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Breathe Deeper...(Clean Install for Dummies)

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  • SuperPogimonSuperPogimon Posts: 2,429 Member
    edited December 2009
    I have no problems with WA now but will bookmark this thread (for future use) and will also post at Builders Boulevard.

    Thanks Uzone and congrats for the sticky :)
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited December 2009
    lizmac21 wrote:
    thanks so much for the info,but i don't think this is going to help me,see i havn't tried to uninstall an reinstall my game so no need to clean it.i already have a anti-virus program that i have run everyday along with the defrag too. but i still have quite a few bugs in my game.is it the custom contant thats making my game run bad?

    It's difficult to say what is making your game run bad without knowing what specific problems you are having.
    The steps here are laid out in a specific order to minimize the possibility that something on your end rather than something in the game is causing glitches/errors.

    If you go to MY DOCUMENTS -> ELECTRONIC ARTS -> The Sims 3
    You can cut and paste the MODS folder to desktop to see if that helps the problem.
    Or if you think it might be store or exchange CC you can disable custom content in the launcher by clicking on the installed content tab, and checking run without custom content.

    Keep in mind that you should do these one at a time, because if you do both things at once and it fixes the problem you won't know which was causing you problems.

    UZ
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited December 2009
    I have no problems with WA now but will bookmark this thread (for future use) and will also post at Builders Boulevard.

    Thanks Uzone and congrats for the sticky :)

    Thanks for the thumbs up SuperPogimon....

    BTW your avatar is amazing. There is a poster that was on the TS3 section before launch that used to complain about the look of these new Sims every day.
    She used to say that even with CC there is no way she could ever imagine making these new Sims look like adults, especially the males.

    I think she might change her mind if she saw your Sim.
    Nice work!

    UZ
  • lizmac21lizmac21 Posts: 555 Member
    edited December 2009
    Uzone27 wrote:
    lizmac21 wrote:
    thanks so much for the info,but i don't think this is going to help me,see i havn't tried to uninstall an reinstall my game so no need to clean it.i already have a anti-virus program that i have run everyday along with the defrag too. but i still have quite a few bugs in my game.is it the custom contant thats making my game run bad?

    It's difficult to say what is making your game run bad without knowing what specific problems you are having.
    The steps here are laid out in a specific order to minimize the possibility that something on your end rather than something in the game is causing glitches/errors.

    If you go to MY DOCUMENTS -> ELECTRONIC ARTS -> The Sims 3
    You can cut and paste the MODS folder to desktop to see if that helps the problem.
    Or if you think it might be store or exchange CC you can disable custom content in the launcher by clicking on the installed content tab, and checking run without custom content.

    Keep in mind that you should do these one at a time, because if you do both things at once and it fixes the problem you won't know which was causing you problems.

    UZ


    i have some questions about cut and paste the mods folder,when i go into documents there is 3 electonic arts folders and in each one the is a sims 3.and electonic arts(35) and electonic arts(42) are the names of the 2 an 3 folders names which i thought was weird names.so can you please help me.
    also i said something about not know my bugs in order to help me better,
    1) the food in the frige goes bad in a few hours
    2) my sims can't feed bottles to thier babies
    3) i notice that young sims can't get prego intill their an adult
    and i'm sure theirs more i just can't think of them now
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited December 2009
    Wait I'm not sure I followed that.

    Are you saying you have three games installed simultaneously?
    That is bizzarre. I haven't got a clue how you managed that.

    If there is a folder without a number after it that is most likely the active folder and the others are copies but there is no way I could say that with any certainty.

    The easiest way I can think of to find the right one is to look into the saved games folder in each one. The one that has your most recent save will be the active one.

    What I would do when you identify it is to create a restore point, and deletr the other two entirely. If doing that borks your game at all just restore.
    Edit..I would definitely recommend you run a registry cleaner whether it works or not....


    As for your bugs....based on what you describe I would probably just hang tight and wait for the patch rather than go through this whole procedure.
    The bugs you described are pretty common.
  • fleshjennfleshjenn Posts: 4,919 Member
    edited December 2009
    Hey there! Just wanted to say thanks for the useful post, I have been searching my computer for the uninstall file for awhile now.

    My dad actually told me about the ccleaner yesterday when I told him I broke my game and was thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling. It works pretty quick and does clean alot up.

    I got a question for you if you have time, My game is crashing because of A house I downloaded from the exchange and something in the CAS, either a outfit or skin in the Childs section. I played my legacy house for 4 hrs straight yesterday with no problems, but the minute I click on the house to place a copy, or go to the childs section in CAS it crashes or freezes.

