We have compiled the following guide, to cover many of the common problems we see when players are trying to install the Public Test Realm client. Installation should be quite straight forward but should you have a problem then some of these steps should help.

Please remember that the Test realms are free service that allows us to find any potential problems with the content in the patch, post any errors or bugs you may experience during testing in this test realm forum.

Installing/Patching

Installation of a test realm patch should be quite straight forward, much like that of a normal patch. It is very important to remove any previous test realm clients first before attempting to patch the game.

The Test realm is installed into a Folder named WoWtest, before you install a new PTR client you should delete this folder:

1) Right-Click on the World of Warcraft icon and select Properties
2) Locate and select the button named Find Target, or Open Program Location if you are using Windows Vista
3) Check for the folder named WoWtest and delete this folder
Note also that your World of Warcraft game client should be patched up to the most current version that is live on the game realms.

Our support FAQ also has several articles covering other issues you may encounter during patching:

Windows Vista - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21474
Waiting for Files to close - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=24233
General Patching Steps[Windows] - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=19671
General Patching Steps[Mac] - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=19670

Invalid Username or Password

You may not be able to get onto the PTR if you have changed your password or converted to Battle.net in the last few weeks. You can try to use an old password or account details but there's no guarantee this will work. Also, only those players who have had their accounts active for at least 7 weeks before a testing phase starts will be able to log in to the Public Test Realm Client.

Please also note that if you have only just recently upgraded your account to Wrath of the Lich King but have had an active account for sometime you may receive an error when trying to log in with premade or copied characters.

Unable to Validate Game Version

This error, in most of the reported cases on the Public Test Realm Clients, occurs when patching is attempted when an older Public Test Realm Client is still installed in the WoWTest folder.

This can be fixed by removing the old test client.
1) Locate World of Warcraft desktop icon
2) Right-Click and select Properties
3) Locate and select the button named Find Target, or Open Program Location if you are using Windows Vista
4) Check for the folder named WoWtest and delete this folder
Make sure that you are downloading the most current Test Realm patch from our website
http://www.wow-europe.com/ptr/

Unable to Connect

If after installing the test client on your machine you are faced with an “Unable to Connect” message when attempting to connect. Typically in many cases this is down to some form of security software located on the machine that may be blocking or is not correctly allowing access for the games files.

In order to resolve this you should check the configuration of your firewall to ensure that the Wow file used by the test client is not blocked in any way.

The following links cover a small number of the more popular Firewalls and routers, should yours not be listed, it is recommend that you contact the manufacture of that device or software.

Configuring your Firewall - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=19442
Configuring your Router - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=19445
Norton Internet Security - http://eu.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=21477

Locked characters on the PTR

• Players that have updated their accounts to Wrath of the Lich King within the past few months may not be able to access some characters after copying them to the PTR servers. This includes premade characters.
  
• If you are receiving the error "Character Locked - Contact Billing" when trying to log into the PTR, you will not be able to access that character during this testing phase.

Further Assistance

If you continue to experience problems installing or connecting to the Public Test Realm Client, please consult our Technical Support FAQ or contact our Technical Support team on their forum or via phone or email:

Technical Support FAQ:
http://eu.blizzard.com/support/index.xml?gameId=11

Technical Support Forum:
http://forums.wow-europe.com/board.html?forumId=11079&sid=1

Contacting Technical Support by e-mail:
http://www.wow-europe.com/support/webform/techformDefault.html

Contacting Technical Support by phone:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/support/technical.html