Origin and EA Help Tips

[MrsFlynn]

Uninstall/Reinstall Origin

** Uninstalling and reinstalling Origin will not hurt installed games, saved games or mods. It is safe to do this as Origin is installed in a different folder. However, if you're unsure back your Sims 4 folder to the desktop or a USB key for safe keeping.

1. Manually uninstall Origin.
Go to Control Panel > Uninstall a Program > Origin. Right-click Origin and select uninstall.

2. Run Ccleaner and it's registry cleaner. (Standard Edition is Free)
-- This helps clean up temporary files, internet cache files and other files that are left behind that are no longer being used. This does not hurt your computer or it's files.

- http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download  -- PC
- https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download?mac -- Mac

How to use CCleaner to fix PC issues
http://www.wikihow.com/Use-CCleaner/

3. Download and Install Origin.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/install-origin

*Note* Save a copy of this file so you don't have to redownload it again later. Makes for easier install in case there are issues with Origin again.

4. Log into Origin with your username and password to find your games in the Games Library tab.

Note:

If you're having a problem with installing or reinstalling Origin, try booting the computer in safe mode and installing Origin that way.

----------
Reference Links:

Uninstalling Origin Manually
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/manually-uninstalling-origin/

Install Origin
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/install-origin/

How to troubleshoot installation issues
https://help.ea.com/en/article/how-to-troubleshoot-installation-issues/

Origin Errors and Connection Issues FAQ
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/connection-troubleshooting-basic/

[MrsFlynn]

Origin Installed but game not running Error

Not sure why this happens, but an easy fix is to turn off Origin in-game.

1. Login to Origin, go to the Origin Menu - (in the upper left hand corner of the Origin client.)
2. Select Application Settings > Origin In-Game tab
3. Uncheck or turn Off - Enable Origin In Game.

This works for all games that are installed via Origin.

[MrsFlynn]

Turn off Ads In Origin and In-Game

There are not ads in the actual game itself. What you're seeing are two linked photos. These can't be turned off.
First photo - New Experiences linked photo takes you to Amazon.com where you can purchase the game code for the game.
2nd Photo has a link to take you to TheSims.com and the gives a tip on accessing the map. - Travel between neighborhoods and worlds by pressing M or using your Sim's phone

However, Origin does advertise game offers via the Origin client that you can disable.

*This option is not in the new Origin 10 client*
To do this, Go up to the Origin Menu. (Upper left corner of the Origin Client.) Select Application Settings > Advanced. Scroll down to where you can see Featured Today and Checkmark Hide Featured Today when first opening Origin. - This will disable these offers.

If you have Online Features Access turned on (checked) you may have an ad for the game in the lower left-hand corner of your screen in the Main Menu of Sims 4.

To turn this off uncheck Online Features Access. Go to Options > Game Options > Other > Uncheck Online Features Access.

This will turn off the ad that is on the main menu. The other two picture boxes are about game information and can not be turned off unfortunately.

Note If you uncheck this feature, you will not have access to the online gallery and other online features.

[MrsFlynn]

Origin is already running (when it's not)

Log out of Origin. *If exiting Origin isn't working, open Task manager (Ctrl-Shift-Esc) search for a file called ts4.exe or Origin. Click on it and select End Task

What may have happened is the program may have not closed properly. So it needs to be closed manually.

Completely shut down the computer and restart it to see if that helps.

[MrsFlynn]

Turn Off Origin/Game Updates

Open Origin, go to Origin > Application Settings



Under Client Updates it has a couple features to turn off:

Automatic Game Updates
Automatically Update Origin

Under Start-Up Options turn off:

Automatically Start Origin
Origin Helper Service



Turning these features off will stop Origin from asking to update your games,  automatically updating itself and stop it from automatically starting when starting Windows.

It will make it to where you will need to manually install game and Origin updates.

Once everything is turned off and you click on the Origin to play Sims 4 you should get this screen that you can click to use Origin in offline mode. 
✽ You will only see the message below when Origin has an update.



Now that Origin has updated, it opens up into My Game Library, or whatever option you chose in Settings and will do so until there is a new update for Origin.

[MrsFlynn]

Can't login to my Origin account

It is suggested to create a temporary account to contact customer service with. When talking to someone at EA CS. You will have to verify your account. This means give them your name, email address, password, etc. With that information, they can help you with your account issues. Also, let them know of your temporary account, so they can merge it with your main account. - You may need to verify the temporary account as well.

This is if changing password; clearing browser cache using a different browser or uninstalling/reinstalling Origin isn't helping.

----------
Reference Links:

Can't login to my Origin account
http://answers.ea.com/t5/Origin/Can-t-login-to-my-Origin-account/td-p/4245378

[MrsFlynn]

Play Offline In Origin

To play in offline mode, you will need to log into Origin once after installing the game using the username and password used to purchased the game. -- This is to verify the account and game files. 

After doing this you will need to manually select Origin from the menu and Go Offline. Or take your computer offline before launching Origin.  Search online if not sure how to take the computer offline.

Note:  If you do this method Origin will prompt you to login using your username and password, with a notice Online is currently unavailable. This is normal. It will also show an offline notice in the upper right corner of the screen. And first flash a You're offline popup message. This is also normal.

 

  ✽ You need to be logged into your Origin account, regardless if you want to play online or offline. This is how Origin works.

Please Note: Each time you open Origin while offline you may need to sign-in to be able to play games. You may need to occasionally connect Origin to the internet to verify your account and game files.


Origin Crashing, While Trying to Login Offline or just won't allow play offline, Try uninstalling Origin and reinstalling it. You may need to login once before going offline due to reinstalling it. Once you do that, try logging in again offline.

If you're still having problems Logging into Origin offline and/or playing the game offline, please post in the thread linked below:

Can't play Origin sign-in games without Internet connection
http://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues/Can-t-play-Origin-sign-in-games-without-Internet-connection/td-p/4233558

Or login with your EA/Origin Account and open a case report.
https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/

Or you might try asking over at Origin Tech Support.

Origin Client/Web – Technical Support:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Origin-Client-Web-Technical/bd-p/origin-technical-issues-en

[MrsFlynn]

Make sure that Origin does not automatically open when you turn on your computer.

How to check settings -

1. Open Origin, select Origin > Application Settings.
2. Scroll down till you see Start-up Options.
3. Turn this option off.
-- It is turned on by default when you install Origin.

Click image to see larger view.



If you have two or more Windows user accounts, please check each user account to make sure this option is turned off, so it doesn't cause any issues.

Always close it before you switch accounts.