    Soo to shorten can I just delete everything in the downloads folder instead of reinstalling, or will that mess up saved games where I did use the CC.
    plus I am not looking forward to having to go reload all my junk from the simstore either!

    Cheers, and gracias for any help you can give!
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited December 2009
    fleshjenn wrote:
    Hey there! Just wanted to say thanks for the useful post, I have been searching my computer for the uninstall file for awhile now.

    My dad actually told me about the ccleaner yesterday when I told him I broke my game and was thinking of uninstalling and reinstalling. It works pretty quick and does clean alot up.

    I got a question for you if you have time, My game is crashing because of A house I downloaded from the exchange and something in the CAS, either a outfit or skin in the Childs section. I played my legacy house for 4 hrs straight yesterday with no problems, but the minute I click on the house to place a copy, or go to the childs section in CAS it crashes or freezes.

    Soo to shorten can I just delete everything in the downloads folder instead of reinstalling, or will that mess up saved games where I did use the CC.
    plus I am not looking forward to having to go reload all my junk from the simstore either!

    Cheers, and gracias for any help you can give!

    Hi Fleshjenn,
    You have a few options here,
    The easiest would be to disable CC from the launcher. Simply run the launcher, click on "installed content" and check the box that says "run without custom content"

    If this works then I would suggest you un-check the box and individually check and uninstall items you think might be causing you problems two or three at a time. There is an uninstall button right there in the launcher. it will activate when you check any item. Don't uninstall too many at a time as this would make troubleshooting more difficult.

    Tedious yes, but less destructive than deleting files from the download folder, as you can always reinstall to game if you guess wrong.

    Hope that helps...
    UZ
  • juliabassettojuliabassetto Posts: 458 New Member
    edited December 2009
    Hi!

    Firstly, thanks for the really helpful thread!

    But uh, how can I put it... Doing this, am I likely to have my CC actually showing up in my game? That was the only reason that made me uninstall WA...

    Well, thanks!
  • simulatesimulate Posts: 43 New Member
    edited December 2009
    Uzone27 wrote:
    I dont want to download those programs, however I would like to uninstall my game and reinstall it so that I can remove the patches, how do backup and retore my saved game (my sims and homes), cc hair, patterns and recolours I have created in game?

    Im running vista

    The very first step takes care of that. Simply follow those iinstructions and it will explain how to move your save files to your desktop.

    This is a good explanation for those that need it and also a good reminder for those who think they don't.

    Just one thing missing to make it complete.

    At the start before following the EA uninstall instructions:

    If you have mods in your game you need to make a copy of them.

    Go to "My Computer/C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Sims3". Or "My Computer/C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Sims3 World Adventures".

    Right click on the Mods folder. and select Copy.

    Paste it to your desktop.

    ...........

    Once the installed game is up and running you need to reinstall the Mods folder and its content (if you had one) from the desktop.

    Warning: You need to check with the original creators before re-installing to see if they are compatible with the new patch. It is best to do this a small amount at a time and play the game inbetween to see that all is OK.

    .......

    Hope this helps. If you do not want to add anything about third party mods - feel free to delete this post.
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited December 2009
    simulate wrote:
    Uzone27 wrote:
    I dont want to download those programs, however I would like to uninstall my game and reinstall it so that I can remove the patches, how do backup and retore my saved game (my sims and homes), cc hair, patterns and recolours I have created in game?

    Im running vista

    The very first step takes care of that. Simply follow those iinstructions and it will explain how to move your save files to your desktop.

    This is a good explanation for those that need it and also a good reminder for those who think they don't.

    Just one thing missing to make it complete. Great catch simulate.

    At the start before following the EA uninstall instructions:

    If you have mods in your game you need to make a copy of them.

    Go to "My Computer/C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Sims3". Or "My Computer/C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/Sims3 World Adventures".

    Right click on the Mods folder. and select Copy.

    Paste it to your desktop.

    ...........

    Once the installed game is up and running you need to reinstall the Mods folder and its content (if you had one) from the desktop.

    Warning: You need to check with the original creators before re-installing to see if they are compatible with the new patch. It is best to do this a small amount at a time and play the game inbetween to see that all is OK.

    .......

    Hope this helps. If you do not want to add anything about third party mods - feel free to delete this post.

    This is a great point....and definitely needs to be edited into the main post.
    For some reason I had it in my mind that the Mods folder was in the TS3 file in my documents.

    I'm not at my computer atm but will add this ASAP.
  • Aeroprincess87Aeroprincess87 Posts: 6,414 Member
    edited December 2009
    OMG thank you so much for this thread!!! I was finally able to reinstall WA! :)
  • MinraedMinraed Posts: 1,159 Member
    edited December 2009
    Wow UZone - a big Thank You for this. That's alot of work you put in here to help us all out. Much appreciated.

