So last night I was trying to fire up Sims 2 to unwind after class, but something very peculiar and frustrating happened. When I went to click on the icon to play, my computer spat out an error stating that I needed to install the Sims 2, or that core files were missing. I searched up what to do if this happens, and all I got was forum posts stating I needed to repair my game through Origin. The issue is that I don't have it on origin, I have the Games4theWorld crack. Additionally, if I try to open BodyShop, it crashes immediately, and whenever I try to unsuccessfully open Sims 2, it creates a duplicate "The Sims 2" folder in my EA Games folder. When I tried to look up things about that, it only talked about this preventing people's downloads from working. So my question is, do I have to reinstall the crack to play Sims again, or is there anything else I can do? I'm sorry if I'm not giving enough information. One last thing, I remember opening BodyShop that afternoon to fiddle around in CAS, and it worked, but I can't think of what could have happened in the meantime to prevent my game from working. I heard this could be caused by an antivirus, but I checked my game files, and it appears it hadn't been changed in the meantime, but I'll check again if you guys think I should.

First of all I'd try just rebooting (restarting) your computer. I've sometimes found that this simple step can fix some very obscure problems.

If that fails, I'd look at System Restore, which in Windows 10 is well hidden under Windows System\Control Panel\Recovery. (It's a bit easier to find in Windows 7 -- I've never had Windows 8 myself.) Please let me know if you'd like some help with it.

I've already restarted the computer. No dice, sadly.
And about system restore, what would that entail? Wouldn't that just wipe the game from my computer entirely? Or am I just missing something? Sorry, I'm not that good with tech.
Additionally, I checked the Sims2Help on reddit, it said that I would get the error I got if I botched the installation, and that I need to reinstall the crack, following the instructions carefully. But I had installed it correctly on the first try? I just want to know why this happened, and do I have to reinstall the crack?

You can always use the complete version from https://oldgamesdownload.com/the-sims-2/ rather than specific cracks. I've run this successfully on Windows 10 without issues (obviously applying any SGR / resolution fixes)

System Restore generally only restores -your system files (and registry) to their state at the date and time of the selected restore point.

Microsoft say: "System Restore can help fix problems that might be making your computer run slowly or stop responding.

"System Restore does not affect any of your documents, pictures or other personal data. Recently installed program and drivers might be uninstalled."

It is also usually possible to reverse the changes made by System Restore. To be absolutely sure you can reverse the changes, you can use the program to create a new Restore Point before you restore to the previous one. If System Restore offers you a choice of restore points, you should choose the most recent one when you were still able to start your game. This is what it looks like on my Windows 10 computer:


I see you recently posted on a thread about running The Sims 2 on a mac. I have absolutely experience of Sims 2 on a mac, but I understand the mac has an equivalent utility to System Restore. I think it may be called Time Machine.

Good Luck!

...And there's nothing for me restore to. And doing more research, I'm pretty certain going to have to reinstall this. Checking my antivirus's scan history, it seems it didn't do a scan in the mean time. Honestly, I've accepted that I'm going to have to reinstall at this point. I just want to know why this happened.

Are your sims 2 files, both install and Documents whitelisted to not have your antivirus check them? They have been known to quarantine/damage game files. The antivirus does not have to scan to cause issues. Some years ago I installed sims 2 on my then new pc and come aging toddlers were like stretched babies, children were floating toddlers and if I saved a lot with a baby I would come back to find they had vanished. A simple test where I turned it off, played, and saved and then turning it on again proved it was the cause.

Well, NOW they are. But right now, I'm taking a break from the game. I'm a bit daunted about wiping the registries from my laptop, and then right after that, reinstalling the game and praying I didn't fuck anything up. I just... too exhausted and exasperated by the whole ordeal to deal with this right now.

well, wow, we are allowed to discuss cracks on MTS Such a times to be still alive

You can always try to scan registry for the keys (HKEY_CURRENT_USER/HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE within a 'SOFTWARE/Microsoft' trunk) to determine particular fck-up. If something with vector keys which points to the executable (like HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/MICROSOFT/Windows/Current Version/App Paths/Sims2.exe[Sims2EP1.exe...etc] went broken, the game won't find its own files.

