Shift 2 Unleashed - Origin - Windows XP

Hi @rcgldr

The best advice I can give you is to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. If you can't for whatever reason I'd highly recommend then upgrading to a modern Linux OS such as Ubuntu 16.04LTS or 17.10, even if it's just for the security aspect and updated software.

As far as Shift 2 is concerned, you could use Wine to install Origin and then install Shift 2 through Origin. I've played a couple of games through Origin on Ubuntu without any issues. The last NFS game I played on Ubuntu was Undercover and it didn't have any issues. So that is an option.

Now all that being said, if you still going to try and stick it out on XP then all I can suggest is give the installer a try why not could only fail, also perhaps try and find a boxed game with the old EA Download Manager on it and perhaps using the installer with that installed will help.

Another suggestion I can make is to try and see if version 9 of Origin, the latest version of 9 is still around and viable to use, perhaps that still works without issues on XP. I remember when Origin 10 came out you could choose which version you wanted to use, perhaps you still can. 

Hope this helps

Take Care 🙂

I have a multi-boot system - Win XP Pro (32 bit), Win XP Pro X64, Win 7 Pro 64 bit, Win 10 Pro 64 bit. I prefer to keep the old games on XP. Shift 2 is currently running fine on Win XP and I have it backed up.

I have Origin version 9.11.6.18139 installed. When I run Origin, it shows "disconnected: critical update required", "please restart now". So I click on restart, which closes and then reopens Origin, but no update is applied, and it goes back to showing  "disconnected: critical update required".  It also has the option to allow me to run in offline mode, and I do see Shift 2 in my list of games. I don't run Origin very often, so I don't know how long ago this problem would have started. When EA Store first switched to Origin, it was running without issue with Win XP..

Hi @rcgldr

Thanks for the information. I'm just curious to know, since you have a multi-boot setup, is there any particular reason why you want to play Shift 2 on XP and not on Win 7? The game came out in March 2011, just over a year and a half after Windows 7 in July 2009, so Windows 7 is definitely supported. The back of the box even states under OS's supported: OS: Windows XP (SP3) / Vista (SP2)/ Windows 7.

On the other hand Origin 10 does not support Windows XP but only from Windows 7 (SP1) upwards, and given that Origin 9 it would appear is no longer supported by EA, it would seem that playing it from your Windows 7 partition might be the only option at this point.

Hope this Helps

Take Care 🙂

> Why XP

I have all of my NFS games running under Win XP, with Shift 2 being the last of the games I bought and play. All of the prior NFS games I have install from DVD. I also played World but it was shut down. I have Most Wanted (2012) which I could install on Win 7, but I haven't tried it yet.

>  given that Origin 9 it would appear is no longer supported by EA, it would seem that playing it from your Windows 7 partition might be the only option at this point.

Currently Shift 2 is running under Win XP, and I kept the digital download program, so I may not need Origin even if I did need to re-install Shift 2. I also do backups of all the key partitions on my system, into folders on other internal and external partitions, so I should be OK there. My system is a one of a kind system, with components just old enough to run Win XP and just new enough to run Win 10. Running Win XP won't be an option with the next system I buy. I have a second copy of Win 7 Pro that I'll use on the next system I buy since I don't like all the data sharing done in Win 10.

I was mostly curious as to why Origin states it needs a critical update and needs to restart, but if restart is chosen, nothing happens. So as you posted, it appears that EA no longer supports Origin 9, and it only runs in offline mode.