hi,
i have a CD version of sims.
i used 1.67 caw file.
says i do not have sims 3 installed.
i have tried as admin, edited the registry etc
what do i do?

well, now i got it to install but its still says it cant find sims

Did you install your sims in the standard path?

yes, it in F:\Games\The Sims 3

That is not the standard path. The standard path is in C:\Program Files (x86)

And that is where CAW is looking for the game files.

i change it to C:\Program Files (x86)\The Sims 3 and still not working (

C:\Program Files (x86)\The Sims 3 is still not the standard path.

My suggestion would be to uninstall the game and reinstall, this time don't change the installation path. Same with CAW.

My Sims 3 game was always installed to a nonstandard location, and CAW works just fine. Mine is installed to C:\Games\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 and C:\Games\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Create a World Tool so I don't think that's the issue here.


Just to check, you actually installed CAW? You mention 'CAW file', where did you get this file from? What is the full filepath of the basegame executable, and the full filepath of the CAW executable?

i got the caw exe from one of your post here. the game is now reinstalled on the right location and theres still no result

C:\Program Files (x86)\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Outil Les Sims 3 Créez votre monde
(sorry for the french)

It could be that you need to have both of the applications in the same file path- So:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Outil Les Sims 3 Créez votre monde

Possibly the CAW program is looking in the same path (Electronic Arts) for the game registry, and failing to find it.

Heres the paths for them now, with still no success
C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Outil Les Sims 3 Créez votre monde
C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3

Is your game fully updated?
And, just to rule out a potential wild goose chase, is it a legitimate install from discs that you own? As it's possible that CAW may not work with certain cracked versions of the game.

Considering your TSRW thread as well, there seems to something wrong with your install that makes it incompatible with external tools.

well its not "updated" since its a 1.67 CD version, but thats the version i have and it had worked before with that same game

i could also try to install via EA app just the base game to see if it will see that one, i do own the game on EA i just prefer other methods so i dont have to deal with EA always bugging. i also have way more FPS and less bugs on 1.67

Retail disc installs still need to be updated via the launcher or, preferably, the SuperPatch to actually be on 1.67. The launcher should say 1.67.2.024017 - the SuperPatch can also be reapplied just incase.

I'm on 1.67 as well, it's just difficult to provide tech support if it's an illegitimate copy.

Try applying the 1.67 superpatch:
Game Help:TS3 Patching^wiki

To let you know: You don't have to uninstall and reinstall the game just to change its installation path. This is VERY VERY VERY time wasting unless you have an excellent download rate. You can try one of the following:

1) Move the game files to the location you want to move them to. Go to regedit and search for the old path, and change these values to your new path.
These values are mostly located under names like EA (Games), Electronic Arts, Origin (Games), Sims, etc. There may be an actual tutorial online specifically for TS3.
To validate this (you might need to restart your computer but Idk), after the changes, open EA App (or Steam or whatever) and try to open the game folder from there.
If that doesn't work somehow, you can always revert these back.

2) Create a symbolic link from the current path to the path you desire. For this one, search online to learn how to create symbolic links. It's an easy peasy thing.
This is how I "moved" The Sims stuff (TS2, TS3, TS4) in my documents folder to another drive to save up some space!
To validate whether this worked, simply go to that new location. If you want to revert the changes, simply delete that symbolic link (but not the actual folder lol).