Windows

1. Run Internet Explorer by double-clicking on the application desktop icon.
2. Click 'Tools,' which is found on top of the Internet Explore page.

3. Click 'Internet Options' in the drop-down menu.
4. Click on the 'Advanced' tab, which is found on the top half of the 'Internet Options' dialog box.
5. Browse through the 'Settings' list and remove the checks from the 'Disable Script Debugging' and the 'Display a Notification About Every Script Error' option boxes.
6. Click on the 'Apply' button.
7. Click 'OK' and close out the Internet Options dialogue box. All alterations will now be in effect, and your runtime error is now eliminated.

Restore a Website Error on Internet Explorer 6
1. Launch Internet Explorer 6, click on the 'Tools' menu displayed on the upper left side of the window and select 'Internet Options.'
2. Click the 'General' tab, locate the 'Temporary Internet Files' section, click on the 'Delete files' button, select the 'Delete all offline content' text box and then click 'OK.'

3. Locate the 'History' section also displayed under the 'General' tab section, click the tab that says 'Clear History' and then click 'Yes' to confirm. Restart your Internet Explorer 6 and then access the website that was giving you an error.
Restore a Website Error on Internet Explorer 7
4. Open your Internet Explorer 7 browser, access the 'Tools' menu on the upper right side of the IE 7 window and click on the 'Delete Browsing History' option
5. Wait for the 'Delete Browsing History' box to pop-up, select the check boxes displayed next to 'Temporary Internet Files,' 'History,' 'Form Data' and 'Cookies' and then click on the 'Delete' tab at the bottom of the box.
6. Close your Internet Explorer 7 browser, restart it and then navigate to the website that was displaying an error message.
Restore a Website Error on Internet Explorer 8
7. Open your Internet Explorer 8 Web browser, locate the 'Tools' menu on the top right side of the screen and click on it. Select the 'Internet Options' choice and click the 'Delete' tab displayed under the 'Browsing History' section.
8. Wait for the 'Delete Browsing History' window to pop up, select the check boxes next to 'Preserve Favorites website data,' 'Temporary Internet Files,' 'Cookies,' 'History,' 'Form data' and InPrivate Filtering data' and then click on the 'Delete' button displayed at the bottom of the window.
9. Reboot Internet Explorer 8 and navigate to the website that was previously giving you an error.

1. Click the 'Start' button and select the 'Computer' icon.
2. Click the 'Organize' pull-down menu in the top-left corner of the window and select 'Folder and Search Options.'

3. Click the 'View' tab. Select the 'Show hidden files, folders and drives' radio button and remove the check from the 'Hide protected operating system files' box. Windows hides certain files and folders by default because it can damage the computer to modify them incorrectly. You may wish to return to this screen later and reset these options to their original settings.
4. Click 'OK.'
5. Double-click the 'C:' icon.
6. Open the 'Users' folder.
7. Open the folder for your Windows username.
8. Open the 'AppData' folder.
9. Open the 'Local' folder.
10. Open the 'IM' folder. The 'Runtime' folder is located here.

1. Insert your operating system's installation disc. Reboot your computer.
2. Select the language settings, click 'Next' and then 'Repair Your Computer.'

3. Select 'Startup Repair' on the System Recovery Options menu. Allow the Startup repair utility to repair the issues that are preventing your system from loading. Your system will restart automatically when the process is complete.

1. Click on 'Tools' at the top of the Internet Explorer browser. Go down to the last option on that list, and click on 'Internet Options.' The 'Internet Options' window will open.
2. Click on the 'Advanced' button. Go down to the 'Disable script debugging (Internet Explorer). Click inside the box to put a check mark in it. This disables 'Script debugging.'

3. Go down to the box that says 'Disable a notification about every script error.' Click inside the box, to remove the check mark.
4. Click on 'Apply' and click on the 'OK' button. The settings take effect when you click the 'OK' button.
5. Close Internet Explorer. Open a new Internet Explorer browser, by double clicking the 'Internet Explorer' icon on the desktop or the one that is located on the task bar.

1. Click 'Start' and 'My Computer.' Navigate to the 'C' drive on your system and select the folder marked 'i386.' Find your 'Winnt32.exe file and double-click it.
2. Press the 'Enter' button.

3. Click 'Launch Setup' when the Windows Setup page appears. When you click this choice and not the 'Boot Legacy Operating System' selection, you will not receive the 'disk error' message any longer. Adhere to the directions on your screen to finish the process of reinstallation.

Using Device Manager
1. First try updating the driver in the Device Manager. To do this, click the Windows 'Start' button and right-click 'My Computer.'
2. Click the 'Properties' to open the System Properties window. Click the 'Hardware' tab and click the 'Device Manager' button.

