Why Does the Launcher Still Say Unauthorized??!

[prettivacant]

I apologize if this has already been asked, because I imagine it's happened to other people who downloaded the RELOADED(or pirated it in other words) version of the Sims 3, but does anyone know how to stop the launcher from identifying the game as "an unauthorized, pre-final copy of the game.. to access this feature, and this feature.. yada, yada, yada...".. Because I completely uninstalled it, then deleted the file from the utorrent downloade folder, and it's still showing up. O_o. I also have no problem downloading anything to the game from the exchange, but the message annoying and not true anymore Does anybody know how to fix this??

[Druscylla]

You aren't supposed to use the launcher

[prettivacant]

I just read what kinda sneaky crap it does I still want it to know how to make it stop saying that, though...

[Avi]

I had this problem too at first until I completely uninstalled, used CCleaner and deleted a few things in the registry.  Then I reinstalled it and it was happy.

[prettivacant]

Ohh that's a good idea! I'm gonna try that!

[Sigmund]

Don't run from the launcher.

I believe I heard that someone over at the BBS at this same problem with their legit copy as well, but they had installed a pirated copy previously.

[prettivacant]

How do I start the game without the launcher?? (Yes, n00b here.. lol)

[BlueSoup]

How do I start the game without the launcher?? (Yes, n00b here.. lol)

Change shortcut target (right click on it, choose properties): "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe"

[prettivacant]

THANKS!!! 

[wofitz]

I had this problem too at first until I completely uninstalled, used CCleaner and deleted a few things in the registry.  Then I reinstalled it and it was happy.

Do you know what needs removing from the registry? I want to install the actual game (I did have an arr'd version but got the game free so...may as well have the official version) and it keeps telling me it's a unofficial version and blahblah. I've found it in the registry and deleted the 'The Sims 3' folder. Is that all that needs removing? I've run the CCleaner to clean up my registry as well. I want to make sure that is all the needs doing before re-installing to find I need to go through it all again.

[phyllis_p]

This appears to solve the problem.  I'm not sure why.

[wofitz]

That's very...odd but thank you! I'm just re-installing now so lets hope it works. Thank you.

[Avi]

I had this problem too at first until I completely uninstalled, used CCleaner and deleted a few things in the registry.  Then I reinstalled it and it was happy.

Do you know what needs removing from the registry? I want to install the actual game (I did have an arr'd version but got the game free so...may as well have the official version) and it keeps telling me it's a unofficial version and blahblah. I've found it in the registry and deleted the 'The Sims 3' folder. Is that all that needs removing? I've run the CCleaner to clean up my registry as well. I want to make sure that is all the needs doing before re-installing to find I need to go through it all again.

I deleted the Launcher cache from there so maybe that's why it worked?  I also had CCleaner clean out all my Internet files and temp. files as well like phyllis_p mentioned, though so it might have been that over what I deleted in the Registry but I don't think so. For some reason it didn't delete the Launcher cache as I was still able to find it in the registry after running CCleaner and had to delete it manually. 

More specifically this:  Cachepath c:\ProgramData\Electronic Arts\EADM\cache 

CCleaner did not delete those files that I had to go in the registry to delete them manually . . .  Which made me hella nervous to be honest. 

Delete everything that says The Sims 3, EAL (where I found the cache registry) and EA Core if you have that.  Just be careful; you might want to back up your registry beforehand before attempting this . . .  I'm not responsible for any borkination of your PC or game!

[Scotty]

Well, it worked for me. I hated deleting my cookies, but it's better than reinstalling the whole friggin game again. I can mess with the registry, but I just HATE doing it. That would be a last resort for me.

[lzimbu]

But you don't need to wipe and reinstall

Pointing to the leak being viral marketing, the game just updates the leaked version to retail.

I took the precausion of packaging and renaming the documents folder and left everything else in place.

Once the update finished, all was gold. no muss or fuss.

Pity the game crashes though. Hope that gets patched.

[kemowery]

I installed the leaked version to see if my system would handle it well enough or if I needed a beefier video card than the minimum recommended.  I bought the retail version, though, and am still getting the unauthorized copy warning as well.

I initially tried deleting my internet cache and cookies.  That kind of worked, except that the welcome screen was in Spanish, which was weird, and it didn't fully load.  

So deleted, scrubbed my registry, rebooted, and reinstalled.  Still no dice.

I'd skip the launcher entirely except that I do want to use the Sims Exchange, and it looks like that's the only way to upload stuff, correct?  If there's another way, I'll just ditch the launcher entirely.

Izimbu, how did you get the leaked version to update to the retail version?

EDIT: Nevermind.  I got it.

[vagabondher]

How do I start the game without the launcher?? (Yes, n00b here.. lol)

Change shortcut target (right click on it, choose properties): "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe"

I'm not really understanding how this works on a Mac. I certainly can find that path, and the TS3.exe, of course, but am unable to open it because of the .exe extension. Anyone on a Mac know how to work this?

[Marhis]

Anyone on a Mac know how to work this?

Sadly, no luck so far. See here and here.