Help loading game, is it lost?

[SuperFuzzed]

My computer crashed during SIMS 3 game play today. After the PC restarted, I loaded up SIMS 3 and it just showed an outline of a family called "Ramirez" (that's not my family), with the message "Cannot load this game. It may have been saved with expansion pack data that is no longer present on this system".

Can someone help me get my game back??? I tried going to Documents > EA > Saves
and deleting the "twinbrooklav.sim3" and making "twinbrooklav.sim3.backup" the main file (deleting the .backup in the name). But it makes no difference. I still have the same message. Can someone help?

[Naga]

Here are a few suggestions: first, try renaming the folder to something else instead of twinbrooklav. If that doesn't work (most likely it won't, since it's for a more specific case), reinstalling seems like an option.

[SuperFuzzed]

But won't I lose the game if I reinstall?

[SuperFuzzed]

BTW I tried renaming the file, it didn't make a difference.

[Naga]

You can make a backup of your saved game (perhaps both the original one you deleted and the backup) by copying the Saves folder to somewhere else (like My Desktop) and then pasting them back after you reinstall.

[Pam]

Did you restart your game and computer after taking ".backup" out of the name?  Is Ramirez the only family that shows up now?  No other save files at all?

[SuperFuzzed]

I only had one family save, Ramirez is the only thing that shows up (that's not my family). Yeah I tried restarting, I completely deleted the old .sims3 file and then changed the backup to the new .sims3.

[SuperFuzzed]

If I reinstall everything, will all the original registration codes still work?

[RubyLovesSims]

If I reinstall everything, will all the original registration codes still work?

Yep, the game registration code will still work, and an uninstall might be the only way to go...

[Pam]

Keep in mind that a reinstall won't recover your lost family.  Only if you are able to save a copy of your files will you be able to put them back into the game after doing a reinstall.  When you look at you save files, do you see any that say ".bad"?  Does someone else play the game?  I'm curious as to where the Ramirez file came from.  If others have access to the game, it's possible that someone accidentally deleted your file.

[SuperFuzzed]

I read online it seems to be a common problem that suddenly your families disappear, and you get this generic "Ramirez" family come up instead...which you can't load. No, no one else plays the game except me. I'll try reinstalling and let you know how it goes!

[SuperFuzzed]

Okay, I can't uninstall it! I followed the guide here for uninstalling on Vista. When I go to Program Files > EA and try to delete the SIMS 3 folders...a windows pop up saying "Recycling" comes up, and it says confirm operation, which I click "ok" on, then it shows the recycling windows pop up again. Then the pop up disappears and the files are still there! Help!

[Naga]

You don't have to do as this guide says; The uninstallation taught here is for a full removal, and it's manual. You can just reinstall using the Add&Remove Programs tool at Control Panel.

[SuperFuzzed]

I tried this too, and when I click uninstall a windows pop up comes up saying "An error occured while trying to unistall Sims 3. It may have already been uninstalled. Would you like to remove The Sims 3 from the Programs and Features list?". But I haven't already uninstalled it! Also, even if I click yes on removing from the programs and features list...nothing happens, it remains. Why is this happening?

[Naga]

You should restart the computer and try again. This is getting really messy.