The sims 4 install on two PC's? (with a twist...)

[Kenneth-Arnold]

Thanks very much for your quick reply. I had no problem installing the game on my laptop and it runs just fine...so long as it's hooked up to my router. Every time I disconnect the laptop from the net, I can't fire up Origin. I just keep getting the ("Windows cannot find update tool.exe") message. The game is set to offline mode but that makes no difference. I've tried this several times, and invariably the game runs fine so long as the internet cable is attached but will not launch when the cable is disconnected. I've read another thread concerning the ("Windows cannot find update tool.exe") error and even tried the advice in that thread regarding running Origin in administrator mode.No luck with that method either.

In trying to find a fix for this problem, I have been struck by the seemingly incredible volume of requests for help in getting this and other Orgin games to work the way customers expect they should work.... This is supposed to be "fun" ....right? I mean, why do people shell out their money in the first place for any game? Aren't games, by their very nature, suposed to be a form of escapism to take our minds off our problems? And, while I understand that software piracy is a legitimate problem, why does Origin force gamers to have it's online site access front-end loaded in order to play their games? Once a user has installed and properly activated a game online using a legitimate serial number, that should be the last time the user should have to deal with an online connection. I have several programs on my machines that effectively keep track and control over how many times and/or on how many machines their programs can be installed using a particular registration. So why can't Origin do the same rather than forcing people to load a front-end clearly designed for constant internet connectivity that clearly is causing it's customers so much grief?

[crinrict]

I do not know why it doesn't seem to work for some people. I always have my daughters computer offline except to install the new patches and I never ever had an issue with it. 

Some got it to work if they set their laptops to flight mode and others didn't. The updatetool.exe is a tool that runs if there's an origin update but if you're offline, it should not detect that there is an update.

Are you completely offline now or just Origin ?

[Kenneth-Arnold]

Thanks again for your suggestions. Unfortunately, nothing seems to work. Tried all these solutions so far...

Run Origin as Admin.

Clean boot using msconfig to disable all but microsoft processess.

Disabling all network devices including Ethernet and WiFi.

Placing laptop in Airplane mode (which it apparently transitioned into anyway when all net devices were disabled).

Last, but not least, I even went into BIOS and disabled all wired and wireless hardware!

No matter what I do, the game still causes Windows to look for updatetool.exe! This is completely unacceptable! I've

purchased a LOT of Origin games in the past and right now they've got one very unhappy customer! This needs to be

fixed. Hopefully before Dec. 30. Like I said, I'll be stuck in the hospital for a week then, and if all I have to kill those

long dull and uncomfortable hours are games of Solitare and Mahjong I will spend those idle hours pronouncing curses

upon Origin's programmers...

[crinrict]

Did you check the Origin forum if there's a solution to this there ? Since this is rather an Origin issue than a Sims one, the people there might be able to help you better than me.

[Kenneth-Arnold]

No, I haven't checked the Origin forum. I didn't even know such a forum existed. Forgive me for saying this, but don't you think it's just a bit silly to have a forum for a game's front-end loader apart from the game itself? I, and what appears to hundreds of other customers lodging complaints in Answer HQ didn't purchase something called "Origin." We paid for a game called Sims4. If, indeed, there is a solution to my problem somewhere in an Origin forum, wouldn't it make sense to immediately post that solution ***everywhere*** it might apply in the EA/Origin/Sims4 corporate online presence? It's bad enough that the game is fraught with problems. Why exacerbate customer difficulties by having a forum just for a part of a game that customers wouldn't even think exists?

[WaniaFreitas]

If you use the same code in two origin accounts, it will tell you the code is already used.

[jadewest00]

Do you know how?

[GeorgiaGraceLA]

Okay so I allowed my sister (Georgia) to download it to the family computer - it's on my laptop also - and now I can't access my families, she's not experiencing any problems! Help?  only got it yesterday!

[deesun7376]

My son bought himself the sims 4 game. We have installed it on our family computer and played it fine. Today I have opened our origin account on our laptop. The game is ready to download on the My games page but although it says downloading nothing is happening. When I put disc 1 in the drive it starts insulation and asks for the code. I then get told the code has been used already. How can I put the game on our laptop?

[LibbySaysBoo]

I was wondering if there's anyway around this?