Hi, my game doesen`t make any bak files. Also dissapears during gameplay and in china only the bar shows and no sim is there when they travel. Have a brand new great pc,
with windows7 and all, i should be happy, but, WA is kinda ruining it. Even without cc package files the same glitch is there when they travel away. Ivè tried uninstalling WA and reinstalling, patching it, but, it didn`t help.. Doesen`t matter who i play with, it`s all the same.. Help please
and thank you so much!!!
Ann

When you removed your CC, did you also delete your cache files?

What d'you mean by bak files - in the Saves folder? Or elsewhere?

Yes i always delete those 4.. The game doesen`t make any back up (bak) files as it did on my old pc in the saves folder.
I have norton installed, it was on during installation.. Maybe that wasen`t a good thing, but, not sure what to do about this all..

There should not be any .bak files in your game. IIRC, that was a
Sims2 issue involving simPE.

You -should- have .backup files in your saves folder.

The game doesen`t make any .backup files at all and i haven`t SimPE installed on here and not sims2.. i read somewhere also about another file that should be in saves, but, my game haven`t made that file either..

edit:
Well, by now i shut off norton and uninstalled all, reinstalled and so far so good.. Can travel to foreign countries with the sims now,
but, i`ll have to test the game some more. I saved the game once and it made a folder with saved files in, no backup file still..
I guess it`s a windows7 problem, but, i don`t really know.
Thanks for trying to help with this.
Ann.

You won't have a .backup folder until you've saved a game. Then your previous save is renamed to .backup.

I`ve saved and saved, over the same file too, but, still the game doesen`t rename any files. It only makes a file with the name i give it. I hope EA fixes this with a new patch.

The .backup is no longer a file, it is a folder.
What is in your Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves\ folder?

They all say .sims3 in the saves folder

In order to better solve your problem, please go through the following as listed below:

• Sims 3 - Loading Crashes
  If your game is crashing on load, with or without an error message, or the game starts up then just disappears, then you have a loading crash.
  
  Please see the following FAQ and go through the steps listed in order to try fixing your game: Game_Help:Sims_3_Loading_Crashes^wiki.
  

What game version are you on? The 1.8/2.3 or different?

Have you tried the quick fixes in the above wiki?
In all the uninstalling, reinstalling & removing CC, have you tried with new user files (the 3rd fix in the linked wiki)?
How about starting a new game, with no CC and new user files and then create a new save? Same thing happened?
Or create a new Windows account and test? Are you running Windows with Admin privileges?

If this is caused by a patch, we'd have more players reporting such errors...but puzzling, just the same...

On occasion you might be asked to do a long FAQ - please make sure you do all the steps and don't just skip over them. You'll often find that these long FAQs have all the details you need. If nothing in the above FAQs fixes your problem you may post again detailing exactly which you have done and which steps failed.

Reinstalling my game fixed the crashing and also gave back the possiblity to play a normal travel game in WA, the sim became visible again, also it fixed the simspack problem so they all install properly although i have all patches installed. The only thing that i can`t figure out is why the game doesen`t make .backup files in the saves folder..

New user files after the reinstall? With a new game?
And I asked above if you had tested with a new Windows User account, too.

Yes, i installed properly so it made new userfiles and all..
Why would i need a new window user account, would that
sort things out with games?

Were you using our wiki for the Game_Help:TS3_Uninstall^wiki? You cleared registry entries and leftover folders at every uninstall/reinstall cycle?

Just trying to cover all bases. It is not a universal issue (else we'd come across more of such threads), so it is either the steps you did or the settings of the PC or something else ...
There's something screwy going on either with your game install or your windows user account. If it can create new save .sims3 files why can't it rename and create .backup files?

Have you checked if Windows set this extension as a hidden folder in your account? Are you the Admin on this machine?

I'm out of ideas...Have you wrote EA support and ask them? Gd Luck!

Yes, i`m the admin on the pc and it`s brand new, i`m not used to windows7, i had xp before. How do i find hidden folders on here, it have to be done differently i think..? Yes i did a proper uninstall, deleting folders and registry sims files, but, i didn`t use that registry program you offer as this is a new pc i don`t want to make a mess of things.. Is that registry program safe to use and does it have a backup option if something goes wrong? Thank you for your help, what you do in here is wonderful, but, i`m sure you`ve heard it before already.

