Windows 10 Installation Issues with The Sims 3

[Panpharmacon]

I have tried installing The Sims 3 on three separate workstations. Two are Win10 Pro and one is Win10 Ent. The two Pro machines had lots of Steam games and most pre-requisites (e.g. DirectX9) previously installed. The Win10 Ent was a new base install with nothing but the OS, driver updates and a new copy of the Steam client. The dates of these attempts were on 12/25/2017 and 12/26/2017.

The installer fails at the exact same point on each machine with multiple attempts.

1. Click "Install" in the library
2. Approve path to install and shortcut creation (just selected defaults in all cases after confirming hard drive space)
3. Download occurs in background
4. A toaster message appears indicating file download has completed successfully
5. The install dialog status display changes to "Creating local game files..." with "Allocating disk space for The Sims(TM) 3..." above the progress bar that is _almost_ complete
6. Nothing else happens - even if the machine is left on for over 18-hours
7. A folder with all the game files does exist in ...\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3 after the toast popup message appeared - it looks like it contains all of the game files
8. The Library page has updated the blue "INSTALL" button to a blue "PLAY" button
9. Clicking the "PLAY" button on the library page will not result in any action (the installation dialog is still up in the background at this point)
10. Clicking "CANCEL" in the installation dialog at this point results in removal of the ...\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3 folder
11. Like any other Steam game, I can copy ...\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3 to another location and restore it before beginning this process again to save download time if I try to install again (the installer indicates it is scanning local files for changes in this case) but the end result is the same pause that can apparently only be cancelled
12. Clearing the installation cache in the two Win10 Pro systems did not help - this shouldn't have been necessary in the new Win10 Ent system
13. Other games from Steam can be installed without any special actions before and after the failed attempts to install The Sims 3

I do note that attempt to click "CD Key" in the LINKS section of the Library page fail, but this doesn't look like it's an issue for other people (assuming I don't want to access Origin).

It is also interesting to note that The Sims(TM) 3 is listed as "Ready to play" at the paused point on my profile page with 0.0 B listed as the application size.

Examination of Task Manager indicates Steam Client Bootstrapper is running under Apps with six dependent processes (Five Steam Client WebHelper processes and one additional Steam Client Bootstrapper). All are sitting at 0% CPU with very occasional blips that range from 0 to 1%.

Steam Client Service is also listed under Background Processes in Task Manager with a minimal memory footprint and no CPU activity.

I have tried this installation at two physical locations with different Internet providers.

I also tried manually running the four installation EXEs under ...\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\install in case one of these dependencies was failing or trying to display a hidden dialog.

Finally, I attempted the same installation steps after unchecking all DLC options (which should only give the The Sims 3) to see if just the base install will work. The download size is much smaller, but the end result is the same lockup.

At this point I am stuck... Does this game even work on Windows 10?

[Someone Else]

I am having pretry much the same problem. Some have posted that it is because Steam does not currently have enough keys for all the sales purchases that were made. This kind of makes sense because when I attempt to launch the game I get some weird pop up about a key request failed.

The frustrating part is there seems to be no official word on this and the Steam support appears pretty much useless as it just wants to direct me to EA.

The worst part is that I simply do not know what I am supposed to do (do I wait and hope it gets automatically fixed when keys become available or am I supposed to uninstall and keep trying until it works)?

I have been on Steam for about 10 years and have purchased over 300 games but never had this happen before. I spent just short of 100 dollars on this as a Christmas gift and am now stuck with pretty much nothing and nowhere to turn.

[cruinne]

It's possible that the screw-up with the CD keys screwed some other install things up a bit. What I would try first:

Right-click the game in your Steam library, choose Properties, then Local Files. There, click the "Verify Integrity of Game Files" and let it run its course.

If that doesn't work, try flushing some of Steam's config to see it'll install properly:

1. Completely exit Steam.
   
2. Open your Run dialog with the Windows Key + r. Alternately, in Windows 8, go to the Start menu and type run or, in Windows XP, Vista, or 7 go to the Start menu and use the Run box.
   
3. In there type: steam://flushconfig
   
4. Press the enter key.
   
5. Restart your computer.
   
6. Start Steam directly from its installation folder -- Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steam.exe -- not from a shortcut.

The right-click on the game in your Steam Library and see if you have a Play or Install option.

[Gigglybih]

Same exact thing happened to me. I contacted tech support and they responded with this......

Thanks for taking the time to report this issue. We are aware of the problem and have reached out to the game's publisher.

Due to the holidays this may take some time to resolve.

While we investigate, please note that you may not receive another response to this help request.

Cheers,
Edward

[Edweenin]

I had the exact same problem - what solved it for me was to declutter the drive. Other people have found success in going into settings and making sure there's no limits checked in the downloads sections

[Adiii]

I downloaded the game, all fine, I waited for they key issue to be sorted, which of course me and some other people in this community tried to resolve by contacting the two companies. I got on my PC knowing it was sorted and thought I could run the game, FINALLY. But to my disappointment, when the launcher pops up it wont allow me to play as there is an error??

[cruinne]

What is the error? It's hard to help you with almost no information to go on.

[Adiii]

Originally posted by cruinne:

What is the error? It's hard to help you with almost no information to go on.

Doesn't matter anymore, I refunded it.
I looked at your guide and tried everything.