September 2016 - last edited September 2016
Hi EA,
I'd like to bring your attention to this help article: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/operating-system-not-supported-by-origin/
I am one of those who're into the retrocomputing movement and maintain a old Windows XP machine for running older games that I find problematic in Windows 7. I have just restored the machine from a backup from before I had Origin installed because Avira messed the system up.
The article's solution doesn't work anymore. I download the OriginThinClient.exe from the article, but then it downloads 130MB of files then claims that Origin will only support Windows 7 SP1 or newer.
I even tried downloading an older offline installer from a third party website. After installation, Origin keeps insisting that I update to Origin 10.2 which doesn't work on XP, or it won't let me log on. Clicking on "Go Offline" does not help, it won't let me log in while I'm offline. It will not let me block the update which is incompatible with XP.
Kindly advise how to fix the issue. I wish to install three games: SimCity 4 (performance issues in Windows 7), The Sims 2 (graphical glitches in Windows 7) and SimCity Social (can't adjust any settings in Windows 7, stuck at 640x480 and all adjustment options greyed out).
Thanks in advance.
Solved! Go to Solution.
September 2016
Is that link misdirected?
See if this one gets you the same file or a different one. If it's different, tag me so that I can let a CM know that the help page needs fixed.
September 2016
Is that link misdirected?
See if this one gets you the same file or a different one. If it's different, tag me so that I can let a CM know that the help page needs fixed.
September 2016 - last edited September 2016
Hi,
Yes, the installer provided by your link works. Thank you! It's great to see EA supporting the retro movement by putting out a final client for XP, even if it's more limited in functionality!
Now if there's only a way to burn the even older DOS titles that are being given out through the On The House offers onto CD-R so I can play them on my even older MS-DOS machine instead of running them emulated in EA's version of DosBox :P
September 2016
Yeah, well that would be nice but, that's not how they are supposed to work.
I'm glad Origin is working for you again and I did let them know that the help page link needs checked.
September 2016
@ramchyld Thanks for the post. I took a look through the various versions of the page in question and I found the improper link you describe. I'll escalate this to be fixed, thanks for bringing it to our attention.
January 2017
The OriginThinSetup.exe link that you posted in your previous comment doesn't work anymore, it installs then fails to update & displays this message:
"Your update could not be completed. Please download and install the latest version of Origin from https://download.dm.origin.com/origin/live/OriginSetup.exe ."
When I download the OriginSetup.exe from that link it fails to install saying:
"Origin can only be installed on computers running Windows 7 or later. You'll need to upgrade your operating system or download a compatible version of our client at www.origin.com/download."
Is there any workarounds?
November 2017
So im having the same problem as said above, hope to find a proper solution for Origin client to make work in Windows XP.
December 2017
everybody's having the same problem, wtf guys? over a year later and nothing?
June 2019
I have an ordered game that I am unable to play because of this issue. My version of Origin won't let me to connect online. It keeps saying it needs a critical update and tells me to restart. It's an endless loop. I've tried downloading from the link above. It does nothing. I cannot open or run it. Please fix this!
August 2020
This Win 32 thin client doesn't work anymore. Please help. I just revived my 14 year old XP machine and revived my EA account. I would love to download my EA 2009 purchase and play during holidays. Please tell me you guys can make it work again.