TS3 on non-C: drives.
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TS3 on non-C: drives.
by The_gh0stm4n Tue 03 Mar 2015, 01:54
Suddenly I remembered this thread here again:
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t19233-error-during-start-up-youtube-video-didn-t-help
Back then I decided to try and help that person via TeamViewer. She basically installed everything about Sims 3 on a D: drive. So not on C:, as is the normal case with most people. No matter what she did, she could not get the game working. I tried myself applying the manual patch + Ultimate fix, but ended up with the same "error during startup". Yes, I checked if there are any leftover registry entries...
The mysterious thing is that each time the manual patch was applied, the patcher would create a weird (?) folder named "The Sims 3 Base Game". So after patching there were basically "two" base game folders, namely "The Sims 3" (the default one) and this new "The Sims 3 Base Game".
I tried lots of things, and this TeamViewer session lasted for over an hour (lol), but nothing worked. I ended up suggesting to that user that she frees up some space on the C: drive, and installs Sims 3 on there.
Now that I come to think of it, a few users have hinted at this issue in the past already, but I assumed that "something else" had been done wrong.
:
I'm also slightly surprised that this "issue" (if there is an issue) hasn't been discovered earlier already... ? What I now think is this: the manual superpatch of Sims 3 will install the update if it is on the C: drive, and you might end up with problems if the stuff is elsewhere. On the other hand, some other people seem to be able to install the games on another drive... ? Or maybe you should install at least the base game on C:, and can have the expansions elsewhere ?
Can anyone shed some light on this ?
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t19233-error-during-start-up-youtube-video-didn-t-help
Back then I decided to try and help that person via TeamViewer. She basically installed everything about Sims 3 on a D: drive. So not on C:, as is the normal case with most people. No matter what she did, she could not get the game working. I tried myself applying the manual patch + Ultimate fix, but ended up with the same "error during startup". Yes, I checked if there are any leftover registry entries...
The mysterious thing is that each time the manual patch was applied, the patcher would create a weird (?) folder named "The Sims 3 Base Game". So after patching there were basically "two" base game folders, namely "The Sims 3" (the default one) and this new "The Sims 3 Base Game".
I tried lots of things, and this TeamViewer session lasted for over an hour (lol), but nothing worked. I ended up suggesting to that user that she frees up some space on the C: drive, and installs Sims 3 on there.
Now that I come to think of it, a few users have hinted at this issue in the past already, but I assumed that "something else" had been done wrong.
:
I'm also slightly surprised that this "issue" (if there is an issue) hasn't been discovered earlier already... ? What I now think is this: the manual superpatch of Sims 3 will install the update if it is on the C: drive, and you might end up with problems if the stuff is elsewhere. On the other hand, some other people seem to be able to install the games on another drive... ? Or maybe you should install at least the base game on C:, and can have the expansions elsewhere ?
Can anyone shed some light on this ?
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by ☠ ~ Aɳɳ ~ ☠ Tue 03 Mar 2015, 09:26
From my own experience, I have never had any trouble at all installing the games on D:
It could potentially be an issue if the drive got assigned a new drive letter on start up, but it would had to have been a removable drive. I encountered that once when I used an external HD, and the next time I started the pc there was another usb drive on the pc that got assigned the HD's original drive letter. At that point it no longer corresponded with the registry entries, but the problem was fixed as soon as I assigned it the correct letter in disk management.
It could potentially be an issue if the drive got assigned a new drive letter on start up, but it would had to have been a removable drive. I encountered that once when I used an external HD, and the next time I started the pc there was another usb drive on the pc that got assigned the HD's original drive letter. At that point it no longer corresponded with the registry entries, but the problem was fixed as soon as I assigned it the correct letter in disk management.
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by The_gh0stm4n Tue 03 Mar 2015, 21:00
Lady ElDi wrote:From my own experience, I have never had any trouble at all installing the games on D:
It could potentially be an issue if the drive got assigned a new drive letter on start up, but it would had to have been a removable drive. I encountered that once when I used an external HD, and the next time I started the pc there was another usb drive on the pc that got assigned the HD's original drive letter. At that point it no longer corresponded with the registry entries, but the problem was fixed as soon as I assigned it the correct letter in disk management.
Thanks for the feedback !
I actually checked the user's registry too, so that everything corresponded to the install location/drive, namely the "D: drive". Everything did correspond but it still didn't work.
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by Admin Thu 05 Mar 2015, 21:13
Hello Carlos,
Did you correctly check the base game's installation folder in the Registry? Make sure that every letter is exactly the same - heck, even copy over the location again, just to be sure.
The manual patch "grabs" the game's installation location from the Registry. If a new Sims folder pops up somewhere else after applying the manual patch, that usually means that another (base game) installation location is specified in the Registry, and the patcher thinks that the game is installed there. Remove the duplicate folder and then double-triple-check the location(s) in the Registry.
