World of Warcraft®

Welcome to the Install, Patch & Known Issues troubleshooting thread. We hope the information available here will help you tackle and solve any technical issue you may be facing whilst installing, updating and running your game client.

0. Installing World of Warcraft - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#2
1. Introduction to patching - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#3
2. Configuring the Launcher - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#4
3. Downloading the patch - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#5
4. Applying the patch - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#6
5. Login issues after patching - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#7
6. Crash and Graphical issues - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#8
7. Disconnection issues - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2226264926#15
8. Mac Specific issues - http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/5348735319

• Blizzard Customer Support YouTube videos

If you are experiencing technical issues, we highly encourage you to watch our troubleshooting videos available at the Official Blizzard Customer Support YouTube Channel:

- Basic patching troubleshooting [Windows]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6oVBsgRDe8
- Advanced patching troubleshooting [Windows]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USCZVMGLwuM
- Basic low framerate troubleshooting [Windows]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJPYMiYZfgA
- Advanced low framerate troubleshooting [Windows]: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJwjcJ-MKTA

0. Installing World of Warcraft

In order to install the game client, players are recommended to either run the Cataclysm DVD Installer or download and then run the Full Game Client online installer available at the address below:
https://eu.battle.net/account/management/download/

The Cataclysm game client contains all of the data files required by World of Warcraft Classic, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of The Lich King. As the previous game client installers are not compatible with World of Warcraft Cataclysm, we would like to remind you that installing World of Warcraft Classic, The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King on an existing World of Warcraft version 4.x installation will render your game client unusable.

1. Introduction to patching

With the release of every patch, players are recommended to uninstall their addons prior to logging onto World of Warcraft. We would like to remind you that World of Warcraft may return in-game error messages, suffer from performance issues or even crash when running with addons. Should your game client appear to be particularly unstable, deleting the Cache, Interface, WTF and Data\Cache folders is key to troubleshooting any technical issues that might be affecting your installation.

Windows Vista / Windows 7 users are recommended to run the game with administrative privileges in order to tackle permission issues that might be preventing the Launcher.exe application from downloading and writing patch files to their hard drives.
These permission issues are usually due to the Windows User Account Control (UAC) feature that is designed to limit rights of running applications. Simply put, applications run with standard user privileges by default, thus preventing said applications from writing files to specific paths such as C:\Program Files or C:\Windows. Windows will therefore deny any writing attempts, should an application installed in C:\Program Files (e.g. C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft) require write privileges to update files stored within its folder.

This is the reason as to why users running the game on Windows Vista / 7 are recommended to launch World of Warcraft with elevated administrator permission by right-clicking the game icon located on the Desktop and selecting Run as administrator.

In order to permanently set the game to run as administrator, please work through the following steps:

- Right-click the game icon on the Desktop and choose Open file location
- Right-click the Launcher.exe file and choose Properties
- Click the Compatibility tab and enable Run this program as an administrator
- Click OK and repeat the above steps for the WoW.exe application file

Additional information regarding the Windows User Account Control system is available here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_Account_Control

2. Configuring the Launcher

The Launcher application relies on Internet Explorer and the Adobe Flash plug-in.
First of all please ensure Internet Explorer is fully updated by either running the WindowsUpdate utility or downloading the latest version available at the following address:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx

Once updated, please make sure that you have the latest version of Adobe Flash installed:
http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/otherversions

• Connection Settings

Please bear in mind that incorrectly configured Internet Explorer settings could prevent the Launcher from connecting to the Internet. Please work through the following steps to ensure Internet Explorer is not connecting through a Proxy and that it is not in Offline Mode:

- Launch Internet Explorer and click Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings
- Disable any Proxy connection/server
- Disable Automatically Detect Settings and click OK
- Click File and ensure Work Offline is not enabled

• Compatibility mode

Please make sure that the Launcher.exe application is not set to run in Compatibility mode:

- Right-click the game icon on your Desktop and choose Open file location
- Right-click the Launcher.exe application file and choose Properties
- Click the Compatibility tab
- Disable the Run this program in compatibility mode for option

3. Downloading the patch

World of Warcraft and its various tools (Launcher, Repair, and Background Downloader) connect to the Internet through multiple port numbers. The main TCP/UDP ports through which the game connects to the Internet are 1119, 3724, 6112. The Background Downloader integrated into the Launcher will default to port 6881 and can use any port from 6881 to 6999.

First of all please make sure that Internet traffic through the aforementioned ports is set to allowed in your firewall.

Upon running the Launcher you may receive one of the following error messages:

• Your computer appears to be behind a firewall

This error message is usually due to a networking issue that is preventing the Blizzard Downloader from receiving incoming connections from other peers. Please ensure your system firewall is not blocking incoming connections and that your router is forwarding all of the required port numbers to your computer’s IP address.

