Author Topic: Factory Reset: Fix Your Game with 1/4 the Time of a Reinstall (Read 5745 times)

MoonsAreBlue · « **on:** October 30, 2011, 11:24:17 AM »

Hi everybody,

I thought I would share what a factory reset is. I haven't posted anything about it earlier, because I could have sworn I read about it here, but now I know it was on the official forum. A factory reset is completely safe, and it will fix your game 90% of the time as long as you don't have a corrupt save. This process creates a brand new Sims 3 folder that is just as empty as if you had reinstalled your game. So if you're at the end of your rope with a glitched game, and you're thinking about reinstalling, try this first.

For those that don't know how to get to their Sims 3 folder (Windows 7):
1. Click Start and click Computer.
2. In the window that pops up, under Libraries on the left hand side, click Documents.
3. Click Electronic Arts.
4. There should be a folder titled "The Sims 3."

What to do with your folder:
1. Rename "The Sims 3" to something like "The Sims 3 Old" or "The Sims 3.1." Anything will do.
2. Start your game normally, and once the main menu comes up (where you select a town to play in) exit out of your game.
3. Go back to the location of your "The Sims 3 Old" folder.
4. There should now be two folders (more if you have other EA games). One should be named "The Sims 3" and "The Sims 3 Old."
5. If you open the new folder, you will see that it is completely empty of player content. No saves, no downloads, no screenshots, nothing. The game created a new, clean folder, just like it would have done with a complete reinstall.
6. Edited to include easier solution: Now, go to your "The Sim 3 Old" folder. Copy the folder titled "Downloads." Go to your new "The Sims 3" folder and paste the "Downloads" folder. If it tells you that the folder already exists, you want to delete the old folder and replace it with the new one you are currently pasting. You will have to open your launcher and install this custom content. Scroll down to see my tip for people with a lot of custom content.
7. Once your downloads are done, go into your "The Sims 3 Old" folder and go to the folder titles "Saves." Copy or Cut these files and Paste them into "Saves" under the new "The Sims 3" folder.
8. Once your saves are moved, start your game.
9. Congratulations! You have just done a factory reset!

Warning: Showtime added new data to The Sims 3 folder, and doing a full "factory reset" will cause you to lose data relating to your in-game SimPort progress.
Go to Documents \ The Sims 3 \ Downloads and find the folder named with a number (your user ID). Make a backup of that folder before you do anything. If you use the Factory Reset method for different challenges, you might want to move this folder around whenever you use a different The Sims 3 folder, so you can keep your progress. (Thanks NonaMena)

If your games work in this new folder, you are safe to completely delete "The Sims 3 Old" folder. But when I do a factory reset, I keep my "The Sims 3 Old" folders in a separate location, just in case I come to need the other saved items in them, such as previously exported lots.

When you patch your game, keep in mind that the patch will apply to all of your Sims 3 folders. There is no way to have different patches in different folders. Additionally, now that we are speaking of mods, this trick is an excellent way to keep your challenge files separate from your non-challenge files.

If you have any questions, ask away!

P.S. If anyone is having problems about not being able to delete files due to an error saying that the files are currently being used (or something of the sort), make sure the launcher and Origin are NOT open in your taskbar. You may have closed the game, but you will not be able to change any files if the launcher or Origin are open and running in the background!

Edited to reflect change in step 6: In step 6, it is wise to make a copy of this new "The Sims 3" folder after your downloads and before your saves. Paste this copy to some other location on your computer. For example, I created a folder on my desktop titled "Sims Stuff" just for things like this. The reasoning behind making this copy is if you ever have to do another factory reset, you now have another copy of that clean folder, but with your downloads. So in the future, you can save yourself from having to copy and paste the "Downloads" folder again. This will also save you time by not having to boot up the sims to make a new folder again.

Last Edited 3/09/2012

Metropolis Man · « **Reply #1 on:** October 30, 2011, 11:41:51 AM »

Super info, MoonsAreBlue. Thanks.

Jancy · « **Reply #2 on:** October 30, 2011, 11:48:28 AM »

This does work and I have tried it before. Also the UserPreset.package file can also be put back in. (if there is a new one in there after doing it just replace it with the one from your old game file) This file contains your custom colors and patterns that you saved in CA Style, CA Sim and build and buy mode

skybaker · « **Reply #3 on:** October 30, 2011, 10:11:33 PM »

I would make a copy of newly created "The Sims 3" folder instead of regenerate it. I use this copy to replace the original folder once my game is getting slower.
Furthermore, the "SavedSims" stores your created or downloaded "Sims". Copy this folder also if you have any.

BellaClo · « **Reply #4 on:** October 31, 2011, 09:53:36 AM »

This is a great tip Moonsareblue. I use it all the time too. It helps me keeping all my Sims stuff and saves organized. Right now, I have several "The Sims 3" folders under Users\...\Documents\Electronic arts:

The Sims 3 - Decadee
The Sims 3 - Isbi
The Sims 3 - Mad max
The Sims 3

The last one (no renaming) is the folder I've been using for the last week, playing with Pets and Apaloosa Plain and doing my own little ranching program, like many of us :-) The other ones are used for my townie deca dynasty ("Decadee"), a spin off of a legacy challenge ("Isbi") and the 'Mad max" one was used for the tournament challenge, and now that it's over, I could delete it.

To have each "type" of game in its own Sims 3 folder helps me to have everything organized easily, with a minimum of effort, and to reduce the risk of any goofy action on my part! The only requirement is to have enough free space on your main hard drive (C:\). Providing it's ok, this system has many advantages:

1. Graphic settings can be different for each of the folders: as high as possible for the stories to have nice looking pictures, rather low for the tournament challenges because it's more about performance than pretty shots.

2. Age settings can be different too: Normal for dynasties/legacies, long for tournament challenges... And no risk to forget changing this whenever I switch from a "long aging" game to a "normal aging" one :-)

3. Store content: I don't need it when I play a tournament challenge for instance (besides the few EP registration sets maybe). No need to risk an over load of the RAM for my poor computer. But I've put a nice assortment of store stuff for the dynasty, because after all, if I've bought those shiny goodies, it's to use them.

To add on store stuff, there is indeed no need to re-download all you purchase each time you do a factory reset. I have created a kind of "Sims 3 stuff Library" on another hard drive and each time I buy and download something from the store, I copy its Sims3pack to this external library. Then, whenever I do a factory reset/create a new Sims 3 folder, I select the Sims3packs I want to use in my library and simply copy/paste them to the Download folder of the freshly created Sims 3 folder. And I install them through the Launcher.

4. Other content (CC, mods): For players who want to use them, doing a factory reset is also a good way to test those CC/mods before you add them to another Sims 3 folder where you have important saves you don't want to risk loosing.

5. Screenshots, saves: If you take a lot of screenshots and do a lot of "save as", it's much easier to have all the ones related to the same subject in the same folder. Again, no risk of deleting something by mistake.

So, altogether, I find this helps me a lot to have all those different "Sims 3" folders and it doesn't require much much work to set up. The only thing I have to remember is to rename them before I launch the game. Add any description to the folders I don't want to play, and remove those extra words in the name of the folder I want to be launched by the game.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #5 on:** October 31, 2011, 11:27:06 AM »

@Bella

I had the same set up as you for a while! I only had two folders, but I had a separate folder for challenges and for fun. I sometimes play on different life spans in my for fun games, and accidentally playing my Dynasty on Long would ruin it! However, I had the Hunting glitch in my challenge files, so I moved them over to my for fun folder, and the problem was fixed! I find this to be a very effective way to organize games. You just have to remember to switch to the correct one before you play.

CreativeCrayola · « **Reply #6 on:** November 10, 2011, 03:59:48 PM »

I've just done a factory reset, and would like to know if it's normal for on step 2, it's very slow in loading?

BellaClo · « **Reply #7 on:** November 10, 2011, 04:20:07 PM »

Yep, the very first time you load the game it's always slower than usual. All the thumbnails and other various files are recreated.

CreativeCrayola · « **Reply #8 on:** November 10, 2011, 04:25:00 PM »

Quote from: BellaClo on November 10, 2011, 04:20:07 PM

Yep, the very first time you load the game it's always slower than usual. All the thumbnails and other various files are recreated.

Ah! Thanks

MarianT · « **Reply #9 on:** November 12, 2011, 02:45:20 PM »

This is a great idea! I did this for the Pets demo, but I never realized I could separate my story files from my challenges and other files. No more suddenly realizing that the age-setting is wrong, plus I can have advanced rendering for my screenshots.

AnnBeiFong · « **Reply #10 on:** November 27, 2011, 10:17:28 AM »

Would this also work with a patch problem? Or will I still have to do a complete reinstall?

sdhoey · « **Reply #11 on:** November 27, 2011, 08:46:14 PM »

Quote from: BellaClo on October 31, 2011, 09:53:36 AM

This is a great tip Moonsareblue. I use it all the time too. It helps me keeping all my Sims stuff and saves organized. Right now, I have several "The Sims 3" folders under Users\...\Documents\Electronic arts:

The Sims 3 - Decadee
The Sims 3 - Isbi
The Sims 3 - Mad max
The Sims 3

When you do this, like you have it listed, how does it know which folder to use? It's late, I'm probably having another blonde moment.. LOL

Seabody · « **Reply #12 on:** November 27, 2011, 11:08:51 PM »

It will automatically use the folder titled "The Sims 3".
So if BellaClo wants to play her Decadee file, she renames "The Sims 3 - Decadee" to "The Sims 3", and "The Sims 3" to something else, like "The Sims 3 - Casual".

Esther1981 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 28, 2011, 08:05:38 PM »

When I was playing VF(Virtual Families) I would do this. I had LDW, LDW 1,2,3 etc. I never realized you could also do this for The Sims!! This is awesome information! Thank you so much!!

sdhoey · « **Reply #14 on:** November 28, 2011, 08:32:14 PM »

Quote from: Seabody on November 27, 2011, 11:08:51 PM

It will automatically use the folder titled "The Sims 3".
So if BellaClo wants to play her Decadee file, she renames "The Sims 3 - Decadee" to "The Sims 3", and "The Sims 3" to something else, like "The Sims 3 - Casual".

Thanks Seabody, I might start doing this for my games.

goldengalaxia · « **Reply #15 on:** November 29, 2011, 02:28:53 PM »

I have a question~

I am following the instructions, and when I change The Sims 3 folder to casual, and go to start the game (with the Pets icon on my desktop), it asks me to reinstall the base game.

What am I doing wrong? Please help~

Thanks!

BellaClo · « **Reply #16 on:** November 29, 2011, 03:54:23 PM »

Are you sure you changed the name of your user sims 3 folder (in "Documents") and not the one in Program files?

alex51299 · « **Reply #17 on:** November 29, 2011, 07:57:19 PM »

I'm a little confused on the CC part. So if we have our seperat folder (Sims 3 stuff) we just copy and paste that into the new Sims 3 folder, and that will make it show up in the launcher?

BellaClo · « **Reply #18 on:** November 30, 2011, 02:20:50 AM »

Copy the sims3packs from one Download folder to the new one, then reinstall them with the Launcher. Delete the .package files in DCBackup after (Not the ones in DCCache).

goldengalaxia · « **Reply #19 on:** December 01, 2011, 02:03:08 PM »

Quote from: BellaClo on November 29, 2011, 03:54:23 PM

Are you sure you changed the name of your user sims 3 folder (in "Documents") and not the one in Program files?

Thank you! I was in the wrong spot, geez

My mistake!

Esther1981 · « **Reply #20 on:** December 09, 2011, 09:49:03 PM »

I have a problem. I am trying to do this to help a game issue, but every time I right click and try to change the folders name, it says I need permission. I click ok as in I authorize it, but it keeps saying try again, try again. I might end up cutting the folder and than pasting it on my desktop, does anyone know if that would work or hurt my game in any way?

Seabody · « **Reply #21 on:** December 09, 2011, 11:25:13 PM »

@BellaClo
Using your method, I could (in theory) run mods in one game folder, but keep the other ones clean of all Mods and CC so I can play challenges and my Dynasty, right?

BellaClo · « **Reply #22 on:** December 10, 2011, 03:49:43 AM »

@seabody: Yep, that's it exactly! Once a Sims3 folder is renamed to something else, the game doesn't see it anymore. This is some kind of 100% protection of whatever is in renamed folders while you play.

Esther1981 · « **Reply #23 on:** December 10, 2011, 03:55:53 AM »

Any idea why my folder won't let me change names? I just tried it again to no avail. I'm the administrator of my computer and don't have authority to change it?? I don't really want to open my game again til I fix it. It's either this or a complete uninstall, reinstall and this is quicker and easier lol.

BellaClo · « **Reply #24 on:** December 10, 2011, 04:39:26 AM »

Hi Esther,

This is some Windows issue and I don't understand either why you can't rename your user's folders as Administrator. When you right click on the folder, there is a "Properties" option in the list, you can check there maybe. In this property window, there is a "security" tab. Check that you have full control for it. I hope this will work for you. Otherwise, cut and paste will do the same trick, yes.

