TS2 Unable to Save Anything? (2025)

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ZeonZumDeikun

TS2 Unable to Save Anything?

Hello! I've been having a problem recently with The Sims 2 (disc-based) and nothing I've tried has been able to fix it, so I was hoping that someone here might know what to do.

The problem I'm having is that nothing in the game is saving. If I build a new lot, go into it, do some editing and save it, when I go back to the neighborhood view the lot is gone. If I create a new neighborhood, the next time I start the game back up the neighborhood is gone. I haven't tried saving Sims from the Create-a-Sim screen yet, though, but I imagine something similar would probably happen. I did, yesterday, make a family and move them into a lot, and when I went back to the neighborhood view both the lot and family were gone. Oddly, sometimes it will let me save a lot-- sometimes-- but never a new neighborhood, and I'm leery about working on a lot only to have it disappear on me again.

The strange thing is that the saved files do seem to be appearing in the The Sims 2 folder-- at least for neighborhoods, anyway, I'm not sure about lots (I'm not sure how to check which lot is which, or where they're found). For example, in the Neighborhoods folder there is a folder called "N013" created 9/28/2016 at 3:11 PM, so at least for the neighborhoods the save folders are being created, but for some reason they're not being "registered" when I start the game up. Like I said, I'm not sure if it's doing the same thing for lots or not.

I've tried removing the Downloads folder and the Saved Sims folder, I've tried deleting the cache files, cigen and so on, I've cleared space on my primary harddrive (which currently has 14.5 GB open), I've tried playing around with folder permissions (somewhat unsuccessfully, it wont let me change the permissions of some files) and nothing has worked. The problem seems to have started after I updated my version of Windows, which was on Friday, I believe. Though, to be honest, I can't remember if I've made any new lots or neighborhoods since I updated to Windows 10 less than a year ago as I've been focusing on making custom content so the problem could have been around longer and I've just noticed it now, I'm not sure.

Whatever the case, does anyone know what might be going on and how I can fix this?

joandsarah77

Are you on the UC? If you are try going into Origin, right clicking and see if fix is an option or any other option like that. We had a similar problem recently so I would check down the older questions on here to see if they solved it.

ZeonZumDeikun

By UC I'm assuming you mean the Ultimate Collection? No, I don't have that, I have the various games, expansions and stuff packs all separate. Right now I'm running the game off of the Mansion & Garden Stuff disc.

Peni Griffin

Since the problem started with the Windows 10 update as far as you know, that would be the place to start. I can't be much help here since I don't have Windows 10, but I've heard it sometimes makes files read-only that shouldn't be. So I'd start with that - check the properties on your game data files. If any of them are set to read-only, that'd create this problem right there.

ZeonZumDeikun

What files should I be looking for? Anything in particular?

maxon

Are you sure the last update didn't make the folders read only?

alljoj

ZeonZumDeikun

It does look like it was changed to read-only but it's not allowing me to change it-- "you will need to provide administrator permission to change these attributes". This administrator thing has been something I've been struggling with for a while. There's only one account on this PC, labeled "Owner", but I still get that message fairly often when I try to change permissions and such. Though when I check the security tab on files and folders it'll usually say that Owner (Owner-PC/Owner) has full control as well as SYSTEM, Administrators (Owner-PC/Administrators) and Users (Owner-PC/Users). CREATOR OWNER never has any permission for anything and I'm never able to change it.

Bah. Some things I like about Windows 10 but this security stuff is a real pain in the butt. Looks like I wont be able to switch off read-only until I can figure out how to give myself permission to do so, heh... x.x

Peni Griffin

In Windows 7, you got an option to "run as administrator" when you right-clicked on an executable. See if you can get something like that to come up.

alljoj

ZeonZumDeikun

So I'd run the game in administrator mode? I'm not on my PC right now, which has TS2 installed, but I see that option when I right-click some of the icons on my laptop's desktop. So just run the Mansion and Garden Stuff EXE with administrator mode? I'll give that a shot in the morning!

The message "you will need to provide administrator permission to change these attributes" pops up whenever I try to switch something from read-only. I'll untick the read-only box from the properties menu, hit "apply" or "OK" and that message pops up. If I continue it'll run through the process of changing everything, or so it appears, and it will remove the tick when complete but as soon as I close the properties window and open it back up read-only is ticked again and nothing changed.

alljoj

Peni Griffin

Running the game in admin mode won't help if the files are set to read only. See if you can get it to let you sign in as administrator so you can manage files in that mode.

Computers are not made by people who understand how non-programmers use them, or what we use them for.

marka93

Yep the old Windows 10 protection crap again.

In Windows 7 its called "Change User Account Control settings", go to control panel and click on "User Accounts" and then click on "Change User Account Control settings" then turn it off for now.

First disconnect from the internet and then do it, after a restart of you computer then change the folder to read and write then restart the computer and turn back on "Change User Account Control settings" then restart your computer and try your game.

ZeonZumDeikun

Sorry for the delay in response, I've been testing things out. Thanks for the responses!

So far it appears that just right-clicking the EXE and selecting "run as administrator" is working and I've been able to save lots, edit them again later, and so on. I'll keep playing around with things and see if it keeps saving alright.

I'll also try what Marka93 suggested and see if I can change the settings, that's something i've been struggling with since I updated to Windows 10, even outside of TS2. I've run into it far too often where it wont let me save a file, for example a Photoshop file, because it says I don't have permission, when I was able to do it just fine before Windows 10. Ugh.

In the change account settings screen, what exactly do I change? Looking at my laptop (which also has Windows 10 but not TS2) I don't really see anything to change that appears to relate to permissions or anything similar...

As for signing in as an administrator... I am, I think. I only have one account on the computer, the "Owner" account, so that should be the admin account, too, because there's nothing else.

marka93

You have to go into User Account Control in Control Panel, its there for I have done it before but don't remember how for its been just after 10 came out.

ZeonZumDeikun

Hmm... I'm not seeing anything that seems to be related to permissions. Though I might just not be looking at the right thing (or I could be looking at it and not realize it, heh).

So I can go into the accounts tab and my account comes up (as it's the only account on the system). I see tabs for "your info", "Email & app accounts", "sign-in options", "access work or school", "family & other people" and "sync your settings" but none of those appear to have anything that allows me to change access to files. Weird...

marka93

How to turn off UAC (User Account Control) in Windows 10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nJWYiBfOSg

Q-Base

Charming Rogue

I think I may have a solution, I have had problems like the OP with saving and installing skins and meshes etc. I also have a non UC version of the Sims 2 installed on Windows 10.

I found out the game creates another EA Games file in the users public documents. This should be the file you are looking to save into.

The path on my version is Windows ( C: ) > Users > Public > Public Documents > EA Games > The Sims 2.

Nysha

There's no point in putting anything in that folder, since the game won't read it.