Legit & free copies of TS4, at the same time? [SOLVED]

Ok, sorry if the title is confusing I really didn't know how exactly to word it.  I did a search but I may not have found anything because I didn't use the correct wording.  I am really sorry if this is annoying I don't mean for it to be a double post or anything like that.  I am certain someone else has asked this, but I dunno if I worded the search correctly cause I wasn't sure how to.

I have a legit copy of The Sims 4 with a real Origin account that I have used before and stopped using since having downloaded everything from here.  I have become too impatient to wait for an uploaded update with toddlers or the new Vampire DLC (this is not to say -anything- negative what so ever about the people that upload here or anyone else!!)  I am just very curious about the gameplay for these two things and am wanting to give it a try with my legit copy.  Especially since the toddler update is free (cause let's face it, they should have had that in the base game anyways).  

The problem is, when I install & update the legit copy, the copy I have from here is no longer playable.  Is there no way to have both at the same time?  I don't want to let go of the one I got here because it has basically 90% of the content that is available right now.  But like I said, I'm just impatient about wanting to see toddlers and vampires (I realize the vampire DLC isn't free but you get what I mean).  Again, I don't mean anything bad about the awesome people that put up torrents, updates, etc for Sims 4 and I am not demanding an update or anything of that nature.  I just want to see about installing the legit copy I have through Origin for the updates, while keeping the one I got from here and not having them clash with one another.

(Sorry for the long post, I am an incredibly nervous person. )

Yes, you can run both versions, legal and pirated, on your computer as long as these versions are in different directories.
The legal Origin games in f.e. C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4.
The pirated games in f.e. C:\Program Files (x86)\The Sims 4.

BUT:
Both versions have their game progression in one and the same folder: \user\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4
On top of that, they do not have the same version number which means that after playing the Origin version, the pirated version will come up with an error stating that you must update via Origin (which of course you can't).
In these cases you'll have to delete the file GameVersion from the folder The Sims 4 in Documents\Electronic Arts.
Furthermore, having toddlers and/or vampires in your Origin Game, they won't show up in your pirated game.
When you then save the pirated game, your self-created toddlers/vampires are also lost in the Origin game.

SOLUTION:
The_Gh0stm4n suggests that you rename the folder The Sims 4 in Documents\Electronis Arts every time you play a different version.
I prefer to install one of the versions under a new Windows-account resulting in each version having its own folder Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 and they cannot conflict anymore.

Oh wow i never thought of installing them under different accounts!  Thank you so much I will give that a try after I get some more sleep.  (Kids woke up three hours early today and I am practically brain dead.)  Thank you so much for that help, it never would have occurred to me.  I never even thought about the fact that they would share the same folder in Documents.

Another way of solving "sharing the same folder in Documents" problem is to install in different languages.
F.e. Origin Game in English, pirated in Spanish, this creates the folders The Sims 4 and Los Sims 4.
Mind you, some languages other than English still use The Sims 4, so be careful

I'm about to lay down for a blessed hour of silence (I hope) but I will try the different account ideas when I get up.  I think I'll just make a seperate windows account on here to install Origin with the legit Sims 4 and the updates.  I honestly cannot thank you enough for the idea, I just never would have thought of that.

Clovilah wrote:I'm about to lay down for a blessed hour of silence (I hope) but I will try the different account ideas when I get up.  I think I'll just make a seperate windows account on here to install Origin with the legit Sims 4 and the updates.  I honestly cannot thank you enough for the idea, I just never would have thought of that.

Let us know how it went, and good luck!

It took a very, very long time to download the base game, and the couple of legit DLCs I bought as well as updating BUT it worked perfectly!!!  I can very easily sign into the second account I created (also very easy) and log into Origin then play the legit copy of Sims 4.  I can also play the Sims 4 I got from here on my main account just as I was able to before, and they do not conflict with one another at all.  

Part of this is thanks to EA being pretty dumb lol  A lot of my other games and launchers (like Steam & the desktop app for Blizzard) travel over to the second account, but Origin does not at all.  So I went ahead and checked each account about 4 times to make sure it was working ok, and uninstalled Origin completely from my main account.  

It works absolutely perfectly.  Thank you so, so very much again for the tip & advice!  *Solved!*

Clovilah wrote:(...) and uninstalled Origin completely from my main account. 

It's only a minor detail, but why not leave Origin on the "main account", and use the newly-created Windows account for the cracked game, or am I misunderstanding something?

Because I have all of Sims 3 & store stuff on my main account and I am not willing to sit and wait to download or manually move it from one place to another.

Clovilah wrote:Because I have all of Sims 3 & store stuff on my main account and I am not willing to sit and wait to download or manually move it from one place to another.

That means you got rid of Origin completely (a.k.a. you are not planning to play the Origin-version of TS4, anytime soon) ?

The_gh0stm4n wrote:

Clovilah wrote:Because I have all of Sims 3 & store stuff on my main account and I am not willing to sit and wait to download or manually move it from one place to another.

That means you got rid of Origin completely (a.k.a. you are not planning to play the Origin-version of TS4, anytime soon) ?

I didn't get rid of it completely, it is on the computer on the other account, but the accounts do not share the program for whatever reason.  This is how I wanted to do it, maybe some time when I have a lot of time on my hands or don't need my computer for quite some time I would think about doing it a different way.  It works without any issues as of now.  I've been playing the legit copy (when I can sit down for more then 10 seconds) all morning without issue.  I played the copy I got here last night without any issue.  It works, that's all I needed lol.

Clovilah wrote:I didn't get rid of it completely, it is on the computer on the other account, but the accounts do not share the program for whatever reason.  This is how I wanted to do it, maybe some time when I have a lot of time on my hands or don't need my computer for quite some time I would think about doing it a different way.  It works without any issues as of now.  I've been playing the legit copy (when I can sit down for more then 10 seconds) all morning without issue.  I played the copy I got here last night without any issue.  It works, that's all I needed lol.

OK, interesting indeed. I also posted this here some time ago:
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t24433-i-have-both-origin-g4tw-versions-of-sims-4-how-can-i-manage-the-documents-folder

But I suppose the method with the different Windows-accounts is probably the easiest to do, for the average person. I myself rename the folders under Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 all the time, depending on which game I start up. It is a quick and neat method, but most users (at least on here) don't use computers all too often - and I really say this in the kindest way possible - so they are apt to make mistakes when using the "folder renaming method".

Feel free to get in touch with us again anytime you need more help or advice. Until then, have fun! Problem solved, topic closed.