However please note that this error message should not prevent the Blizzard Downloader from completing the patch downloading. In order to speed up the downloading phase, we recommend you to configure your system firewall and router as described in the following article:
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article/19614

If the firewall is properly configured and you are experiencing abnormally low download speed, we suggest disabling the built-in Blizzard Downloader’s Peer-To-Peer functionalities.

At the Launcher window, please click Options -> Downloader Preferences, disable the Enable Peer-To-Peer Transfer option and click OK.

• The Tracker is not responding

The Blizzard Downloader needs to connect to our server (Tracker) in order to download the patch. Please ensure your system firewall and router allow Internet traffic through the aforementioned port numbers. If need be, you may want to temporarily disable or uninstall any third-party software firewall running on your computer in order to successfully download the patch.

• Launcher cannot obtain patching information

As a first step please ensure your firewall is not preventing the Launcher.exe from connecting to the Internet. You may also need to check whether the realmlist.wtf file has been somehow altered. Please navigate to the World of Warcraft\Data\enGB folder, double-click the realmlist.wtf file and choose to open it with Notepad, should Windows be unable to recognize the file type; the original, unaltered realmlist.wtf file would read as follows:

set realmlist eu.logon.worldofwarcraft.com
set patchlist enGB.patch.battle.net:1119/patch
set realmlistbn ""
set portal eu

Should the issue persist, we suggest that you turn your router off for 10-15 minutes and then flush the DNS Resolver Cache:
battle.net/support/article/611

• Failed to initialize WoW.mfil

This error message is usually due to either a corrupt file or a third-party application that is preventing the Launcher from accessing the WoW.mfil file located in the game directory. First of all run the Task Manager by pressing the CTRL+ALT+DEL keys on your keyboard, switch to the Processes tab and quit any extra Launcher.exe processes your computer may be running. Should the issue persist, please temporarily disable your Antivirus software and run the Launcher again.

• The Launcher Play button is greyed out / I'm receiving an Error 1

First of all ensure Internet Explorer and Adobe Flash are fully updated. You may have to disable your security software in order to successfully install the patch. Should the issue persist, players are recommended to completely uninstall World of Warcraft, delete the game folder and reinstall.

• The Launcher is stuck on "initializing, please wait"

If you are running the game on Windows Vista / Windows 7, navigate to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories, right-click Command Prompt and then choose Run as administrator. Once the Command Prompt is running, type in the following command and press Enter:

netsh winsock reset

Reboot your router and then try again.

4. Applying the patch

Once the patch has been successfully downloaded to your hard disk, the patch updater application will begin updating your game files. The antivirus software could be preventing the updater from writing files to the game directory. It is therefore recommended to temporarily disable your security software prior to updating World of Warcraft.

• Blizzard Updater failed with an internal error

Please check out the two guides for this issue made by our MVP Doomsinger:

PC:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3429903727

MAC:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/4735894098

• The Updater gets stuck without returning error messages

The patch updater might also get stuck whilst attempting to update the game files due to World of Warcraft-related processes running in the background. Please run the Windows Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL), switch to the Processes tab (if need be, click the Show Processes from All Users) and quit the following applications, if available:

- WoW.exe
- Repair.exe
- Launcher.exe
- WoWError.exe

Should the issue persist, please try to take ownership of the World of Warcraft folder.

Windows Vista / Windows 7:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/add-take-ownership-to-explorer-right-click-menu-in-vista/

Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308421

• Not enough disk space

First of all ensure there is enough free space on your hard drive. If need be, please delete the Cache, Interface, WTF and Data\Cache folders located in the game directory in order to free up some space. As usual, please temporarily disable your security software and ensure the game is running with administrative privileges.

Should the issue persist, please uninstall your game client and delete the World of Warcraft directory, then browse to the address below and run the World of Warcraft Online Installer to reinstall the game:
https://eu.battle.net/account/management/download

• The Updater is returning error messages (CRC error, file could not be opened/written)

As a first step ensure your game folder is not damaged by running the Repair tool located in the World of Warcraft directory. Should the Repair tool be unable to address either corrupt or missing file issues, please uninstall your game client and reinstall.

5. Login issues after patching

Once the game is updated to the latest version, you may find yourself unable to login. In this case the game is usually returning the Unable to Connect error message, thus preventing the player from accessing the character selection screen and entering the game world.

• Unable to Connect

This error message is usually due to the firewall running on the player’s computer; as the game has been just updated, the software firewall is no longer capable of recognizing the original executable files

(Launcher.exe, WoW.exe etc). In order to troubleshoot this issue, players are recommended to navigate to the firewall configuration page (usually called Program Control List), and then search for and delete any World of Warcraft files that appear. Once deleted, you may want to add to the Program Control List and set to allow all of the World of Warcraft application files located in the game folder.