    I've not gotten to it all yet, but the moment it truth begins in just a moment when I begin my re-install.

    As and FYI to anyone else reading this I'll explain my problem and as I progress through the reinstall if I can finally determine what caused it I'll share that here.

    Like many others I was having the save error problem.
    I did a "save as" and altered the .sims3 .legacy .bad files as per another suggestion. This seemed to work fine at the time but then...

    I was doing just fine filming some machinima, I had created a set and wardrobe for my actors and saved as per usual. I came back to a black lot. Upon viewing the town I realized that most lots were black.

    I'll skip all the in between steps but no matter what I did all of my saved towns had black lots except Riverview. Through the ordeal of trying to figure it all out I can only assume that it is a custom content issue. I may never know.

    so here goes... wish me luck

    And thanks again UZ
    [img][/img] Visit Simaginarium
  • LeahxRIx8LeahxRIx8 Posts: 445 Member
    edited December 2009
    Hi Uzone, thanks for the thread.

    I have a question, I probably know the answer, but I'm tip-toeing around everything that has to do with TS3 lately and just want to be sure.

    I'm about to go from Vista to Microsoft 7. With that in mind, I won't have to defrag etc, right? I just need to check for updates, disconnect from the net and turn off my anti-virus while installing?

    Do you know if I'll have to go in TS3 properties and make my game compatible with XP? I understand the base game isn't compatible with Microsoft 7.

    Thank you,
    Lea
  • IamMamainredIamMamainred Posts: 7,042 New Member
    edited December 2009
    Lea,
    I have have windows 7 & has zero problems installing the base game with out using another mode & it played great other then the know minor bugs. many of us are playing on Windows 7, if the rest of the PC specs are Far above the min specs, it should run great.

    Any big program, game or other benefits from running defrag either before or after, depending on have done prior to installing the game. This should be done often on any PC you are gaming on, keep the game playing smoothly.
  • LeahxRIx8LeahxRIx8 Posts: 445 Member
    edited December 2009
    Hey IAm, thanks a lot :)

    I have this thing set to de-frag once per week.
    It's good to know too, that I'll be ok on 7.
  • S73VNS73VN Posts: 25 New Member
    edited December 2009
    Hey Uzone27,

    I haven't tried your method just yet. I have a bunch of custom content installed as well but I have no idea if that effects the fact that whenever I try traveling in World Adventures, I get taken to the base camp but my Sim never shows up! There's no money, no portrait, no moodlets, NOTHING. Do you think your method will help this or know WHAT would help? I'm so desperate to play World Adventures already! :-(
  • ElinHjortElinHjort Posts: 5 New Member
    edited December 2009
    Hi Uzone27,

    Thanks for an informative thread! I’ve been thinking in the same direction as you when it comes to uninstalling the %@#¤ program. It’s basically about a little sound computer hygiene.

    When I uninstall a program from my computer, I use “Revo Uninstaller” (http://www.revouninstaller.com/) in the "advanced mode" to really get rid of the evil program leftovers. What is your opinion about Revo?

    Is it really safe to clean the registry with CCleaner? Last time I did a stunt like that on a computer, not mine of course, the lovely “blue screen of death” appeared. It took me more than one reboot to save my “behind”… (My father’s computer sort of…) Now it’s my own dear computer with Vista 64-bit… I know there's a lot of gunk in the registry. I’ve checked that with CCleaner. I’m just afraid to push the “fix issues” button… I’m afraid to see a “mushroom cloud” above my computer…
  • liannanatorliannanator Posts: 2 New Member
    edited December 2009
    I too had a problem installing WA (whereas my previous Sims 3 game worked flawlessly). I uninstalled both Sims 3 and WA. I have followed these instructions and my base game works fine again (as far as I know... I have only played for about 20 minutes).

    As instructed here, I moved all of my custom content to a new folder on my desktop and as of now, have no intention of trying to use it again (until another update comes out and people have more success. If that never happens, I will just deal with the plain game).

    At the risk of sounding stupid I have a simple question. When going through your steps, UZ, one was to create a sample family in CAS. While I was doing that, I noticed that there were blank boxes there with the * symbol which signifies custom content. I was confused to see that there as I had uninstalled everything Sims 3 related, cache, registry, everything. I went through step by step... Does this mean I missed something? There are no pictures showing up in those boxes (they are just that basic light blue color), but if I click on them to use them, the pants (for example) show up on my Sim in a new color that isn't in the basic game. Any idea about that?

