looks like I lost everyone and everything I've built since January. *sigh*
EDIT: Well, found some later saves. Have about half the family. Though, to be honest, not really sure that I want to raise them again. I may just use some cheats to age them up and add their final traits.
I guess it nudges me to move on. But I was SOOOO proud to have stuck with one family for so long. I had saved a couple of the kids up to the exchange, but hadn't restored them after the purge this week.
Comments
I've been experimenting but I'm going to call igazor in here to make sure I'm on the right track.
Start with a clean install (take your Electronic Arts folder out and place it somewhere else, then open the launcher to generate a new one) then transfer your store content and saves over to the clean folder. Transfer only the EBC files, not the DBC files! The DBC files are custom content. Putting your saves back in to the clean file should not reinstall the counter. When you open the save that had the lot with the counter it should be replaced with a base game counter I think?
Then any cc you want to keep, use the S3P extractor to turn it into a package file and put it in your mods folder. Don't install through the launcher!
Calling the expert who scared his neighbors by screaming at 2 AM when he finally was able to rid his game of this corrupt CC.... @igazor
ETA: The question being, could this counter hide in a save file if it's been deleted from the dccache and dcbackup folders?
I'm keeping in mind that @crinrict's original blog post, Feb 18, 2014 here, indicates that individual users can usually delete this from their games, and therefore from content they create and share going forward, simply by deleting through the Sims 3 Launcher. But, if you have created and shared content, like I have, you will probably want to clean that up and re-post it. More on that later.
Now, simply is a relative term since you have to pore through page after page of content to find the offending item. But, I feel this is still easier than juggling folders' worth of content. Personally, I couldn't use/test this because my Launcher kept crashing before I could locate the file to uninstall it. So, I am doing the short re-install ZeeGee is describing. It is actually quite painless. Unless you have a lot of non EA custom content. But, like me, you'll probably want to check that for bugs before reinstalling it anyway.
To do that there is a simple program called TheSims3PackCleaner. Affectionately called Custard (I don't yet know why.) It will look for errant content in downloaded files before you install the content and allow you either to remove it or just not to use the content. I've seen it mentioned for years but never used it until now. Obviously, it will now be my best friend. I don't know if I am supposed to link to outside software from this forum, but send me a message and I'll send you a link.
As for re-posting my created content. Here is how I am doing it. Today I will create a new game. I will load every lot and every shared Sim/Household into that game. I will then delete all of them from my bin so that no other versions exist. I will quit the Sims and move any copies I have of them to a quarantine folder (just in case.) Then I will follow ZeeGee's instructions for purging my game. I will then return to that saved game and confirm that the Arezzo Bathroom CounterRight is no longer showing up in the build catalog. At that point I will upload the now clean files back to the exchange.
Again, I'm so sorry I was part of this problem.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
Mpart's Builds; Taking Requests (Indefinite Hiatus)
Much to my surprise, by the way, I learned later on after my own experiences with it that there is a "real," not broken or viral, version of the Arezzo counter that had been fixed. Found it on a few downloads from TSR. But the "real" one is actually a very nice two-part surface object, not the unusable one that pollutes all of the Build/Buy catalogs with its unwanted presence.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
And, yes, Angela created a newly renamed version of the lovely counter that had the code error. Angela's work is beautiful, after all. Which is why it ended up so widely spread. It's a shame she couldn't just create a corrected version of the counter with the same file name that could replace the damaged one and just make it harmless wherever it already existed. But I'm sure there are technical reasons why that didn't happen.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/tutorial-how-to-get-rid-of-unwanted-custom-content.html
(near the bottom of the page)
The answer is I believe you have potentially affected other players' games who have already downloaded your lot and placed it into their game, but it's really up to the player to inspect their downloads no matter what source they come from. You are just as much a victim of this file as everyone else is/was and I think everyone would know you weren't being vindictive in any way by not realizing it. The mistake I made was that the sim that was carrying it in my case was from a colleague at NRaas so I skipped the Custard step and just trusted that it was already clean. That's not going to happen again. And yes, the sim's mere presence in my game folder affected my long running legacy game, hence the AHA! 2am moment that @ZeeGee remembers my reporting when I was finally able to get rid of it. My game has been free of it ever since.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
I adore the builds. They look amazing!
now let's all look at park jimin.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
Arezzo Bathroom CounterRight
It actually appears in your catalog in two pieces, the left side and the right. And if you place it in game, then move it, it changes entirely.
