If you are being prompted for a code despite owning the game, try these immediate solutions:
To solve this permanently for players of classic titles, EA could implement a Legacy Key Sync Centralized Key Vault
stem from and server shutdowns .
: The game's activation file, paul.dll , tries to verify your connection by sending a request to http://www.ea.com .
The game often crashes on modern CPUs with more than 4 cores. You can fix this by opening Task Manager , right-clicking the nfs.exe process, and setting the Affinity to only use 1 or 2 CPU cores. How to fix Need for Speed Undercover