Did you correctly check the base game's installation folder in the Registry? Make sure that every letter is exactly the same - heck, even copy over the location again, just to be sure.
The manual patch "grabs" the game's installation location from the Registry. If a new Sims folder pops up somewhere else after applying the manual patch, that usually means that another (base game) installation location is specified in the Registry, and the patcher thinks that the game is installed there. Remove the duplicate folder and then double-triple-check the location(s) in the Registry.
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by The_gh0stm4n Fri 06 Mar 2015, 06:35
Admin wrote:Hello Carlos,
Did you correctly check the base game's installation folder in the Registry? Make sure that every letter is exactly the same - heck, even copy over the location again, just to be sure.
The manual patch "grabs" the game's installation location from the Registry. If a new Sims folder pops up somewhere else after applying the manual patch, that usually means that another (base game) installation location is specified in the Registry, and the patcher thinks that the game is installed there. Remove the duplicate folder and then double-triple-check the location(s) in the Registry.
That's absolutely the thing that I did (even the part with copying the install locations, into the registry
). But everything was OK in the registry. As I said, the base game (along with all expansions) was installed on D:, and after applying the manual patch another (second) base game folder showed up in the exact same location. And this one was called "Sims 3 Base Game".I noticed that this user chose a weird custom parent folder name for the installation, namely "The Sims 3 Complete". And inside that folder, there are all sub-folders, of the base game and all expansions. But I made sure that everything matched in the registry.
I still think that this user screwed up somewhere. Maybe she moved around folders on her own or something ? Before I logged into TeamViewer ? Or something went wrong during the base game installation, which can often be fixed by just un-installing and re-installing the base game. I did not consider that possibility though, back then.
Maybe that user will post back, and then we'll see. Thanks again for the input Admin and Lady !
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by Admin Fri 06 Mar 2015, 21:44
If the user still has that issue, let me know. I love that kind of Registry-related issues. 
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by The_gh0stm4n Thu 26 Mar 2015, 00:58
Admin wrote:If the user still has that issue, let me know. I love that kind of Registry-related issues.
Could anyone of you guys - if you have the time and an external drive - test this maybe ? See this here:
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t19450-error-during-startup-more-information-is-in-the-log
One user could be coincidence, but two users ?
//EDIT
I would do it myself, but I can't be bothered to un-install my current (well-working) installation, just to see if it also works on an eternal drive.
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by The_gh0stm4n Mon 30 Mar 2015, 14:52
OK, since I currently have more time again, I ended up testing it myself, and yes, everything seems to be OK with the download. However, there are a few things to keep in mind when installing it on an external drive. But first things first.
I had to take 2 (smaller) backup hard-drives of mine, because I didn't want to mess with the stuff on my main Windows 7 drive. On one of those backup drives I installed Windows 8.1 (for other testing purposes, too). That drive was connected via the SATA controller, and was to function as my "main hard-drive".
The second backup drive (drive "J") was connected via USB to the computer. And on that drive I was planning to install the Sims 3 base game and a couple of expansions (because of the smaller size though, and because I had other stuff too on that drive, I couldn't install the whole Complete Collection).
As you can see, the drive enclosed within the red rectangle, is my "J" drive, and that's the external one in my setup.
Before the installation, I prepared the drive, by creating ("pre-made") folders, with the names of the games. I think that is (still) logical for you.
When installing the base game and all subsequent expansions/stuffpacks, you - of course - need to select "custom installation".
By default, the C: install location will be shown. Click on "change".
Select the appropriate folder. Since I was installing the base game of TS3, I selected the pre-made TS3 base game folder marked with a red arrow. Again: the appropriate folder must be selected for ALL subsequent expansions/stuffpacks too !
This is what you end up with, after selecting the correct folder. Click on "Next" now. And THAT is it. Now what is the problem here ?
The problem is that once you select a (base) game location/install folder, you should NEVER change that (base) game folder's name and/or the registry ! That's why the preparation in advance, with all the "right" folders is crucial.
Before doing this, I played around a bit: I made a folder with a random name ("TS3 Complete"). In THAT folder I installed the base game at first. After the install was done, I changed the folder name to "TS3 Base game" AND the registry entry too. And guess what happened when I applied the manual patch after that ? A new folder popped up in "J", with the name TS3 Complete. Again, that was the OLD name of the folder. It popped up even after I renamed the folder and edited the registry accordingly (extra note: I un-installed that messed up base game installation, and then continued "properly", whereby I made all these screenshots).
And that in turn is exactly what happened to the first user who I tried to help via TeamViewer. I had no idea of this, back then.
My guess is that somewhere on the computer there is data which "remembers" the original base game install location. And if I were to make a wild guess, I would hint at this here:
I'm not 100% sure what to make of that though. If people already edited the folder name and/or the registry, you could be tempted to delete that folder that I marked, and then re-apply the 1.67 patch, but then you might end up with an error that "TS3 is not installed..." or something similar. So that would need more testing.
