I commonly use S2PCI (Sims2Pack Clean Installer) to remove custom content from my lots so that I can share them. One of the problems I have run into is what I call "Empty Package Syndrome".

Sometimes when I clear out a lot and save it, the save fails. And when I open the lot again with S2PCI, it says "Empty Package" next to the "lotSegmentForUpload", as well as any other content intentionally left in the Sims2Pack file. The presence of a single "Empty Package" in the Sims2Pack file corrupts the entire file, making it unusable.

I think I may have found out what causes this, but I'm not sure. I also can't verify that it works this way with "Sims" (character) files either. I only work with lots. (If you can refute or add anything, please do so).

It appears as though Empty Package Syndrome happens only if you try to overwrite your original file when you save. As long as you save your file with a different file name, you should avoid corrupting your Sims2Pack file with "Empty Packages".

Can anyone else please confirm/refute this?

I too have hundreds of empty package files. What are they and why did they happen? I have a state of the art new gaming computer and lots of room and speed. I don't do anything fancy like install partial downloads. I let stuff go to the default directory. I always say "No To All "when it tries to install a file that is already there. How can I prevent this in future and should I get rid off all those files?

I have also been tidying my downloads folder using Clean Installer. It certainly makes the task much easier. I plan on deleting the 1KB empty packages. However, I still have several random named downloads which are quite sizeable (150KB TO 200KB), that are not showing any category on Clean Installer. I've no idea what they are. Is there any way to find out using this tool?

I don't know for sure, but I think the files that do not show type are Meshes. Meshes and the CEP files say the filetype is unknown. I figure most are meshes because most of the files have MESH somewhere in their names.
It would be nice if the program could identify them as meshes...
I also don't know what empty packages are and whether or not to delete them.

Thank god it's not just me who has the empty packages.
I would dearly love to know what they are, and unlike everyone else who has replied, I delete my files from in game and I still get these files.
Every single one of them is 96 bytes with huge numbers as file names.
I first got empty packages a few weeks back and removed them. Since then I've had application is going to terminate messages, but the crashing is totally random.
I only use Clean Installer to install lots, and normally I ONLY install the lot and uncheck everything else that comes with some of them. I think (although I'm not sure) that my empty files appear on the rare occasions I allow S2PCI to install a terrain or other item with a lot. I've only had these empty files twice which is also the amount of times I've allowed other items to be installed with a lot. I normally then delete half those items from in game.
In short I think that it's either installing lot items with S2PCI or installing lot items with S2PCI then deleting them from in game, that causes the empty files.

Has anybody else tried removing these empty files and then experienced problems with their games?

I have just put the empty files I removed back in to the downloads folder to see if that stops the random crashing, but have yet to start the game.

Well my question wasn't about the existing empty packages already in the downloads folder.

It was about the packaging *process* that might cause them.

Does anybody here use Clean Installer to package things?

I always save my houses under a different name (VictoriaStreet4 -> VictoriaStreet4_clean) and i have never had any problems with empty packages.

I'm sorry, I misunderstood. It's what I came to the forums to get help with, guess I just got excited when I saw your post about empty packages. My random crashing is giving me a headache and I'd hoped to find an answer or help here.
About your question, if I've got it right this time....I tried clearing out custom content and saving just the lot and like you got empty packages, I now do it the same way as angel f, by saving it with a different name, and have never had a problem with it since.

I have always done it this way and have never had a problem, but now I can't save a lot, even without changing it and just changing the name. No matter how I save, everything changes to an empty package. TKD, have you found a solution?

You are definitely not the only ones with this "empty package" problem.

A few days ago, I made a Sim. Well, it was beautiful and all and so I decided to share it and wanted to upload it to MTS2. But as the rules are, there should'nt be any Mesh coming with the package, so I used the SimPackCleanInstaller to delete the Meshes from the Sim. After doing so and savinge the Sim again, the Installer says now: Empty Package! The BodyShopInstaller says "Please doubleclick on data to install it." Hahaha!

What should I do?! I want to upload the Sim!

At least one identified cause of empty packages is non-standard characters in the cc file names. See this post: http://sumomo.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=200668

Names can 'look' okay but still have the troublesome characters. If you do not have things set up on your computer to recognize the non-standard character it will substitute a different letter in the presentation on screen -- but the problem character is still really there.