Esther1981 · « **Reply #25 on:** December 10, 2011, 09:13:40 PM »

I looked under properties and it say I'm admin. Well, cut and paste then. Thanks Bella!
EDIT: What in the world is going on?? I'm not even allowed to cut and paste?! I suppose I have to uninstall reinstall. Oh my goodness this is awful and I hate having to do it.

EDIT 2: I thought I would be more clever than my computer and copy and paste than delete the folder. Turns out my computer is more clever than me cause I'm not even allowed to delete it. This is my computer, I created the stupid folder why in sims name can't I delete it?! I swear I feel like throwing it out the window. I won't though, I'll take a deep breath, calm down and than uninstall it and reinstall. Hm makes me wonder if after I uninstall could I delete the folder than??
EDIT 3: Well, I figured the problem out. I went to control panel to start uninstalling them, and it wouldn't let me uninstall. It said there was another program running that was using it. Yes, I had just shut the game down after making sure they weren't doing anything, saving them to the library and flashdrive, but I also exited the game. So I investigated the little bar at the bottom of my monitor, and found the launcher and origin were running. I did download something from the store last night but I thought I exited. After exiting both of those, I went back to control panel, stopped and thought. I now have a folder in EA named The Sims 3 gonna do a new one! So I guess bottom line is, check the taskbar and close any sim-related things before trying to rename the folder.

EDIT 4: First, I'm sorry for all the edits.

Second, I got done with it. I didn't want to go to the store and redownload everything one by one, so I just copied my downloads and pasted them in the new folder and than installed it. It seems to have cut down on the time it takes to open, but the lagging is still there slightly. I did just play one file (my dynasty) and maybe it's just because I have too much stuff or something. I'm tired so I think I'm going to let it go tonight. Thanks for all the help.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #26 on:** December 12, 2011, 09:15:10 PM »

@ Esther

I'm glad you managed to fix your problems. I'll add that information about the launcher to the main post to make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else. It sounds like you had a very frustrating time with it!

Esther1981 · « **Reply #27 on:** December 13, 2011, 03:30:04 AM »

Thanks Moons. I'm very glad I was as well. That's great, I hope my mistake helps others not make it! It was extremely frustrating.

alex51299 · « **Reply #28 on:** December 13, 2011, 06:16:36 PM »

I wanted to add that I found you don't have to go all the way to the main select screen, the new folder will appear just when you start up the launcher.

Miniagge · « **Reply #29 on:** December 17, 2011, 10:09:22 AM »

Hello!

Thanks for this advice.

I have a question:

Do I have to install store content and Riverview again if I do this Factory reset?

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #30 on:** December 17, 2011, 12:02:47 PM »

@Miniagge

Yes, you will have to install any custom content again, including Riverview. However, if you don't want to spend all the time waiting for it to download from the internet, you can simply copy (or cut) the contents of your old Downloads folder and paste them into your new Downloads folder. You will still have to go through the installation through the launcher though.

Miniagge · « **Reply #31 on:** December 18, 2011, 03:27:41 AM »

Ok, thanks a lot!

Unfortunately it didn't work for my problems. So now I think I will have to uninstall and reinstall everything... Hehe, fortunately I have finished my last exam for this year at least, so I have some spare time for fixing my dear Sims

.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #32 on:** December 18, 2011, 09:19:18 AM »

Quote from: Miniagge on December 18, 2011, 03:27:41 AM

Ok, thanks a lot!

Unfortunately it didn't work for my problems. So now I think I will have to uninstall and reinstall everything... Hehe, fortunately I have finished my last exam for this year at least, so I have some spare time for fixing my dear Sims .

I know how you feel, lol. I finished my exams last week so now I'm doing a lot more simming. Sorry this couldn't fix your problem, though. I hope a reinstall fix it!

Seabody · « **Reply #33 on:** December 18, 2011, 04:19:16 PM »

Quick question: I recently did this Factory Reset and split my game into Casual, Challenges, and Dynasty/Legacy. I patched Casual (only), so will I need to apply the patch to Challenges and Dynasty/Legacy too?

MarianT · « **Reply #34 on:** December 18, 2011, 04:20:56 PM »

If you patched from the launcher and your separate files are all under Electronic Arts, they should be patched up, too.

Seabody · « **Reply #35 on:** December 18, 2011, 04:25:55 PM »

I patched manually, and they're under Electronic Arts.

Miniagge · « **Reply #36 on:** December 20, 2011, 03:23:02 AM »

Quote from: MoonsAreBlue on December 18, 2011, 09:19:18 AM

I know how you feel, lol. I finished my exams last week so now I'm doing a lot more simming. Sorry this couldn't fix your problem, though. I hope a reinstall fix it!

