I am probably going to get yelled at (maybe) but I have read and reread where to post, how to post and technical stuff, and still am lost.
I bought the actual CD pack of Sims3 starter pack at WalMart and cannot get it to run. I get the little box with Origin telling me INSTALL, and when I do it tells me to update. Well, I have tried just about every version of Origin, reinstalled, uninstalled, changed to Administrator, screwed up my pc and lost every photo and music file trying to get this game installed. There are no other options BUT install, and the other versions don't work. And yeah, restarted about a dozen times. Is there ANY WAY TO USE THIS GAME WITHOUT INSTALLING ORIGIN??? I remember the good old days when you popped a CD into the dvd/cd drive and just played. I am getting really frustrated that I spent $20 on a game I can't use.
I have WIndows XP professional installed which is supposed to be ok to use the cd. Please help, because EA, Origin and Maxis support couldn't care less and haven't answered me. I have searched all forums and ideas how to fix it and it isn't working STILL.
Thanks for not beating me up.
Cat

Sorry- TS3 starter pack requires Origin. No way around it that I know of. You can try installing Origin on a USB flash drive and removing it after the game launches, but you will still need to use it every time. You can also play offline (still need Origin), but you will need to be online the very first time you launch the game. Good luck!

But why would you not want to see about all of their other lovely games every time you go to play the Sims? (sarcasm)

No, they took out the feature that allows you to play without having Origin installed. Oh, and you'll still need your disc to run the game even though it will force Origin to start every time you go to play. It will always take you through the launcher as well -just in case they can interest you in buying something from the Sims store. Really, that's the whole point of this: to try soft selling you other products.

The good news is that even though you'll need to make an Origin account, you don't have to be logged in. If you do have an internet connection going when Origins starts, you can immediately hit the "log out" button (it's in the upper right by your screen name). If you don't have a connection, I believe you can still enter your log in information and it will start Origins in 'offline' mode.