Besides depending of the system you should have got 3 versions of the actual registry database (working set, current copy and shadow copy) but if you are not determined to play with the regedit and PowerShell (not worth it) just Uninstall to remove orphaned entries and reinstall again AFTER checking the filesystem integrity abd maybe running some routine malware/bugscan. Registry keys got broken from time to time - that's an integral part of "the WIndows Experience" but it shouldn't be taken lightly.

If you use some "registry cleaners" etc (like CC Cleaner) be mindful clearing registry from orphaned and redundant entries - most 32-bit programs (including Sims 2) are recognised as such.

"System Restore" won't repair broken entries. It should (if won;t make things worse - it happens) restore last known working copy (among last working system set files from shadow partition).

In general, no. But linking to an archive of TS2 is fine since it is no longer available to purchase anywhere.

Unfortunately what you see is what you get and a lot of what you don't see with bad copies of the game. Better off looking for an archived version of UC somewhere because EA definitely won't have TS2 anymore.

I mean, I appreciate the advice, but I've already disposed of everything BUT the registry keys. (And my neighborhoods, I couldn't stand the idea of abandoning my poor simmies forever!) Honestly, I just want someone to walk me through the steps, because I'm scared of messing something up, if I miss something, download the game again, and have my computer tell me I can't play, I'm going to lose it. I've looked up how to do this stuff online, I've even gone into regedit and found several of my registries, I just need to muster up the courage to actually go through with it. But part of me also wonders what would happen if I just left the registries intact and redownloaded the game? Would the files just attach themselves to those same registries? Would my computer freak out? I don't know and I'm not willing to try!

Your actual game data is in the Documents' folder just make backup of (correct to your case) ~Documents/EA Games/[Sims2 installation name]*
(in case of UC it's ~Documents\EA Games\The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection). Just zip or rar (or use whatever compression method to save space) this and move the produced file to some safe place.

Now - you can try to ressurect the game itself (*your* games, like sims, neighs etc., were taken care above) by recreating registry entries, but it is tedious, time consuming and frustrating task. Really not worth the time until you want to spend a lot of it digging what actually went wrong. From the average user's perspective it's just better to uninstall broken installation (this should clean broken keys), check the disk and system integrity, and reinstall the whole thing again.* Then you can unzip(unrar etc.) your backed up old Sims user folder in the exact place overwritting this which the game creates at 1st run and you're peachy. Assuming that you do not have more serious problems.

If you attempt the installation over existing keys it may be completely OK (the installer will overwrite them with correct values) but it may also create duplicates, wrong entries etc. It's just safer to allow the system to clean the mess first (as much as the installation governor can).


* I suppose that direct links to the full UC download is still a punishable offense but it's easily "googlable". The only "crack" in most of them is removing calls for SecuROM (older versions) or EA Launcher (newer ones). There's (was?) the 'patched' executable on the forum somewhere.

Do NOT miss the "check the disk and system integrity" part.

Well crap. I uninstalled the game incorrectly it seems, I just tossed all of my game files (both Documents and C: Drive) in the recycling bin! I got the impression from... somewhere that the pre-packaged uninstaller was unreliable, and had a tendency to leave behind registry keys. My main problem now is that this didn't delete ANY of the registry keys (I checked regedit, they're all there.) What I need to do now is get rid of those, and THEN reinstall the game. And the reinstallation is not what I'm worried about, I can assure you I don't need a link, and by the power of simply following instructions, I managed to get that installed correctly on my first try, despite my tech grandma-ness. Soooo, do I just grow a pair, find out which registry keys I need to delete, and do it myself, or should I contact my school's IT department or something?

// aren't you (by any chance) former Mac user ? Because on the MacOS (generally) that would be a proper procedure.
Try to recover DOcuments/EA Games/[sims folder] at last - there are your games. The only thing that matters.