If the item is not in your catalog, and you have not exported/shared anything up to the web, then deleting my original lots should clean out your games. You may want to clean your installed content to be safe, but your saves should be clean and you shouldn't have any problem playing them going forward. But, if you want to continue playing your primary game and are concerned about it being infected, there is a way to insulate that game from all others. Let me know if this is something you are interested in and I'll get you the information.
I have done a little research and determined that the original, corrupt file was only posted by the creator for one day. One day. Too bad she is such a good designer and her stuff is so popular. Right?
Okay, in review. Delete any of my creations you've installed. Check your registry for the counter. If it isn't there, your game/file wasn't infected.
And, in my personal opinion, if you do not create/share content, I would not be overly worried. This thing only misbehaves when you hit the "Share" button. It does nothing until then. @Crinrict's blog never mentions games being infected. She never mentions half of the measures I've taken to clean out my system, but that is because my launcher malfunctioned and also because I needed to clean the files that I knew were on the web. I am providing as much information as I can find out from the web and fellow Simmers to err on the safe side. What you decide to do is up to you.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
Sorry this happened to you with the counter. It's always something, isn't it? Do you think I have the problem too, due to the bakery? I downloaded the base game version.
Here are some pics of the bakery so you can see how it looks in my game. Then I added the props (though I can't find my "mmm cupcakes" in the game yet lol). Here are a few pics. I'm putting the rest of them on imgur later so that I don't hog up all your space here.
*Edited to show my pics in a spoiler instead*
I just thought you might like to see how it shows up in someone elses game with the base game version.
The pics below show some of the props I added ~ keeping with the blue theme.
I used Paint to print the letters (for the picture only, not in the game). I have very limited graphic capability.
My Top Five
My Thank You Thread
My Studio
I'm excited to get that bakery. I love it.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
https://imgur.com/a/zBnbz
@ZeeGee, thank you so much for your offer to check my upload with custard (fits right in with the bakery, don't you think? j/k) to see if my uploaded girl is corrupted. Also, In CAS, there is no store icon on the 'no beard' option, if that tells you anything. Now to go look for the counter.
I uploaded a Sim girl with red hair for the custard test.
thesims3.com/assetDetail.html?assetId=9139795
Thank you!!!
My Top Five
My Thank You Thread
My Studio
And, sorry to hijack your thread here Jude, but @funkeeferret your mini bakery story was really cute and did you think about entering it into this month's gift of creation drawing? Ciane's wishlist specifically asks for mini stories. Just sayin...
@ZeeGee I plan on being as flexible here as I've always found the Daily Deals thread to be about staying on topic.
As I've mentioned to ZeeGee, I'm already making progress on the signage. I've done some quick learning in how to edit Sims 3 content, and I've also made good use of some new Photoshop skills that I just learned this past week from a class I'm taking. Who knew I'd use those skills so soon?
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
@ZeeGee, thank you so much for checking my Sim through custard and I'm thrilled that she is ok because now I can keep the bakery and the fun will continue (as soon as I find out why so many of my store items have disappeared from the game and I have to download them all over again. ... but I will check on that problem in other threads, not here, I've seen that problem mentioned before).
Thanks for the compliment on the story and no, I didn't even think about entering the mini story, it sort of just happened when those Sims showed up at the bakery. Once Judy Bunch showed up with that face on her, things just started to roll. Haha. Thanks so much for suggesting it. I will maybe take the discussion to that thread because I have a question on that.
My Top Five
My Thank You Thread
My Studio
Lol this is true.
Glad you were able to figure this all out. Your builds are awesome!
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
EDIT: Well, found some later saves. Have about half the family. Though, to be honest, not really sure that I want to raise them again. I may just use some cheats to age them up and add their final traits.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner