The sims 2 launcher has stop stopped working

While not a fix, I did find a workaround.  The accessing the internet in the launcher is causing the problem.  I disabled my network connection and ran the Launcher, no issue, the game started fine.  Then I enabled my network connection, have the internet again and the game still runs.  A pain when I want to play the game, but I can deal with it.  I've been playing Sims 2 for years and don't like the newer versions at all.