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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 21st Oct 2017 at 4:37 AM Last edited by Lyralei : 21st Oct 2017 at 1:36 PM. Reason: re-categorizing!

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default "CAW has experienced an error" - please help, I've tried everything!
I was able to use Create a World about a week ago, and then it stopped responding. It started doing that thing where the logo pops up for a second, then disappears and the program won't start. I used to get around this by selecting Run as Administrator, but that didn't work.

So I uninstalled and reinstalled CAW and tried again. This time the logo stayed up for a longer time, but then a popup appeared saying "Sims Create-a-World Beta has experienced an error". That's all it said. I followed all the instructions I could find for CAW start-up errors. I uninstalled and reinstalled. I ran as Administrator. I deleted CAW cache files. I deleted the cache files in my Sims 3 folder. I removed all mods and custom content. My game is patched. It's still having that pop-up.

At the moment I have Base Game, Ambitions, Late Night and Generations installed. I uninstalled my other games because they were taking up so much space. I cleaned the registry after uninstalling.
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retired moderator
#2 Old 21st Oct 2017 at 8:32 AM
Do you have CAW installed to the default location (Program Files or Program Files [x86]? If so, try deleting your virtual store for CAW and Sims 3:
C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3
and
C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Create-a-world tool.
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#3 Old 21st Oct 2017 at 1:36 PM
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 22nd Oct 2017 at 6:32 AM
Thanks Lyralei - it wouldn't let me post in the correct forum, so thanks for putting it where it's meant to be!

simsample - I checked that location and could only find a folder for Create a World but not for the Sims 3. I deleted the files in the CAW folder but the program showed the same error. I also deleted the folder itself and the error was still there.
Test Subject
#5 Old 31st May 2018 at 7:29 AM
Quote: Originally posted by NellyStardust
Thanks Lyralei - it wouldn't let me post in the correct forum, so thanks for putting it where it's meant to be!

simsample - I checked that location and could only find a folder for Create a World but not for the Sims 3. I deleted the files in the CAW folder but the program showed the same error. I also deleted the folder itself and the error was still there.


Same issue here. I've never experienced this before on my other computer. By any chance is your sims 3 also via steam?
Test Subject
#6 Old 31st May 2018 at 7:46 AM
Try installing the other version of CAW that is available instead, I just tried that myself and it's working for me now.
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