I am also experiencing this issue. I bought the discs after numerous tries to buy it online and it would not accept my payment even after technical support. I put in my code, started the download process and I received the error that I needed a newer operating system. I have windows 7! This should not be an issue. I then restarted my computer and went back into my origin to continue download. I now either receive a message saying origin cannot write program or it is stuck in "preparing download" for hours!! I am very disappointed. I even tried deleting and reinstalling origin on my laptop. Please help!!