Factory Reset not working.

So, I discovered a way to factory reset your game without uninstalling it, which I need as my cache files refuse to respawn after I deleted them and mods won't work despite having the file correct. I've grown frustrated and believe I deleted a cache I wasn't supposed to by accident. In all my years of simming, I never did such a thing, but I'm pretty sure I did. 

The link I used is here:http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/06/tutorial-resetting-the-game-to-factory-settings-without-reinstalling.html

My issue is that it doesn't work. I've renamed my file several times and started the launcher and a new file just won't appear. I can't uninstall, as during a recent move I've lost a few discs and codes, so if I uninstall I'll lose my favorite expansions that I just can't play without. Is there any suggestions as to how to fix this? Any known bugs that make this way of factory resetting not work? I'm super frustrated, as I really really love this game and just want to get back to happily simming.

Hello,

Personally I don't use the factory reset. I simply delete my documents files when I encounter with a problem and if it doesn't work I delete and reinstall my game.