For further reference, please read through the following support article:
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article/19432

• Unable to Validate Game Version

If your game client is outdated or game data files have been altered, World of Warcraft will return the Unable to validate game version error message upon logging in. First of all please ensure you are logging in with your Battle.net user account and that you are running the European game client by checking at the login screen whether the PEGI 12+ logo is in the lower left-hand corner. If so, please retrieve the game client version number available just beneath the PEGI logo and confirm World of Warcraft is fully up-to-date.

Please bear in mind that this error message might also due to the World of Warcraft realms being offline, you may therefore want to ensure they are confirmed as available:
http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/status

You may also want to get updates directly from our Twitter feed:
http://twitter.com/blizzardcseu_en

If you are certain that you’re running the European game client and that the realms are online, please ensure your login setting file has not been altered by navigating to World of Warcraft\Data\enGB and double-clicking the realmlist.wtf file; please ensure it reads as follows:

set realmlist eu.logon.worldofwarcraft.com
set patchlist enGB.patch.battle.net:1119/patch
set realmlistbn ""
set portal eu

Should the issue persist, please run the Repair tool to check your installation for errors. Should the Repair tool report no errors, we recommend you to run a full-system scan with an updated Antivirus. Further details regarding computer and account security are available here:
http://eu.battle.net/en/security/

If you continue to receive errors, it is recommended to completely uninstall the game, delete the World of Warcraft folder and reinstall.

6. Crash and Graphical issues

If you are experiencing graphical issues with the game, as a first step we recommend you to check whether your hardware is supported by World of Warcraft:
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article/19669

If so, please ensure your display drivers are up-to-date:

- Nvidia drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us
- ATI drivers: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx
- Intel drivers: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/default.aspx

• Intel or other unsupported GPU

If you are experiencing graphical issues with your Intel chipset-based graphic adapter or any other unsupported GPU running updated drivers, first of all login to the game with your character and type the following command in the in-game Chat window:

/console fixedfunction 1

Now please quit and restart the game and then test away. If you are not even able to launch the game, try adding the following line to your Config.WTF file located in the World of Warcraft\WTF directory:

SET fixedFunction "1"

Then save the file and launch the game.

• Spell Effects

Some players have reported that starting from patch 4.0.1 their spell effects looked reduced. Although this is working as intended, you may adjust this graphical feature by navigating to Interface -> Display -> Emphasize My Spell Effects.

In order to properly display the spell's ground effects, please navigate to Video options and enable the Projected Textures feature.

• Ground Clutter/Texture stretching issues

We have received a few reports from players running the game on ATI hardware where some in-game ground effects are not being displayed properly. Although we have not been able to reproduce this issue internally, please work through the following steps should your graphic card be affected by this issue:

- Right click on your Desktop and open the Catalyst Control Center
- Switch to the Advanced Options panel
- Click Options in the upper right-hand corner
- Scroll down to Preferences
- Click Restore Factory Defaults
- Test the game again

• Shadow glitches of grass and plants

If you are running the game on Nvidia hardware, please try resetting the your GeForce settings to default through the Nvidia Control Panel.

• Intel HD 1000 and GMA X4500 shadow issues

If your Shadow Quality is set to High or Ultra you may be experiencing blocky or missing shadows with one the following drivers:

Intel HD 1000 with Windows 7 64-bit and the 8.15.10.2342 display driver
Intel GMA X4500 with Windows XP 32-bit and the 6.14.0010.5303 display driver
Intel GMA X4500 with Windows Vista 32-bit and the 8.15.0010.2302 display driver

• Intel HD 1000 pixelated water edges

Players running the game on Windows XP 32-bit may experience pixelated water edges when Liquid Detail is set to Good or Ultra.

7. Disconnection issues

If you are experiencing disconnection issues, as a first step we recommend you to login to the game with your character, press the ESC key on your keyboard and choose Options. Click the Network tab and disable the Optimize Network for Speed option.

Should the issue persist, please work through the following steps:

- Click Start
- Click Control Panel
- Double-click on the System icon
(If using Windows XP, ensure you are on Classic View first)

- Select the Hardware tab
- Click on Device Manager
- Expand the Network Adapters section
- You will find the name of your network controller there
- Right-click on the device and select Properties
- Click on the Advanced tab
- Set the Optimise For option to Throughput, if available
- Click OK and test the game

Further troubleshooting steps are available here:
battle.net/support/article/611

Please ensure your network adapter drivers are up-to-date and that your router is running the latest available firmware. Furthermore, please bear in mind that addons could be causing disconnections. Players are therefore advised to test away whilst having the game running with default settings.