Thanks

.
A reinstall didn't fix it either (because I kept my save files). But now it finally works again. I had to move all my families to a completely new neighborhood. I lost the relations between the families and so, but I'm very happy that I have my old families left since I have played on them for more than 2 years

.

Lol, I really like when the exams are finished and I can spend hours and hours with Sims

.

NeonColors · « **Reply #37 on:** December 20, 2011, 10:23:16 AM »

What do we do with the old folder? Delete it? (Fixing my Sis Game's)

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #38 on:** December 20, 2011, 03:20:39 PM »

Quote from: NeonColors on December 20, 2011, 10:23:16 AM

What do we do with the old folder? Delete it? (Fixing my Sis Game's)

Yes, it's completely safe to delete the old folder. I don't like to delete them though, just in case I happen to need something from it. So if you're not short on space, I would just move the old folder to another location.

NeonColors · « **Reply #39 on:** December 20, 2011, 05:53:06 PM »

Thank you.

SassySimmer · « **Reply #40 on:** December 31, 2011, 07:37:59 AM »

Thank you Moonsareblue!!

I have just downloaded a ton of new store items and I know that when the Building contests start again in the new year I will get utterly confused as to which came with which so I have just followed your simple steps and I am about to download just the free content into a file. So thank you, this tip has made me one happy simmer

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #41 on:** December 31, 2011, 09:15:51 AM »

Quote from: SassySimmer on December 31, 2011, 07:37:59 AM

Thank you Moonsareblue!!

I have just downloaded a ton of new store items and I know that when the Building contests start again in the new year I will get utterly confused as to which came with which so I have just followed your simple steps and I am about to download just the free content into a file. So thank you, this tip has made me one happy simmer

I'm very glad this could help you!

iCastl · « **Reply #42 on:** January 06, 2012, 11:55:40 AM »

HEEEELP

I suffer!
I just performed exactly as you said on your first post, Moonsareblue... but now my game takes forever to load and as soon as it does, it crashes!

I get an error saying the application has stopped working and it shuts down completely.
Do you know what happened? Did I do something wrong?

Esther1981 · « **Reply #43 on:** January 06, 2012, 01:11:08 PM »

I'm so sorry to hear that iCastl. Do you still have the old folder? If so, try and change the name and put it back and see if it still crashes. If it doesn't, maybe something didn't get downloaded right for the new one.

iCastl · « **Reply #44 on:** January 06, 2012, 01:22:14 PM »

I'll try that right now and I'll let you know...
I just have to rescue the file from the recycling bin

I just hope it works because my Dynasty is in there!

EDIT: It didn't work

As soon as I unpaused the game it crashed.... I guess it's bye bye to the dynasty...

Thanks anyways

Esther1981 · « **Reply #45 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:04:11 PM »

Have you checked your DEP? Don't delete it just yet. Here is a topic you could check. Also, with DEP open the control panel, open system, Click Advanced System Settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation. Under Performance, click Settings. Click the Data Execution Prevention tab, and then click Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select. Add the files from the base game and also the last EP or SP you have onto that. Hopefully it works.

iCastl · « **Reply #46 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:34:33 PM »

Thank you for this! I'll try it right after I shower

(back to the recycling bin

)

EDIT: Okay this will have to wait at least a day! I went out to take my laptop to the computer geeks so they would clean out all the dirt and dust in it.... I get it back tomorrow, this will hopefully speed up my game when I get it to work though

Esther1981 · « **Reply #47 on:** January 06, 2012, 02:36:38 PM »

You're welcome. I hope it works for you.

MoMoll · « **Reply #48 on:** January 07, 2012, 03:57:44 AM »

Moons, you just became my BFF!!!! I followed your instructions and save from having to reinstall!

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #49 on:** January 07, 2012, 08:49:02 AM »

Quote from: MoMoll on January 07, 2012, 03:57:44 AM

Moons, you just became my BFF!!!! I followed your instructions and save from having to reinstall!

Haha, I'm so glad it worked for you!

iCastl · « **Reply #50 on:** January 07, 2012, 06:22:35 PM »

Hello Esther and Moons

Just wanted to let you know I finally fixed my problem. After performing a factory reset I forgot to relocate my .exe files dor the DEP.
I did this and I also changed the properties in my .exe files in order for them to run in compatibility mode.

I'm not precisly sure which of these two method worked, but my sims is no longer crashing.

