You've probably seen people asking for a registration key for a variety of reasons, usually that they lost their case. Remember - don't ever give out your registration key. Chances are their copy was downloaded from a warez site. If you have a legal copy, there are ways to get your registration key, and save them in safe places.
If you are not trying to get a "The Sims" serial number, try these tips for retrieving keys, or read our help finding your "The Sims 2" serial.
Getting Your Key Back
- If you registered your game on The Sims site, you can check your profile for the keys.
- Download a Product Key Finder program for free.
- Check the registry for the code is also an easy way. Be very careful not to change anything in the registry. You could create problems with other programs.
- a. Select Run from the Start Menu
- b. Type - regedit and click OK
- c. For The Sims go to: Hkey Local Machine/Software/Electronic Arts/Maxis/The Sims/ergc
- d. For Living Large go to: Hkey Local Machine/Software/Electronic Arts/Maxis/The Sims Livin' Large/ergc
- e. For House Party go to: Hkey Local Machine/Software/Electronic Arts/Maxis/The Sims House Party/ergc
- f. On the right side you will see a file called default. Double click that and there's your registration key!
- If all else fails, you'll have to contact Electronic Arts about a serial replacement.
- Keep your keys in a text file, and always keep the newest version backed up on a floppy or CD.
- Write the key on the CD
- Keep a notebook of keys
- Write it in the manual
- Send an email to yourself with the key. This is very useful, if you web-based email that way in case of an emergency formats you'll be able to retrieve it.
