Finding your License key from your Computer

If you already have the game installed on your computer and you mislay your license key, you can find it by looking in your system registry.


Using the Sims2 Key Printer Program:

There is a nifty little program by OtherworldBob which can retrieve your keys from the computer's system registry, and allow you to print them out. You can obtain it from here or from the Sims2Key Printer website. This program requires .Net Framework 2.0 to run.


If you wish to find your license keys from your registry manually:

Warning: Although this method does not require that you edit the registry, please note that you can seriously damage your system by deleting or altering registry keys. Make sure that you back up all important files often.

Go to the computer the game is installed upon, and click Start> Run. In the box, type regedit and hit the enter key.

Click the little + sign next to where it says HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Click the little + sign next to where it says SOFTWARE
Click the little + sign next to where it says ELECTRONIC ARTS
Click the little + sign next to where it says EA GAMES
Click the little + sign next to where it says THE SIMS 2
Click the little + sign next to where it says ERGC

In the pane on the right, you will see something that says default, reg_sz. In the column entitled Data you will see a string of letters and numbers. This is the license key for your copy of The Sims2.

Write it down in a safe place- some people write it on the Sims 2 disc with a special CD pen (NOT a ballpoint pen!)

Repeat for the other EPs, by clicking on THE SIMS 2 UNIVERSITY, THE SIMS 2 NIGHTLIFE and so on.

When you have finished, close regedit.

Keywords: registry, license, key