Thanks for the suggestions.

As far as I can tell practicing snake charming isn't available in SC, so I can't try that. I'm also not sure that even if it were, she wouldn't just drop it from her queue upon realizing that she doesn't have a basket in her inventory. If it is definitely in SC and I missed it, where can I find it to try this?

I tried going into Edit Town and selecting lots that she has been on or near, but the basket(s) didn't magically turn up. She was probably wandering just outside a lot when she lost the last one, since I had her out collecting things.

Any other ideas?

That will work for the future, thank you so much.

I know there are a least two lost baskets somewhere in Twinbrook. Is there a way to locate them either by name or object id?

One of my sims is is fanatically practicing snake charming when I'm not watching and she leaves the basket in odd places rather than returning it to her inventory.

Is there an easy way to locate it when she 'loses' it?

Trying to find it by skimming the ground and looking for it is annoying, and, while I'm not opposed to buying her a new one, I'd rather not have hundreds of baskets laying about.

I haven't been able to find any sort of cheat that automatically returns lost property to the sims inventory, and restoreallstolens doesn't seem to have any effect in this case.

Does anyone have any insight?

Unfortunately, I think I'll have to give up on this solution.

While cefwyn's working_launcher folder did load and install files, it was very selective and only installed certain files. I have no idea why, but it would still only handle the free store content, no CC or questionably obtained store content. I might try it one more time out of pure obstinacy, but I think at this point I'll probably give in and try other solutions. If anyone else is having problems getting their launcher to behave (and are willing to stop using it) I found a couple of other posts that may help.

Creating your own .dbc files from here...

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,17746.0.html

Using witch's store content .dbc files from here...

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,17707.0.html

Thank you all for your help and suggestions in this thread... much appreciated.

I followed the instructions to the letter, and the first time I opened the launcher from the working launcher folder it worked perfectly. Everything I tried installed perfectly with no problems. Since then, every time I open the launcher from there, previously installed files show up properly and new download files are recognized, but they won't install. The launcher seems to consider opening the files, but never does. Instead, a black box the size and shape of the initial installation box shows up and, after processing for a moment, just disappears. After that an exception file appears in the ...My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 folder.

Does anyone have any idea why this might have happened and/or how to fix it?

Thank you all! That makes far more sense than what I was thinking.

On a related note, if I decide to reinstall my game completely - base game and WA - can I use the bin from that installation (before I patch of course), or will I need to track down 1.79/2.2.8?

If I do need 1.79/2.2.8, does anyone know where they may be found?
 

Not to inflict my idiocy on anyone, but how or where would I use DOS to make this work?

If it needs to be inserted into the Resource.cfg file could someone post an example, or, if not, explain where and how using DOS deviates from the instructions in the original post?

I apologize for my ignorance and appreciate any assistance.

Perhaps I have a dumb question.

When I downloaded AM today it arrived with an extra package file, namely, csmacd.package. While I'm not opposed to happily dropping said file into my Packages folder and accepting that Pescado knows best, my unhealthy curiosity bids me ask:

What is this file, and what does it do?

My thoughts are only that it has to do with alleviating routing failures, but can anyone enlighten me with specifics?