I think that once you got everything installed (base game + 1.67 patch + some/all expansions), you can move around those folders, and then also edit the registry entries, but as long as you haven't patched the base game, you're running into issues when renaming the base game folder and/or editing its registry entry.
But as long as you haven't patched the base game, it is NOT safe to rename its installation folder name and/or edit the registry.
To summarize, these are the key points again:
1) People should create the appropriate folders on their external hard-drives in advance.
2) People should always go to the "custom installation" option in the setup wizard, selecting the right folder to which the game should be installed.
3) And most importantly: once the folders are set up, NEVER change the folder names ! (at least not until we know a better workaround)
@The Sims Helpers, @Moderators, (and @Admins), please keep that in mind.
Since I'm sure this is going to cause confusion among the people.
P.S. I'm sure you will have guessed it already, but the reason I showed you all these screenshots is because I was planning to make a separate topic on this, in the TS3 Fixes section.
I had to take 2 (smaller) backup hard-drives of mine, because I didn't want to mess with the stuff on my main Windows 7 drive. On one of those backup drives I installed Windows 8.1 (for other testing purposes, too). That drive was connected via the SATA controller, and was to function as my "main hard-drive".
The second backup drive (drive "J") was connected via USB to the computer. And on that drive I was planning to install the Sims 3 base game and a couple of expansions (because of the smaller size though, and because I had other stuff too on that drive, I couldn't install the whole Complete Collection).
As you can see, the drive enclosed within the red rectangle, is my "J" drive, and that's the external one in my setup.
Before the installation, I prepared the drive, by creating ("pre-made") folders, with the names of the games. I think that is (still) logical for you.
When installing the base game and all subsequent expansions/stuffpacks, you - of course - need to select "custom installation".
By default, the C: install location will be shown. Click on "change".
Select the appropriate folder. Since I was installing the base game of TS3, I selected the pre-made TS3 base game folder marked with a red arrow. Again: the appropriate folder must be selected for ALL subsequent expansions/stuffpacks too !
This is what you end up with, after selecting the correct folder. Click on "Next" now. And THAT is it. Now what is the problem here ?
The problem is that once you select a (base) game location/install folder, you should NEVER change that (base) game folder's name and/or the registry ! That's why the preparation in advance, with all the "right" folders is crucial.
Before doing this, I played around a bit: I made a folder with a random name ("TS3 Complete"). In THAT folder I installed the base game at first. After the install was done, I changed the folder name to "TS3 Base game" AND the registry entry too. And guess what happened when I applied the manual patch after that ? A new folder popped up in "J", with the name TS3 Complete. Again, that was the OLD name of the folder. It popped up even after I renamed the folder and edited the registry accordingly (extra note: I un-installed that messed up base game installation, and then continued "properly", whereby I made all these screenshots).
And that in turn is exactly what happened to the first user who I tried to help via TeamViewer. I had no idea of this, back then.
My guess is that somewhere on the computer there is data which "remembers" the original base game install location. And if I were to make a wild guess, I would hint at this here:
I'm not 100% sure what to make of that though. If people already edited the folder name and/or the registry, you could be tempted to delete that folder that I marked, and then re-apply the 1.67 patch, but then you might end up with an error that "TS3 is not installed..." or something similar. So that would need more testing.
I think that once you got everything installed (base game + 1.67 patch + some/all expansions), you can move around those folders, and then also edit the registry entries, but as long as you haven't patched the base game, you're running into issues when renaming the base game folder and/or editing its registry entry.
But as long as you haven't patched the base game, it is NOT safe to rename its installation folder name and/or edit the registry.
To summarize, these are the key points again:
1) People should create the appropriate folders on their external hard-drives in advance.
2) People should always go to the "custom installation" option in the setup wizard, selecting the right folder to which the game should be installed.
3) And most importantly: once the folders are set up, NEVER change the folder names ! (at least not until we know a better workaround)
@The Sims Helpers, @Moderators, (and @Admins), please keep that in mind.
Since I'm sure this is going to cause confusion among the people. P.S. I'm sure you will have guessed it already, but the reason I showed you all these screenshots is because I was planning to make a separate topic on this, in the TS3 Fixes section.
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Re: TS3 on non-C: drives.
by Admin Fri 03 Apr 2015, 21:54
Thanks for this extensive "guide", Carlos! Feel free to post that topic.
And...
Been there, done that.
And...
Might be best not to delete anything in that folder, lol. You might end up with all kinds of icons not showing up, software not working, not being able to uninstall, etc., etc.Carlos the Great wrote:I'm not 100% sure what to make of that though. If people already edited the folder name and/or the registry, you could be tempted to delete that folder that I marked, and then re-apply the 1.67 patch, but then you might end up with an error that "TS3 is not installed..." or something similar. So that would need more testing.
Been there, done that.
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