Question by : A software update for the Sims 3 broke my game. It will load past one screen, but than stops responding. HELP!?
It loads past the first screen (where the logos pop up), but once I pick my town, it will freeze after the second “game tip” that pops up, and just plain stop responding. Some information that may effect it are as follows.
- I have the World Adventures, Ambitions and Late Night expansion packs, and no stuff packs.
- I have the Sims 3 Collector’s Edition
- My computer has Windows 7 and meets MOST of the requirements (‘ambitions’ has higher requirements), and my dad fixed it last time, but I won’t be seeing him until Wednesday and want to play as soon as possible.

What can I do?

Best answer:

Answer by ღ▣υรéℓ
Step 1: Check modthesims.com for any info concerning the new update (they usually have discussions about whatever the update broke this time). If the information is not there and you get too impatient to wait for answers from their experts:

Step 2: Copy the *whole* EA folder from My Documents to the desktop. Uninstall the expansion packs and the base game. Reinstall all. Do not install the latest update. (This is presuming you installed the update because the Launcher suggested it, not because it was part of installing the last expansion pack – if it was part of the expansion installation there is every chance you won’t be able to run that expansion.) You must copy this folder if you want to keep your saved games as they are now, after reinstallation. There is a small chance that your saved games could be corrupted or incompatible after screwing with the level of updates (so prepare yourself for that), but it’s always worth trying to save them as they are probably fine.

I know it’s time consuming; I try anything and everything to not have to reinstall my game – but unfortunately if MTS don’t know how to fix it, you probably will have to reinstall. (If you asked EA they would just tell you to reinstall, so it’s not worth going there.) For future reference, avoid installing updates unless you are adding an expansion pack – a horrifically large percentage of their routine updates brick your game.

**Other than this, there is always System Restore. I say this with caution as I have absolutely no idea if this will rescue your Sims installation – but in theory the program files would roll back to before the update, as with any other program.

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