Game royally f'd by patch.

[AngerousAlex]

I have the Razor version and the patch before 1.3. Everything was working fine, but the game wouldn't patch to 1.3 for some reason or another. I tried to uninstall Sims 3, but add/remove programs was giving me a hard time and wouldn't do it. So I did the smart (see: retarded) thing and just deleted every trace of the game from Program Files, the registry, my documents, etc...

Problem is, it still shows up in my add/remove programs list and acts like it's still installed. It acts like the latest patch is installed too, because when I try to reinstall the game it says "You are trying ot install an earlier version than the patch you have" or some crap.

When I try to remove it from add/remove programs it says :
"An error [-5005 : 0x8000ffff] has occurred while running the setup.
Please make sure you have finished any previous setup and closed other applications."

I've ctrl+f'd the hell out of the registry and deleted what I hope is every trace of the game, but I think it's just the patches that are the problem.

[AngerousAlex]

I have a legal version, but get the same retarder error on uninstalling.
This seems to be a widespread problem -- the (un)installer is broken.

I was able to remove it using the Smart Uninstaller tool from Vista Manager, which is downloadable (and crackable) everywhere.


If you want to try reinstalling without first cleaning the system, try launching setup.exe with the /force or -force flag -- most Installshield installers accept a commandline option like that.

Smooth, EA.

I'm running XP, will it work with that?

And damn I sound like a noob, but how do I force setup? Just add that to the end of the filename or something? Sorry for the stupid questions.

[janinechloe]

I had the same problem, uninstall stopping halfway and the error code. My anti-virus software also pop out warnings about a malware. I'm not sure if I'm on the right track but it worked for me.

What I did was change my Windows Firewall setting. I added The Sims 3 on programmes under the Exception list. I was able to uninstall fine after that.

[AngerousAlex]

I had the same problem, uninstall stopping halfway and the error code. My anti-virus software also pop out warnings about a malware. I'm not sure if I'm on the right track but it worked for me.

What I did was change my Windows Firewall setting. I added The Sims 3 on programmes under the Exception list. I was able to uninstall fine after that.

Well, that doesn't seem to be the problem here, but thank you. I have Windows Firewall disabled and use Comodo.

[AngerousAlex]

Okay, problem solved. Turns out you have to remove the registry value for the actual listing on the add/remove programs list. :| Pain in the ass, but here's the instructions: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314481

[LuciaSama]

I also had to manually uninstall everything. I cleared the registry and followed all the instructions on the EA site and it did indeed work for me.

Here is the EA answer in case anyone wants it. It is a little more oriented to TS3 although I'm sure the link that AngerousAlex provided will also work.
http://tinyurl.com/lxonyg