3. Scroll down and identify the CD or DVD-ROM drive with a yellow exclamation mark.
4. Right-click the drive once you have identified it and click 'Update Driver.' Follow the guided prompts to update the drive and restart your computer when the process is complete. If that does not solve the problem, move to the next section.
Using the Registry
5. Click the Windows 'Start' button and click 'Run.'
6. Type 'regedit' (Without quotes) and press 'Enter' to open the registry console.
7. Click the 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE' folder on the left panel and click 'SYSTEM.' Click 'CurrentControlSet' and click 'Control.' Click 'Class and click the '{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}' key. Delete the following entries if they exist under this key: LowerFilters, LowerFilters.bak, UpperFilters, UpperFilters.bak.
8. Click 'File' and click 'Exit' to close the registry console. Restart your computer.
9. Double-click 'My Computer' on the desktop after your computer has restarted and verify that your CD or DVD-ROM drive is visible. You should also check the Device Manager again to see if the exclamation mark has been removed from your CD or DVD-ROM drive.

1. See 'Resources' for a link to the the registry scan download site. Click the large green 'Start Download Now' button. A pop-up window will ask if you want to save the file to your computer. Click 'Save File' and the download will begin.
2. Double-click the file's icon once the download has completed. The icon will be on the desktop or in a 'Downloads' window (or possibly in both locations). Click 'OK' and then 'Run' to launch the installation wizard.

3. Follow the steps provided in the wizard to finish the installation and complete the setup.
4. Open the program by double-clicking its desktop icon (if the software doesn't launch automatically when the installation is complete). Perform a full system registry scan. The software will now search through the registry for any errors. Once completed, leave all the found problems selected and chose 'Remove All.' The program will remove the errors from the registry and the runtime error should be fixed.

Turn off DEP
1. Enable an exception in DEP for the Sims 3 by right-clicking 'Computer' and then left-clicking 'Properties.' Data Execution Prevention is a service that protects your PC from viruses and other attacks. Some programs and games will shut down or display errors when DEP is turned on.
2. Find 'Performance' and examine the DEP settings under the Advanced tab. If it says, 'Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select,' Click 'Add.'

3. Browse to the Sims 3 executable. This file is found at 'C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe.' If you're a 64-bit user, look at 'C:\Program Files(x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe.'
4. Click 'OK' to confirm the change. If DEP is set to 'Turn on DEP for essential Windows programs and services only,' leave it as is. This setting doesn't affect your game.
Other Possible Fixes
5. Pause the game each time you save. There's no explanation from Electronic Arts as to why this works, but many players have success avoiding Error Code 12 by pressing 'Pause' and then 'Save' or 'Save As.'
6. Check the system requirements for the Sims 3 and its expansions to see if your computer meets the requirements. There's a list of minimum requirements, but the recommended requirements are more important. Just meeting the minimum means the game will run but just barely. Expect to encounter any number of problems, including lag, crashes and error messages. If your PC isn't above the recommendations, upgrade the weak components, if possible.
7. Delete Custom Content from the Sims 3 folder in 'My Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 3>Mods' or 'C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3>GameData>Mods.' Also, if you've downloaded anything from the exchange, start the Sims 3 Launcher and go to Installed Content to remove them. If the custom content is important to you, you'll need to remove a little at a time to isolate the problematic file. Follow the steps in the Resources link to remove a virus-like doll from the game that may also cause this error. This doll has infected many games even if you did not download it directly.
8. Click 'Save As' when you encounter Error Code 12. It won't stop the error, but will usually salvage your game and allow you to save. Type a new name in the box, and try again if it doesn't work the first time.
9. Start the game over from scratch if the error has corrupted your saves. The quick way is to delete the entire Sims 3 folder described in Step 3. The next time you load the game, this folder will be re-created with clean neighborhoods. Alternatively, try to back up an old save as directed by EA Support.

1. Click on 'Control Panel,' which you can access from your Start menu or the My Computer folder.
2. Click on the 'Administrative Tools.' Once you are inside of that folder, you will see a folder called Event Viewer. Click on the 'Event Viewer.'

3. Find the words 'System and Apps' within the Event Viewer folder and click on them one at a time. On the right side of the screen, you will see the words 'errors' or 'warnings.' If there is an error or warning, right-click on it with your mouse and chose the 'Properties' option from the drop-down menu.
4. Click on 'Note error ID and Source.' This will open a new box, and you will see the error code or ID written in blue. Click on the blue link and confirm that you want to see the error code by clicking 'Yes' when prompted.
5. Disable or uninstall any program that the Event Viewer lists as causing the problem. You can uninstall a program by right-clicking on the program in the Applications folder and selecting 'uninstall' from the drop-down menu.