Thank you Esther for being so helpful
And thank you moons for officially making my game WAAAY faster.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #51 on:** January 07, 2012, 06:43:23 PM »

I'm glad your game is working! Happy faster simming.

Esther1981 · « **Reply #52 on:** January 07, 2012, 10:17:21 PM »

You're welcome iCastl! Glad it's working!

Noodles · « **Reply #53 on:** January 13, 2012, 08:04:46 AM »

I was having some trouble with my game, but because it was not really glitching or anything serious (just unusually slow loading of lots and objects and occasional crashing), I didn't want to do a re-install; I also wasn't too happy of the idea of doing a factory reset because of the hassle of downloading all my store content again. I finally did it 2 days ago, as the loadtimes were starting to be ridiculously long for my PC's specs.

And I'm so happy I did it! It wasn't too much trouble at all (I copied the store content I wanted to keep from the old Downloads folder and just installed them again and they worked, no need to download them again), and it helped SO much. I could almost see my sims cry tiny little happy tears (or maybe it was just the nerdy me) as all the loading and crashing was gone. I put the same save file in and it loads so quick and smooth. I couldn't believe this would work so well!

I hope you don't see this message as a pointless repetition (which it is I guess) but I just wanted to encourage people to try this if their game is not working as well as it used to, I put it off far too long! And there really isn't any harm done if you store your old folder somewhere when you do this. It was so easy and fast, too.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #54 on:** January 13, 2012, 09:17:01 AM »

It's not pointless at all, Noodles! The whole point is to help people and see just how much it helps. I'll edit the original post later about not having to redownload. Enough people have said that copying the files works, so I feel comfortable to add it now.

SassySimmer · « **Reply #55 on:** January 20, 2012, 06:06:13 PM »

I just have a very quick question (sorry if it has been asked I did scan but didn't see anything relating to this), I have done this technique and it is fabulous. But I was just thinking as there is a new stuff pack coming out how does it affect game play if you have more than one sims 3 game folder and install a new stuff/expansion pack? For example, I have separate folders for dynasty's, building contests, etc. Or do you think that it won't have any affect at all?

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #56 on:** January 20, 2012, 07:25:29 PM »

It shouldn't have any effect at all. When you play your game from "The Sims 3" folder the first time after installing, the game does not give you any errors or anything, so it should be fine when you exit and switch to "Sims 3.2" or "Sims 3.3" or however many you have!

SassySimmer · « **Reply #57 on:** January 21, 2012, 04:20:55 AM »

Quote from: MoonsAreBlue on January 20, 2012, 07:25:29 PM

It shouldn't have any effect at all. When you play your game from "The Sims 3" folder the first time after installing, the game does not give you any errors or anything, so it should be fine when you exit and switch to "Sims 3.2" or "Sims 3.3" or however many you have!

Awesome, thanks Moons.

GlazeyLady · « **Reply #58 on:** February 19, 2012, 02:52:13 PM »

Thank you for your post!

I was unable to install my store content until I went through the steps in your post - I'd even uninstalled and reinstalled, spent over 2 hours on chat with EA support, and tried a bunch of other things.

It may be that a new store content patch actually fixed it, but it didn't tell me there was a new store content patch until I did the factory reset.

Thank you for sharing!

Carl · « **Reply #59 on:** March 08, 2012, 10:11:35 AM »

After installing Showtime and encountering multiple bugs, several freezes and a few hours of lost gameplay, I just tried this for the first time. I would have had my page about magicians done yesterday if not for all the issues I've had. If I make it through the rest of the writing process without any more issues I'll be advertising this thread on the guide so everyone who visits knows about it lol.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #60 on:** March 08, 2012, 10:19:39 AM »

Wow, GlazeyLady, I'm sorry you had such a hard time. But I'm also glad that this fixed your problem.

Quote from: Carl on March 08, 2012, 10:11:35 AM

After installing Showtime and encountering multiple bugs, several freezes and a few hours of lost gameplay, I just tried this for the first time. I would have had my page about magicians done yesterday if not for all the issues I've had. If I make it through the rest of the writing process without any more issues I'll be advertising this thread on the guide so everyone who visits knows about it lol.

Thank you, Carl! This trick is definitely something everyone should know how to do.

NonaMena · « **Reply #61 on:** March 09, 2012, 11:26:18 AM »

Warning: Showtime added new data to The Sims 3 folder, and doing a full "factory reset" will cause you to lose data relating to your in-game achievements and SimPort progress.