Run the Settings* -> Programs
you will see the entries for Sims2 installation (there may be more than one like Sims2, Sims2 EP1 etc). Use the "Uninstall" on each of them. This will run the cleaning from the system's side. You will get message like "This program appears to be not installed, delete the entry?" just say "yes" to delete. Even if some orphaned entries in the 32-keys database will be left behind, they will be unlinked (essentially, they will just become nonfunctional bloat which system should clean by itself at some point in time, usually after a few restarts, you do not need to bother yourself with that anymore).

32-bit programs usually cannot clean themselves from 64-bit registry because they do not understand they are actually working on 32-bit copy of the actual keys but this is not the critical issue (in most cases).

*use the old interface, it's much more convinient - type "Settings" or "Control Panel" in your system proper language (if it is not English version of the system) into the "RUN/SEARCH" field of Start Menu . You can also use WINDOWS+R shortcut. IF it won't work (it won't past the 20H2 update line of W10) type to the run box called by WIN+R this instead:



(yes, old settings panel is still there)

Ding ding ding on being a former Mac user- that was exactly how I uninstalled my copy of Sims 2 on it. And after following your instructions, everything seems to be gone from the registry! Thank you so much, I'll get back to you after I do the reinstallation. And I almost forgot- while my documents folder as a whole is gone, my Neighborhoods and Downloads are safe- all of the other folders I either didn't touch, or I'm willing to part with anything in them.
EDIT- IT WORKED!!!! YAAAYYY!!! I have to reinstall the 4 GB patch and Graphics Rules Maker but YAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY

have fun

I did! But now my game has done it AGAIN. Coincidentally, after the same class after which it borked itself the first time. Apparently, my game's installation really dislikes SOMETHING about Tuesdays. So you know what, I've realized I haven't played the Sims 3 in a long time, and never "properly" (AKA without copious amounts of motherlode or testingcheats,) AND I'm coming back to my parents' house this Friday for Columbus Day Weekend/my Oma's funeral, so I'll see if I can rummage up my Sims 3 disks, hope I don't fry my laptop, and see if I enjoy the game. And if I don't? Honestly, I've figured out the uninstallation and reinstallation to a science with your help, so it won't be TOO too bad if I have to do this every week or every two days.

Depending on where you've installed the game - do you happen to have any automatic backups, onedrive synchs, automatic full antivirus scans, or any of the sort set up, coincidentally on Mondays or Tuesdays? That could be what's causing some kind of reset, or deleting/quarantining files.

^^^^ this

welcome on the happy Windows' train, we have a lot of surprises for you (and no cookie!). Sounds almost like @genuine_Balmer :D

Check if your scheduler is set up for these particular days and add the installation folder and the Documents subfolder of sims as exceptions for scans.
Also - disable the OneDrive integration (if you did not secured this already).

That version has the IKEA pack missing. I wouldn't recommend it.
In fact, I'd advise you to delete your message in order for future viewers of this thread to not download from it. At last, let's keep spreading this information to convince people to stop downloading from this source or any others that are uploads of the MR DJ repack.

Tagging you, so you get a chance of seeing it. @Tashiketh

I think this is the advice all of the cool people are using these days:
https://www.reddit.com/r/sims2help/...al-information/
Download links and torrent plus help there.

As the the original creator of this thread, who got notified it was resurrected, I can't agree with this more. Especially since that link is exactly where I got my own installation.

I was just browsing the forum and stumbled upon this.. anyway, for future googlers, if you get this error and you're certain all your installation files are intact then it may just be the case of needing to run the bat file again.

• Go into your ultimate collection folder, then into the sub folder "__Installer".
• Open file (to edit, not run) "touchup.bat", check the file path matches where your game installation is. For example, if you placed it in program files, edit to to say "C:\Program Files (x86)\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection". (This should be the root game folder, aka the one which has the subfolder __Installer in it.)
• Now run touchup.bat and let it install the registry data. Check "InstallLog.txt" to verify it went smoothly.
• If it went smoothly: Launch the game using (game root)/Fun with Pets/SP9/TSBin/Sims2EP9.exe

This should resolve the "game is not installed" message. Just ensure you set that path correctly (if you don't, you'll still get the error)