Problems with re-install

[MandySumner]

Hiya everyone, I'm new here and have a big problem that's getting me down  
OK to start off, the games I have are Sims 3, World Adventures & Ambitions. Since the July update, I had nothing but problems and have been unable to play my beloved games. I wrote on thesims3 technical discussion thread asking for help and my plea fell on deaf ears/eyes so out of sheer desperation, I uninstalled all my games. Problem is, I can't find my base game disc so obviously I can't re-install. I've tried doing it via the download manager, but can't because my activation code has already been used. Can someone please please please help me??
Huge thanks in advance...
Mandy x

[AriaGirl77]

Hi Mandy!  Welcome to the forum!

I don't know how to fix your problem, but I am going to go ahead and edit the title of your thread to better describe the issue in the hopes that someone else will find this thread and answer your question. 

[Metropolis Man]

Hi Mandy, welcome to the forums. I don't know for sure, but I'm assuming that EA treats a physical disk and a downloaded version as different animals. In other words, simply because you purchased the physical game disk and now can't find it, I don't think that that automatically gives you the green light to download it too. I may be wrong, but I'd think it was an either/or kind of thing.

[MandySumner]

Hiya both and thanks for your replies 
I searched online for solutions to this, and someone said that as long as we still have the Download Manager and put our original serial key in, it will automatically download? But as I stated, when I put my serial key in, I got a message saying that it was already in use (obviously when I registered the game on TS3 site) I really am at my wits' end with this grrr 

[Metropolis Man]

Hiya both and thanks for your replies 
I searched online for solutions to this, and someone said that as long as we still have the Download Manager and put our original serial key in, it will automatically download? But as I stated, when I put my serial key in, I got a message saying that it was already in use (obviously when I registered the game on TS3 site) I really am at my wits' end with this grrr 

But, what I'm wondering is you're putting in a serial key that was part of the boxed product packaging, right? You're trying to download the game which is different. You never bought the downloaded version in the first place. If you had done that, your serial # you would have received would work again. Again, not 100% sure here, but that's my best guess as to what's going on.

[MandySumner]

Arrrrgh yeah you're right Metro! So sorry...I'm not all that computer-savvy lol

[Pam]

Yeah, Metro's right.  You can't download if you purchased the physical disk.  I'm afraid your only options are to either find the original disk or purchase the game again.

[Archer0]

You could borrow a friend's Sims 3 CD and use your product key.

[Swede1992]

You could borrow a friend's Sims 3 CD and use your product key.

Are you certain that works? Sorry for asking, but I've always wondered whether the product key is disc-specific (good to know just in case).

[Saltypaws]

I do know from experience that the cd's are not disc-specific.  I will give you an example.  My mom and I each purchased WA.  I installed mine and went to install hers on her computer and the product key and it would not except it, I tried like three or four times.  I got my book from my game and went ahead and used my key code for my mom's game.  The only problem in using a different key code, is the registration. I don't like doing that, but the store would not take it back.  So you can use a different key code.

[Pam]

Moving this to Technical Help.