Go to Documents \ The Sims 3 \ Downloads and find the folder named with a number (your user ID). Make a backup of that folder before you do anything. If you use the Factory Reset method for different challenges, you might want to move this folder around whenever you use a different The Sims 3 folder, so you can keep your progress.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #62 on:** March 09, 2012, 12:05:02 PM »

So that's what that folder is. Thanks for the tip, NonaMena. I'll add it to the first post.

Hosfac · « **Reply #63 on:** March 09, 2012, 08:55:39 PM »

Quote from: NonaMena on March 09, 2012, 11:26:18 AM

Warning: Showtime added new data to The Sims 3 folder, and doing a full "factory reset" will cause you to lose data relating to your in-game achievements and SimPort progress.

No, it will not.

Carl and I were literally just discussing this. He mentioned that once, while doing a factory restore, he forgot to put these files back where they belonged and mentioned that it recreated itself. So I experimented with it myself to see what impact this had on my achievements. I removed both of these files, started my game and went into a save to check my achievements. They were all there.

The ChallengeData.package file only stores your completed achievement data on your computer in case you're not online. This is the file the game uses to update your achievements you complete when you're not logged in.

I have not yet tested the SimPort file, as I have not used SimPort yet...but you better believe that I will at some point soon.

So for now, you have nothing at all to fear with your achievements.

Edit: If you have not tested something yourself, and do not know it to be 100% fact, do not present it as such. In cases like that, we use phrases like "I hear" or "I think" so that people are not needlessly frightened over something that turns out to be nothing. If you do this, people can test things to find out for sure if what you hear or think is true. In this case, you turned out to be at least 50% wrong.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #64 on:** March 09, 2012, 09:37:31 PM »

I'm very sorry, Hosfac. Once you find out for sure if this is true or false, please edit my post to reflect that. Thanks for looking into it.

MarianT · « **Reply #65 on:** March 09, 2012, 10:44:14 PM »

I just checked this out. I have 3 versions: The Sims 3.dyn, .mod, and .chal. The same Achievements show up in all of them. I also started a fresh version, and my Achievements and Player Wall were the same.

However, I have used SimPort only in The Sims 3. chal. This is the only version with stamps in the passport.

I'm not sure which file you have to move around to keep adding to your points for unlocking things, but unless you want to keep starting over, you do have to move something.

Edit: removed some erroneous information.

Hosfac · « **Reply #66 on:** March 10, 2012, 09:43:49 PM »

Update: The PassportData.package does store all of your SimPort stamps, making what she said 50% correct. So, yes: you'll want to include at least this file with everything you're backing up for the factory refresh process.

I have already modified my "Clean Start" .bat file to back this file up every time I start the game, just in case something happens to it.

sdhoey · « **Reply #67 on:** March 12, 2012, 09:44:51 PM »

When I do a "factory reset" outside of the mods folder, how can I NOT reinstall CC that was installed through the launcher? I just want my store items.

Figwit · « **Reply #68 on:** March 12, 2012, 10:20:23 PM »

Your store items should be in your Downloads folder in your 'old' Sims 3 folder. If you move the contents into your new Sims 3 folder and then open your Launcher you will see the store items show up with a little blue box type thing next to them in the downloads tab. Other cc has an asterisk.

If you are really worried about it, you could just download all your store items again.

Here's a picture of what I mean. The bottom two are store items.

sdhoey · « **Reply #69 on:** March 12, 2012, 10:25:27 PM »

Quote from: Figwit on March 12, 2012, 10:20:23 PM

Your store items should be in your Downloads folder in your 'old' Sims 3 folder. If you move the contents into your new Sims 3 folder and then open your Launcher you will see the store items show up with a little blue box type thing next to them in the downloads tab. Other cc has an asterisk.

If you are really worried about it, you could just download all your store items again.

Here's a picture of what I mean. The bottom two are store items.

Thanks Figwit, I see we have the same taste in hair styles!! LOL I have those also. I've collected so much CC over the past 3 yrs, I just want to get rid of it and start fresh..

I"m having problems with Hidden Springs and Riverveiw not showing up in my game startup. It say's it's installed.

Maybe I'll just recreated a "new file" transfer the new info from Showtime files back in the new downloads and reinstall all my store from scratch.. thanks Again.

Trentorio · « **Reply #70 on:** March 14, 2012, 10:40:14 PM »

I have a question regarding this. I know you can transfer over the Saved Sims folder but is there any way to transfer over your Households from the Households tab in Edit Town?