Yes, CCleaner has a backup option before you choose a "Fix" for the Registry cleanup. Doing it manually is fine too, just be more careful, and backup before making any changes (export from Menu at the top-most root level).

Is this a pre-built machine with the Windows 7 OS pre-installed or you upgraded the OS yourself from XP?
Same menu area on Win-7, just has different terms/names:

Yes i used ccleaner and removed things i was sure could be removed as they had the sims name. It`s a prebuildt one with windows 7. The game makes .mdmp files in the sims3 folder not sure what to do with them. The game also makes .bad files, but, never .backup files and i couldn`t find any when i unhid the file extensions, thanks for letting me know.. I`ll play the game and save to see if anything changes..

Try this:
Before playing, remove all the .mdmp, .bad files and the 4 *cache files.
Move (cut+paste) your current saves folder to Desktop, leave the Saves folder Window open.
Start the game, click on New game.
Play 5-10 mins.
While playing, before you save, check in saves folder the .bad folders/files are still gone, then "Save", give a name.
Play another 5-10 mins, do a "Save As", give a different name and save.
Play another 5-10 mins, then "Save". (Don't quit game, yet).
Tab over to the Saves folder.
What do you see in the Saves folder now? How many new folders were created? What folder names and extensions do you get?

Thanks i tried all that, but, no difference i`m afraid, it only made
.sims3 folders.. This isen`t an rare EA bug that it sometimes just doesen`t make .backup files? Coz i can wait for a patch..
Thanks for your help, i can contact EA if things gets really annoying, atleast i got rid of the other game problems :o)
---
I also found this link, but, it doesen`t help as the game doesen`t make legacy files. I had the error code 16 earlier before reinstalling the game..
Maybe it can help someone else though

http://easims.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...694&p_topview=1

Maybe it needs a little nudging.
Can you try:
- copy, paste and rename one save folder to have the ".backup" extension
- note the timestamp of this .backup folder
- play that game again and save
- then check the timestamp of the ".backup" - has it changed?

I haven't read about this being reported as a bug, but I don't read all the threads in all the forums!
I won't lock this until it expires on its own (after 2 weeks of being inactive), in case EA replies to you within that time frame...you can post back here.
And good luck with EA support! I'd like to hear their take on this matter, so drop me a PM when they reply with a solution (if they ever), if the thread gets locked or archived.

Thanks, but, it didn`t work. Time on it didn`t change,
so yes, i guess i`ll contact EA about it and post here
if they get back to me with something useful on this.

----

Ok, i wrote to them, but, so reply so far.. I however did another uninstall/reinstall of the game, and i also used hijackthis to remove sims related files
as i didn`t find any leftovers in the registry using the advanced method in the registry (i followed your info)
and i tested the game bit by bit, all the time having norton disabled during this all.. and it started to make .backup files with sims3, then .backup folders with that patch for sims3, so then i deleted those that were files and not folders, and so i installed WA + the patch as i couldn`t play it without the patch, it all worked, so i installed monkeybars again and put in place the custom content and simspacks and it still worked.. Probably coz i made it as admin with xp service pack3 on. Ofcourse there had to be something so now i couldn`t place a house in certain lots so i went and deleted cache files, user preset and thumbnail icons and now that works again.. Thanks for all the help i got with this, i hope my info can help someone.

Aha! so, you had Norton running in the background all this while? I have to remember to ask this up front! Norton + Sims is never a good combo, I'd suggest to uninstall Norton and use Avast/Avira for Anti-Virus needs.

I thought you had Windows 7 installed?
Anyways, glad you resolved it...

Yes, i have windows7, but, i prefer to run sims3 as admin xp, as that seem to work best on here. Have had bad experiences with avast and sims aswell, i think i`m gonna keep norton on for now..
Should it be off while playing also, or just during installation?
Yes, i`m glad it makes backup folders aswell, but, now the game dissapears while playing instead.. It could be a custom content issue i guess, or my town is too crowded.. I`ll figure it out.