How to store Sims 3 saved data files on a different hard drive

[vgogems]

I recently purchased a new pc, and I've since had nothing but problems from the Sims 3. My build includes a small SSD (C:) intended only for my operating system, and a large 2TB HDD (D:) for all other things. My Sims 3 games (and their exe files) are located on the (D:) drive. Every time I try to launch The Sims 3, the launcher automatically generates a new "C:\User>Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3" path in my documents folder on the (C:) drive. I am a heavy mod/cc user, so I simply do not have enough room on the (C:) drive for all of my saved/downloaded content. It is for this reason that I have made many unsuccessful attempts to move my Sims 3 files to my much larger (D:) drive.

I have tried moving the files, creating a shortcut, and creating a junction, but each time when I open the launcher the game just generates a new "User>Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3" folder on the (C:) drive and negates any other pre-existing /EA/Sims 3 folder.

Here is a list of everything I have tried:
1. cut and paste "User>Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3" or "Electronic Arts>Sims 3" to (D:) drive (yes, I've really resorted to trying this)
2. Move "User>Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3" files to (D:) drive and create shortcut to the same files on the (D:) drive under path "C:/User>Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3" (attempted leaving the original files on (C:) and creating the shortcut on (D:), and also removing original files from (C:) and creating (D:) shortcut)
3. Create Junction between "C:/User>Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3" and multiple other path attempts on (D:) drive such as "D:/Sims 3 Games" ; "D:/User/Documents/Electronic Arts/Sims 3"
> using cmd command prompt:
cd C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts
mklink /D "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts" "D:\Sims 3 Games" or mklink /D "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts" "D:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts"
>> or some similar command as the above, both with leaving the original EA\Sims 3 files on the (C:) drive and removing them, and without creating the destination folder on the (D:) drive or also pre-creating it on (D:) before executing the command prompt(s).
>>> Each time this yields a "Cannot create file when that file already exists" message, which I would think would be the point of creating a junction...


Yes, I am running cmd as an administrator.
No, I am not computer savvy.
 It seems absolutely ridiculous to have to move my operating system from my (C:) drive to my (D:) drive just to run the Sims with my installed content.

I've tried multiple different guides I found online such as these:
http://my.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=457107&highlight=junction
http://games4theworld.bestgoo.com/t17437-redirecting-the-username-folder-the-sims-3-to-a-different-location

My operating system is Windows 10,
I launch a legit copy of Sims 3 through Origin,
Origin is located on my (D:) drive as well,
The shortcut I use to launch the game is on my desktop (which would be on my (C:) drive, but uses a file path on the (D:) drive)
The vanilla game & expansions function properly otherwise, this is only a problem with my saves/mods/etc sims 3 data

I cannot for the life of me get it to work properly with my mods/saves on the same alternate drive as the exe files. What can I possibly do? Please help... 

[vgogems]

Update: I got something to happen, not sure what, but this is what I did:

Referencing this page here: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753194(v=ws.11).aspx
I used the cmd command prompt:
mklink /J "C:\Users\[username]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3" "D:\The Sims 3" (without removing the Electronic Arts folder from the (C:) drive under my documents, leaving The Sims 3 only 1 folder deep on the (D:) drive)
The junction was created successfully using mklink /J instead of mklink /D

Now when I bring up the launcher, it does not create a new EA folder.

I have been told that I will need to recreate this junction when The Sims 3 has an update, and ironically there is one available now. I will post again after I have installed the new update and checked to make sure that the junction is still working properly.

Update:
The new update has been applied and the junction folder is still there. Launching the game also works with no problems! The space on my (C:) drive has also opened up which indicates the files are now being stored properly on the (D:) drive. The problem was with the command prompt and possibly the folder path on the (D:) drive.

[Candyd]

This is really interesting. I was wondering if it was possible to make something like this work and I read only negative answers, until I discovered yours. Thank you for your experience and solution, I'm saving this page !

[vgogems]

For future reference I am writing out the correct way to create a Junction so that the next person who has this problem might find this post in a google search.

How to move Sims 3 files to a separate hard drive: (saved games/sims/etc, custom content, downloads, cache, and other files found under C:/Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3)
***For Windows users***

1. Launch the Sims 3 and make sure that the "C:\Users\[yourusername]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3" folders appear on your primary hard drive (C:).
2. If you have pre-existing saved files or downloads, create a back up folder by copy and pasting "The Sims 3" to your desktop and renaming it something like "The Sims 3 Backup."
3. Open your documents folder and navigate to "C:\Users\[yourusername]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3"
4. Make a copy of your "The Sims 3" folder (with all of your saved data in it) and paste it directly onto the first page of folders on your alternate hard drive (in this example, that drive will be (D:)
> (You can access the alternate drive you want to move your Sims files to by navigating to "This PC>(D:) drive"
5. Return to "C:\Users\[yourusernamehere]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3"
6. Right click on the ribbon bar on the top where the file path is listed and select copy address
7. Empty the "The Sims 3" folder on your (C:) drive so that only an empty "The Sims 3" folder is left in the file path
8. Open your windows start menu and in the search bar and type "cmd"
9. When a program titled "cmd" appears, right click on it and select "run as administrator"
10. In the command prompt, type or paste the command and the file path mklink /J "C:\Users\[yourusernamehere]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3" "D:\The Sims 3" (with "(D:)" representing your alternate hard drive in this example.)
> Here is an example of what that should look like: mklink /J "C:\Users\Bob\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3" "D:\The Sims 3"
11. Press enter
12. The program should indicate that the junction has been created successfully

Finally:
Now, "The Sims 3" should still appear under the path "C:\Users\[yourusername]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3" but the folder should have a little blue arrow indicating that it is a shortcut folder. This way the file path stays the same for the game to access and read but your data is still being stored in the actual folder on your other hard drive. As long as the shortcut appears on your (C:) drive and your original "The Sims 3" file is on your alternate hard drive you should be fine.

Hopefully that explanation made enough sense. I'm pretty sure that's how I got it to work. In step 7, if you get a message saying something already exists, then I'd try deleting the empty "The Sims 3" folder under your documents on the (C:) drive. I've tried so many things today that I can't remember if I left an empty "The Sims 3" in there for cmd to find the file path or not, but I think that I did.