    My stupid question :wink: is as follows. I know that we are not supposed to use any custom content in order to have the best chance of success in running the game with WA installed. Does this apply to content purchased from the EA store/exchange? Is there a difference between the exchange and the actual PURCHASED content? I feel like I have seen certain things about this on here but I haven't seen a firm yes or no. I know that you say in this guide that we can slowly introduce things back in, but without that step, does EA content count as custom? If you need me to clarify this as all I am happy to.

    Sorry to make such a long post.. I am just a little paranoid to do anything wrong and don't want to start all over again.

    Thank you so much for all your help, everyone!
  • jadedcat1983jadedcat1983 Posts: 401
    edited January 2010
    Not sure if this will help anyone but....

    When I originally installed WA my whole computer crashed.. so I did a complete wipe of my hard drive and reinstalled.... after putting a copy of my mods folder on a CD... then I installed my mods 10 at a time (I have over 3000 mods and CC) ...this took awhile.. it played fine after that except none of my CC showed up in the game... So then I took my Mods folder and moved it to

    MyComputer/ProgramFiles/Electronic Arts/ Sims 3 World Adventures....

    and bingo everything showed up. The only problem I have had since doing that is with the uploader not wanting to upload anything to the exchange and TS3 support says they are working on that... I know that isn't a CC problem because I can upload my lots to a 3rd party site download to my husband's unpatched game and upload from his computer.... since he has the same CC as I do its not a CC problem.


    So if your only problem is CC not showing up try moving your folder.... If mods aren't working or are messing up the game make sure you have the version that is compatible with whatever patch you have installed.

    Then and only then should you go about doing a clean reinstall... afterall I wasted 34 hours doing a complete wipe and clean reinstall of my computer and that didn't fix anything :wink:

    Jaded
  • Skeeter03Skeeter03 Posts: 21 New Member
    edited January 2010
    I did all this cause WA was causing my computer to crash big time total and complete shut down protection mode blah cept the mods thing cause i couldnt find that folder and now I have to redownload all the patches and riverdale and all the stuff i got from the store which in my case is a royal pain in the hiney 10 hours to download the first patch thats right 10 hours cause i have dial up. and now the store isnt working for me I click on my purchased items and natta nothing shows up in my gamelauncher download section any clue as to what that is all about.
  • purkeypurkey Posts: 16 Member
    edited January 2010
    Thank you so much for this. I finally got my game to play at around 4am after having it for 2 days. Is it safe to put mods and custom content back in now? Or will that just mess it up?
  • dltrdhdltrdh Posts: 28 Member
    edited January 2010
    I am quite impressed :) Thank you, Uzone27 for this detailed help thread. I was having a few issues with my game after I had installed the digital version of WA from the EA store and I decided that it probably wouldn't hurt to clean up my computer a bit. I followed all of the steps listed in order and though it did take up the majority of a day (oh no, a day without sims?!? haha) my game is up and running and all of the issues I had before are gone. I haven't played around with it that much so who knows if anything strange will pop up in the future, though. One thing I haven't done yet is put my custom content back into the sims 3 folder so maybe that's where my issues were but we will see.

    Just wanted to post to let those of you know that this may be the way to get you're game running smoothly :)

    DLTRDH
  • juliabassettojuliabassetto Posts: 458 New Member
    edited January 2010
    Hi,

    I followed your guide step by step, but in the end, my saved game won't show up.

    When I open C:/Documents and Settings/My Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves

    there are two folders (mygame.sims3 and mygame.sims3.backup) with weird files in it, and a random file named mygame.sims3.legacy.

    Heeelp please :( It was a gen. 5 legacy game.
  • Uzone27Uzone27 Posts: 2,808 Member
    edited January 2010
    Hello all, I've been out of the loop for a bit so apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

    juliabassetto,
    The first step in the uninstall instructions was to backup your save files.
    The save files will be in the copy you cut and pasted via the manual uninstall instructions.


    dltrdh
    Sorry you had to go to such extreme lengths to get it running, but glad you found the tips helpful. Got your friend request as well...added you as a new friend Cheers!

    purkey There is no harm in trying the entire folder all at once to see if it works. If it doesn't simply cut and paste it back to your safe spot, and try adding content a little bit at a time. Mods one at a time definitely, CC a few pieces at a time until the problem is found. Glad you were able to get the game running!

    Skeeter03 Sorry about your difficulties. Could you clarify a bit for me?
    Are you saying that the game is working OK now but the store isn't working?
    If so I wish I could help, I have problems with the site and the launcher off and on myself pretty regularly so I cant be of much help there....but hopefully the clean install sorted your other problems?

    Happy New Year everyone!
    UZ

  • GiantSquidGiantSquid Posts: 147 New Member
    edited January 2010
    THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
    I followed your directions to do a clean uninstall and get my game to run faster- and now it does!!! You're a LIFESAVER!!! :D
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