Struggling to follow "How to Install Correctly" instructions due to drive

So I tried my best to find help on this but couldn't see the same problem anywhere.
I have a legit Sims 3 base game and Pets, World Adventures, Late Night and Fast lane expansions. I'm in the process of downloading more expansion torrents from here and ANYWAY my issue is: when I'm following these instructions https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t1171-must-read-how-to-install-the-sims-3-correctly# I can't get past number 2 of the manual patch as an error message shows saying something like "no version of The Sims 3 was found installed". I believe that this may be as I have my game installed to my (D:) flash drive and intend to install my expansions to the same place. 
I'm wondering how to fix this and whether this location will cause problems when I come to installing the expansions?
Thank you

joannabelle wrote:So I tried my best to find help on this but couldn't see the same problem anywhere.
I have a legit Sims 3 base game and Pets, World Adventures, Late Night and Fast lane expansions. I'm in the process of downloading more expansion torrents from here and ANYWAY my issue is: when I'm following these instructions https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t1171-must-read-how-to-install-the-sims-3-correctly# I can't get past number 2 of the manual patch as an error message shows saying something like "no version of The Sims 3 was found installed". I believe that this may be as I have my game installed to my (D:) flash drive and intend to install my expansions to the same place. 
I'm wondering how to fix this and whether this location will cause problems when I come to installing the expansions?
Thank you

Hello @joannabelle and welcome to the Forum,

I assume you have an Origin-based version of The Sims 3, and you are trying to apply the cracked DLC on top of it? Note that the guide you linked to is primarily meant for people who have only cracked games (so base game plus DLC). It used to work well in the past, but it seems nowadays - maybe due to the 1.69 patch - problems seem somewhat more common. Interestingly though, it works for some, but not others.

If you cannot get it working otherwise, consider going for a cracked base game as well.