How to "Factory reset" The Sims 3, before reinstalling.

Hi everyone. I figured since I have been promoted to helper status, I'd better get to helping lol.

I have noticed time after time in thread after thread as soon as someone has the smallest problem they uninstall there games only to find they are faced with the same problem they had before uninstalling. The next time your faced with a problem try this before uninstalling.

90% of Sims problems are located in your my documents folder, when you uninstall your game you don't change any of these files, you only change the ones located in your C drive. If you follow these steps it should fix some issues without the need to uninstall, cause lets face it; that sucks!

1. Restart your computer so that all processes associated with the sims 3 are closed.  

2. Once your computer has restarted go to your Sims 3 folder located at /C:/User//My documents/electronic arts/

3. Rename your "the sims 3" folder to something like "Current Game" and close the window.

4. Click to load the launcher, once it loads up close it back down. ((if it still doesn't open then you'll have to uninstall))

5. Go back to your TS3 folder again like in step 2 and you'll notice that the launcher has created a brand new folder for you.

6. If you were having problems like the launcher won't start the game or whatever, try it now.

**Note: None of your saves, cc or mods will load don't worry they are safe as they are still in the previous folder**

7. If your game loads then great you now know that whatever was causing the problem is cc/mods related. Now comes the tedious part. You have to go to the "current game" folder and copy the following folders: Saves, Downloads, SavedSims, and paste them into the newly generated "the sims 3" folder.

8. Open your launcher and install your downloads. Once they are installed click play -- let the game load and click to start a new game

**Don't load one of your saves as any cc you had in that save from your mods folder will be replaced**

9. If the game loads up, great! close it back down as you now know that the problem is located in your mods folder. ((If it doesn't load then the problem is maybe a corrupted save-- try removing the "saves" folder and try again, keep repeating this step taking each folder away until your game loads.

10. Now create a new mods folder within your newly generated "the sims 3" folder. Set it up exactly the same as the old one.

10.5: Download delphy's dashboard and scan your "current game" mods folder to see if there are any conflicts; it'll save you time later. Check this link out. If you find any conflicts, corrupt packages follow the steps issued in the above link.

11. Basically, what you have to do now is copy your packages 10 at a time from your old mods folder into the new one we just created. Once you've pasted them in load the game, if it opens then fantastic the problem isn't in those 10 files.

12. Repeat step 11 over and over until all your packages are in the new folder.

((keep note of which 10 you just copied as the problem could be one or more of those files))

13. If at any point you paste 10 over and load the game and you run into a problem like it won't load, you'll know that the problem is one or more of the last 10 you just pasted in.

14. Cut the last 10 you added and paste them onto your desktop

15. Copy the files in one at a time and load the game, eventually you'll find the pesky problem file and delete it.

16. Rinse and repeat steps 11-15 until all your files are inside the mods folder and your game loads up without a problem.

Your game should work perfectly now that you've removed the problem file(s). The steps above have guided you through what is called a *Factory Reset* I hope this has saved someone hours of uninstalling and reinstalling only to find the problem still exists. If you have any problems or don't understand any of the above steps just send me a PM and I'll be happy to help you.

Susie <3 xoxoxox



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Good tip Lady -- You can edit it in if you want or shall I do it ?