Computer mentioned in this post runs Windows 10 (I'm not going to list the specs since I'm pretty sure they're not relevant here, but let me know if I need to). The games installed on the machine are the base game (bought post-2012 so Origin is unavoidable), WA, Ambitions, LN, Generations, Pets, Seasons, and University Life, as well as High-End Loft Stuff.

I have a Windows machine that struggles severely with the internet - I don't know how to fix it and am not seeking help for that, but any internet connection drops out within five or ten minutes, faster if I attempt any sort of download. Since I didn't want to have to deal with this when trying to patch my game (and would immediately encounter a network crash when checking for the patch regardless), I decided to download the Windows Super Patch instead and had to install it with admin permissions. I'm guessing the patch was installed to the wrong location because of that, since now my game just doesn't work properly - I have to start Origin with admin permissions for it to do anything besides throw an error message, it recognizes nothing in my Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder (so all CC or hacks don't show up anywhere, launcher or in-game), premade worlds lose all their families when I load them, and so forth.

Is there some way I can uninstall the patch on its own without having to uninstall the games themselves? Origin is completely nonfunctional with the patch installed unless I run it as an administrator at this point, so I don't think I can attempt to fix it by patching through Origin.

(Forgive me if I'm missing something blatantly obvious. I barely use Windows, so I'm admittedly not sure if there's some easy way of solving this.)

Ugh, maybe it's not as bad as I'm thinking but this sounds like a mess. It's not so much that the patch can be uninstalled (it can't), but that it would have tried to reorganize your game's program files for you in a way that Origin is not going to like.

With a post-2012 disc or digital install, Origin is supposed to manage the game and in the process bring you Patch 1.69 as of late 2015. There isn't any way around that unless one is/was playing a game that hasn't been touched by Origin since before then. Origin manages the patching for you, even if you don't want it to because of the poor Internet connection.

The SuperPatcher is for those on or intending to be on Patch 1.67, and not for those using Origin anymore at least not on Windows although it used to be long ago. If you forced it to run on an Origin-managed game today, it is known to break everything about the install and give you a Launcher (if you can get that far) reporting version 0.0.0.0, which is not valid.

You can try running a Repair Game on TS3 through Origin. But my expectations of that being successful are pretty low, and if that doesn't work I think an uninstall, Registry clean, and reinstall are going to be the only solution. Perhaps you have a way to take this computer to place where it connects better (since we don't know the reason for the connection issues, sorry if that is not helpful)? The reinstall, if done through downloads, and subsequent re-patching if required are going to require a more stable connection than described.

If what you are after ultimately is an all-disc, no Origin install and Patch 1.67, then the base game disc only must be manufactured before Sept. 2012 give or take, before the Sims Going Social marketing campaign, it doesn't matter when it was acquired. The vintage of the EP/SP discs are not important. You might be able to obtain an older TS3 base game disc online, though it would be understandable if those are getting more difficult to find these days.

So it's basically as screwed up as I hoped it wouldn't be? That's great. I can attempt to finagle with it later today, but suffice it to say that I'm mildly annoyed with the lack of information about the Windows version of this patch.

Would there be some way of downloading the 1.69 patch on a separate computer and then transferring it? Moving the Windows machine isn't an option, unfortunately (it's hooked up to the living room TV). Any attempt at checking for a patch through the Launcher just resulted in dropping offline immediately, and prior to forcibly patching it, the game was stuck on the UL patch. (Oddly enough, it actually showed Patch 1.67 listed on the Launcher when I started it as an admin.)

This doesn't mess with other games on Origin either, does it? I have TS2UC on Origin and the thought of those files getting mangled is... not pleasant.

For the entire life of TS3 for Windows, patches were delivered by way of the Launcher and could also be applied by way of standalone downloads, both individually and cumulatively (e.g., the SuperPatcher). Then 1.69 came along, it's totally different, and is delivered by Origin only. There are no separate downloads that can be transferred. EA is trying to be Steam here with that level of client program control, only they are not as good at it and they have allowed it to break TS3 entirely for everyone temporarily with some bad never should have been seen releases along the way.

There are thousands (okay, maybe hundreds) of threads where the patch has been discussed here, on the official forums, at NRaas, and elsewhere. Of course, that's not the same thing at all as having a centralized reliable source of information and many players can only report what they themselves see or think they are seeing on their own systems without having the bigger picture. EA didn't exactly provide much useful information about what the patch really does when they released and re-released it three times a couple of years ago and at the time it did come as a big surprise to many players who did not follow the official forums...and even many who did. We do offer this page, though: http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Patch+1.69

It's kind of concerning when running the game on my Mac is more straightforward and reliable than running it on Windows.

I'll see if I can find time this week to do a clean uninstall and reinstall, and cross my fingers I can get the computer online for long enough to download the proper patch. Thanks for the help!

If the games' medium is via Origin and not Discs, then Origin is the only way to go and there's no way to avoid it. And that means, you can't use the SuperPatcher either. And would be tied to version 1.69 of the game.

You'd need to figure out a way to troubleshoot and solve the connectivity problems instead of trying to find ways to workaround Origin.