You can still download The Sims 2 UC on Windows XP/Vista PCs after July 31

WinMacSims3

Edit: It seems that Origin will still allow you to download your games. Previously Origin said that you couldn't download games meaning The Sims 2 UC as well as The Sims 3, The Sims Medieval, and The Sims 4 will no longer be able to be downloaded after July 31, 2016.

Origin no longer supports Windows XP and Vista and I've been brought to this page saying features will be restricted or unavailable on XP/Vista.

I know most people have Windows 7 or later Windows versions but there may be people who would like to play The Sims 2 (and The Sims Stories, if you had purchased it before late 2012) on old Pentium 4 or Core 2 Duo machines running Windows XP or Vista.

According to the page, some features will be unavailable:

• Use the Store tab to browse and purchase new games (and The Vault, for Origin Access members)
• View Achievements
• Change your account settings in the Origin client
• Use your friends list and related features
• Chat and video chat

HoneyRyderLaLa

I can't currently download origin onto my old laptop that has windows vista. :( My new laptop for sims 4 is a Mac so I can't play the sims 2 UC there either.

Rflong7

Hi

I saw that in the Origin notes- less support for XP an Vista. I have no idea...

WinMacSims3

Rflong7 wrote: »

Hi

I saw that in the Origin notes- less support for XP an Vista. I have no idea...

I think it means that Vista and XP will lose some features or have features restricted.

BabySquare

I've never seen TS2 on origin - shame really as it could make it work with later versions of windows.

WinMacSims3

BabySquare wrote: »

I've never seen TS2 on origin - shame really as it could make it work with later versions of windows.

The Sims 2 used to be available on Origin until July 2013 which has since been removed. There is The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection which you could get until August 2014. People have reported being able to get it through contacting EA.

BabySquare

That's cool, however, someone told me that the ultimate collection didn't work as well on W7, whereas the individual add ons did.

WinMacSims3

Just an update here, it seems that Windows 7 will not be required to download games from Origin. Previously EA said that Windows XP and Windows Vista users will no longer be allowed to download any games from Origin so that would mean XP/Vista users can no longer download The Sims 2, The Sims 3, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc. basically any game that supports Windows XP and Vista.

BabySquare wrote: »

That's cool, however, someone told me that the ultimate collection didn't work as well on W7, whereas the individual add ons did.

The Sims 2 UC does work well on Windows 7, I've even ran it fine on Windows. With the exception of The Sims (unless you remove the KB3086255 update or unblock the SafeDisc driver), all The Sims game should work on Windows 7.

lisamwitt

BabySquare wrote: »

That's cool, however, someone told me that the ultimate collection didn't work as well on W7, whereas the individual add ons did.

It actually works great on W7, it's above that that it's hit or miss. Those of us with W7 have said they will have to pry it out of our dead cold hands.

WinMacSims3

lisamwitt wrote: »

BabySquare wrote: »

That's cool, however, someone told me that the ultimate collection didn't work as well on W7, whereas the individual add ons did.

It actually works great on W7, it's above that that it's hit or miss. Those of us with W7 have said they will have to pry it out of our dead cold hands.

Every Sims game (with two exceptions) should run. It's not the video game that's the problem, it's likely that the copy protection or DRM isn't compatible with Windows 8 or 10. Examples are Games for Windows Live and SafeDisc. For example, you'll have problems with SimCity 4 if you have the CD version (the CD versions use SafeDisc) but you don't have any problems with the GOG.com or Origin releases on Windows 10. Likewise, GFWL games didn't play nice with Windows 8 but the GFWL games that switched to Steam had no issues on Windows 8 or 10.

The reason why The Sims doesn't work on Windows 10 is due to the game using SafeDisc. Windows Vista through 8.1 has the KB3086255 update which blocks SafeDisc games such as The Sims, SimCity 4, and Syberia while Windows 10 won't play SafeDisc games at all. The only way to play is to use a modified Sims.exe, unblock SafeDisc, or remove the update (the latter two doesn't work for Windows 10.) If The Sims was run on Windows 10 through bypassing the CD requirement, there will be some graphical glitches. On my Windows Vista PC, I didn't have any graphical glitches although I haven't tried running on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1.

Older versions of The Sims Medieval were incompatible with Windows 8 because the copy protection used wasn't compatible thus making the game impossible to play on newer systems. On December 2013, this was fixed for the Origin version but this added the Origin DRM so you need to sign in to Origin to play.

Beanfoot

WinMacSims3 wrote: »

lisamwitt wrote: »

BabySquare wrote: »

That's cool, however, someone told me that the ultimate collection didn't work as well on W7, whereas the individual add ons did.

It actually works great on W7, it's above that that it's hit or miss. Those of us with W7 have said they will have to pry it out of our dead cold hands.

Every Sims game (with two exceptions) should run. It's not the video game that's the problem, it's likely that the copy protection or DRM isn't compatible with Windows 8 or 10. Examples are Games for Windows Live and SafeDisc. For example, you'll have problems with SimCity 4 if you have the CD version (the CD versions use SafeDisc) but you don't have any problems with the GOG.com or Origin releases on Windows 10. Likewise, GFWL games didn't play nice with Windows 8 but the GFWL games that switched to Steam had no issues on Windows 8 or 10.

The reason why The Sims doesn't work on Windows 10 is due to the game using SafeDisc. Windows Vista through 8.1 has the KB3086255 update which blocks SafeDisc games such as The Sims, SimCity 4, and Syberia while Windows 10 won't play SafeDisc games at all. The only way to play is to use a modified Sims.exe, unblock SafeDisc, or remove the update (the latter two doesn't work for Windows 10.) If The Sims was run on Windows 10 through bypassing the CD requirement, there will be some graphical glitches. On my Windows Vista PC, I didn't have any graphical glitches although I haven't tried running on Windows 7, 8, or 8.1.

Older versions of The Sims Medieval were incompatible with Windows 8 because the copy protection used wasn't compatible thus making the game impossible to play on newer systems. On December 2013, this was fixed for the Origin version but this added the Origin DRM so you need to sign in to Origin to play.

Hi there - I run Win 10 and I have 0 problems playing TS2 UC. I haven't had to modify anything to get it to run. The only modifications I made were after the fact to optimize the game to my graphics card.