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #71 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:37:13 AM »

Quote from: Trentorio on March 14, 2012, 10:40:14 PM

I have a question regarding this. I know you can transfer over the Saved Sims folder but is there any way to transfer over your Households from the Households tab in Edit Town?

I'm afraid I don't know that. But if you saved those sims while in CAS, you can transfer them from the "SavedSims" folder. You'd have to remake the household, though.

Trentorio · « **Reply #72 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:41:41 AM »

Thanks for answering! I saved 90% of them in CAS and it's no trouble to open the old folder and save the ones from the household that I missed. I just didn't know if there was a file that I could just move over, since I am inherently lazy.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #73 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:45:57 AM »

Quote from: Trentorio on March 15, 2012, 09:41:41 AM

Thanks for answering! I saved 90% of them in CAS and it's no trouble to open the old folder and save the ones from the household that I missed. I just didn't know if there was a file that I could just move over, since I am inherently lazy.

I think there's another way. I don't know if it will work because I haven't tried, but I bet it would. While in your game, export your households. Then you could move those families from the "Exports" folder to the new "Downloads" folder.

Trentorio · « **Reply #74 on:** March 15, 2012, 09:53:06 AM »

It might. I thought it might just put them in CAS but I remember downloading a sim once from the Homeless Alice series and he showed up in my households list. Other sims I have downloaded just recently, like Alyiah and Cayden from All Good Girls Go To Heaven went to my CAS bin.

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #75 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:05:27 AM »

That all depends on how the sims are exported. If they're exported while in CAS, they will download into your game as CAS sims. But if you export them as a household from the bin, they should download as household.

Trentorio · « **Reply #76 on:** March 15, 2012, 10:06:56 AM »

You're awesome.

I did not know that, now I do, and that will work!

Xanatos · « **Reply #77 on:** March 15, 2012, 03:22:37 PM »

My game has gotten so slow lately I was wondering if I did this would it make my game run smother?

Trentorio · « **Reply #78 on:** March 15, 2012, 03:29:06 PM »

From my own experience, it helped. It also forced me to deal with a lot of downloads and things I never used or no longer used that I could get rid of.

Xanatos · « **Reply #79 on:** March 15, 2012, 03:58:31 PM »

Thanks for the quick response. I really hope this fixes it so I can play and build large houses again.

warr2098 · « **Reply #80 on:** April 13, 2012, 05:53:11 AM »

Thanks so much! (only just saw this topic) My game is so much smoother and now I can run on the highest quality with no sticking! I used to have to run it on lowest quality

DanBrunetu · « **Reply #81 on:** May 16, 2012, 05:41:13 AM »

...ok, so I want to do a factory reset, but my Downloads folder is empty, because periodically I'm cleaning the downloads folder, so the content is now stored in DCCache folder. So, how to do it proper if no downloads in downloads folder ?

Ricalynn · « **Reply #82 on:** May 16, 2012, 07:54:14 AM »

If you don't have any downloads in your downloads folder, you can still do this factory reset. It just means that you will need to redownload everything from the websites where you get your items. I recommend that this time around you save your downloads in a folder somewhere else so you don't have to redownload them all again.

If you're wondering how to do this without having to redownload, you could keep your DCCache file but then you wouldn't be doing a full factory reset and some of the issues you're trying to fix may remain.

DanBrunetu · « **Reply #83 on:** May 16, 2012, 11:46:31 AM »

Quote from: Ricalynn on May 16, 2012, 07:54:14 AM

If you're wondering how to do this without having to redownload, you could keep your DCCache file but then you wouldn't be doing a full factory reset and some of the issues you're trying to fix may remain.

So, in my case, it is impossible to do a proper Factory Reset. I'm using custom content since 2009, so it's insanity to redownload and find all of them

. A program that could acces DDCache files to select and delete what do you wish would be great, but till then.... only hope

MoonsAreBlue · « **Reply #84 on:** May 17, 2012, 11:39:31 AM »

Quote from: DanBrunetu on May 16, 2012, 11:46:31 AM

So, in my case, it is impossible to do a proper Factory Reset. I'm using custom content since 2009, so it's insanity to redownload and find all of them . A program that could acces DDCache files to select and delete what do you wish would be great, but till then.... only hope

No, you wouldn't be able to do a full factory reset, like Ricalynn said. Just learn a lesson from this and next time, backup your downloads somewhere else before you delete them from The Sims 3 folder. If you're having some serious problems though, I would suggest doing the reset and redownload what content you can find.

I wish I knew of a DCCache program to help you, but I haven't heard about anything of the sort. $:-\$