EA-Origins downloads a disaster—just wipe everything??

[margonaute]

OK: I just built a new PC and installed Windows 7 yesterday. Thinking my re-install of TS2 might be tricky, I started doing that basically first thing after I had all of my drivers and updates installed. The problem: about half of my games were digital downloads from EA, including Double Deluxe, which is obviously the first one I need to be able to install any of the others. I had problems with this from the get-go and spent my Sunday on the phone with Origin trying to get it to install. By Sunday night, Double Deluxe finally installed.

When I came back Monday, Uni through Pets were installed (CD for Uni-GLS, Origin for Pets), tested, and patched. Then I accidentally installed Freetime through Origin and attempted to uninstall. Uninstall was apparently unsuccessful/incomplete as subsequent EP installations gave me the "You are running the wrong version of The Sims 2. Please run instead." — with the blank space there, presumably because of the corrupt/partially uninstalled Freetime that the game can't really read? I attempted registry cleanup based on help threads for that problem but didn't get anywhere. So then I uninstalled every EP down to Double Deluxe, which wouldn't uninstall because it was saying there were still EPs on my computer (the rogue Freetime, I presume). I did a manual install following the FAQ here (http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Uninstall), again wasn't able to install through a new copy of Origin, and ended up using System Restore to go back to the point before I installed *any* programs besides system drivers. Tried downloading Double Deluxe from Origin again and again was not able to install it (download stopped and 99% and was unresponsive; there didn't seem to be a way to install locally without using Origin).

So, much more troubleshooting with Origin phone support, several manual uninstall/reinstalls of Origin and whatever EA folders managed to make it onto the computer, new administrator accounts created, registry edits, disk cleanups, etc., and still unable to install Double Deluxe from Origin. And to top it off, that System Restore point that I made yesterday just after the Windows install somehow got erased, leaving me only with restore points from the midst today's muddle.

Since this has become such a mess, with so much fiddling and registry cleaning and Origin installing god-knows-what-where, and since this is the only thing I've tried installing on this new computer, I'm wondering if I shouldn't just wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows just so I can be sure there are no remnants of all of this left over? I have a Windows 7 OEM disc and a SSD. Just go into BIOS, boot from the disc, and reformat the SSD?

OR (and I know you guys don't technically condone this, but I did buy the games) I could try torrenting the installation files for the games I had digital downloads for and use those to install with my legitimate product keys? I just need access to the files I have purchased with real money so I can install them on my computer!

Legality aside, do you think it would be fine to install the games by any means necessary (option b), or should I be worried about potential mess left over by all the troubleshooting and install/uninstalls/partial downloads/etc. and hence, wipe the drive completely and start over (option a)? Or option c, continue troubleshooting with Origin phone support and possibly install over whatever potential mess is there (they say if they can't get it to work, they can offer me another game. From Origin. JUST WHAT I WANTED. DOWNLOAD ANOTHER GAME FROM THIS HELLBEAST? AND I DON'T GET THE ONES I PAID FOR? THUS ALSO RENDERING MY HARD COPY GAME DISKS USELESS? GENIUS!)

Apologies if this doesn't make sense. My brain is just completely fried right now. Any advice?

Never buy the digital copy, kids.

[whiterider]

The biggest problem here is the mess left over from the previous installations (well, that, and possibly Origin just being crap). Using another install medium, whether legal or not, won't help. Are the registry entries in the same place for Origin installs as they are for disc installs - off the top of my head, HKLM -> Software -> Wow6432Node -> EA Games?

If so, you should be able to ensure everything is clean by following our manual Game Help:Uninstall instructions. I would suggest then clearing Origin's cache (last step here (https://help.ea.com/article/manually-uninstalling-origin)); hopefully, that should stop it freezing up with Double Deluxe. Does Origin have a handy status thing which could tell you whether it's freezing up while downloading or while installing?

[sushigal007]

As you've said this is the only thing you've tried to install so far on your new PC, I personally would say 'eff it' and wipe the drive because I'm way too lazy to try and clean out the mess the game's made. And then see if I could borrow disks off a friends before attempting any kind of digital download, legal or otherwise.

[margonaute]

Aaaaa, but I don't know anyone who plays the sims in real life! It's my secret shame! :help: I'm also strangely nervous about wiping the drive and starting over since I've never done that before, but that should be simple since I don't have to worry about backing anything up, right? Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

[margonaute]

The biggest problem here is the mess left over from the previous installations (well, that, and possibly Origin just being crap). Using another install medium, whether legal or not, won't help. Are the registry entries in the same place for Origin installs as they are for disc installs - off the top of my head, HKLM -> Software -> Wow6432Node -> EA Games?

If so, you should be able to ensure everything is clean by following our manual Game Help:Uninstall instructions. I would suggest then clearing Origin's cache (last step here (https://help.ea.com/article/manually-uninstalling-origin)); hopefully, that should stop it freezing up with Double Deluxe. Does Origin have a handy status thing which could tell you whether it's freezing up while downloading or while installing?
Oops, missed this one. Well, I've followed both of those manuals several times over the course of various uninstall/reinstalls (well, the Origin one at least 3 or 4 separate times, the MTS one just the one time after some of the games had briefly been installed). So I should be okay then, as far as leftovers go? I'm just paranoid about it since before the System Restore, I was finding registry entries for that broken Freetime -all over the place-. In Wow6432Node -> EA Games, but then also in various Origin folders and User folders.... I never got to the point where I could test if new installs would throw that "wrong version of The Sims 2" error again, but System Restore was to a much earlier point, so that shouldn't be an issue.

So if I've followed all of those manual uninstall steps, I should be clear for eventual installs? I can't even remember everything Origin (and then EA) phone support had me do... Besides the manual uninstalls/deleting caches and temp files, we also did some ipconfig thing (flush dns? something like that?) and even cycled/reset my modem. I asked one of them about getting hard copy replacements for my games, but she sounded skeptical. Requests for refunds so I could go out and buy my own hard copy replacements was met with an even more skeptical response. Ugh. I guess I'll try calling again when I get home today....

[whiterider]

If you've got nothing on the drive you care about, then the only thing that can possibly go wrong in the process of wiping it is if you accidentally wipe the wrong drive. That's it. You're trying to destroy everything on the drive, so short of putting it in the microwave, you can't really screw up that process :p .

[Mootilda]

I agree that restoring your operating system may be your best bet. You should also consider making a new system restore point after each EP is successfully installed. This will mean that you never have to uninstall; just restore from the appropriate system restore point instead.

One more thing that I'd like to mention. Downloads from Origin have a fixed number of installs. EA has forced you to use up some number of those installs. Therefore, I would take EA up on their offer of a second valid registration code. Just set it aside for now; given what you've told us, you'll be running out of your valid installs any time now.

[margonaute]

Well, I've only gotten to the point of being able to install *the games* once so far in this go; most of the issues have been not being able to begin installing/complete downloading from Origin. What I've had to keep uninstalling is Origin itself. So hopefully that won't be an issue.

The thing is, I was making restore points but somehow they disappeared. I think maybe what happened was there were 3-5 Windows Update cycles that created their own restore points yesterday and they must've used up the allotted space and pushed out the earlier ones I made Sunday. Maybe? I increased the disk space for them after I saw the ones I needed had disappeared, so I guess if I wipe the hard drive I'll have to remember to do that again and give it a ton of space until this is all set...

This has just been exhausting and frustrating, and so much harder than building the computer in the first place. :cry: I wish I'd never heard of digital downloads, and I certainly could have died happy without ever getting to know Origin.