Introduction

The following steps are designed to help fix common patching problems. World of Warcraft often requires to change many files and needs to decompress quite large files in order to update them with changes and fixes included in the patch. So it is important that you have checked the following.

• When patching, make sure that you have at least 4gig of disk space free, on the drive where World of Warcraft is installed.
  
• We have noted that some security software programs can interfere with the patch, and in some cases damage the patch file during download, it is recommended that during the patching process that you temporary disable security software to ensure it does not interfere.
  
• Ensure that you have scanned your computer for Viruses/Trojans to ensure they are not taking up any memory.
  
• Close down all non essential programs during patching, such as MSN messenger etc. We have an FAQ article on doing this here:
  - http://faq.wow-europe.com/en/article.php?id=002
  
• Check that the current install is not damaged which could cause problems during the patching process, try running the Blizzard Repair tool and let it check to see if any files are damaged.
  - http://www.wow-europe.com/shared/wow-com/downloads/tools/repair.zip
  

Download this file and extract the repair.exe into your World of Warcraft installation folder and run it from there.

Index:
0. Introduction
1. General Patch Troubleshooting
2. Patching Errors regarding missing files
3. Downloader is stuck at XX%
4. Mac Patching Error: "mpq.icns"
5. Tools Patch Invalid Source File Size Error

General Patch Troubleshooting

How to patch the game in safe mode

First, please follow the instructions here to start the computer in Windows Safe Mode:
http://faq.wow-europe.com/en/article.php?id=719

Once in Safe mode, you will need to apply the patch manually:
Log into your own User Account.
Go to the Start Menu and choose Run
Type in the following line then click ok:
%temp%
This should open your temporary files; delete all the files in this folder.
Right Click on the World of Warcraft icon on your desktop again and choose Properties
Click the Find Target button so that the World of Warcraft directory opens in a new window.
Double click on the BNupdate program or the latest patch file with the same icon to begin installing the patch.

Fixing the game without re-installing

If you continue to have errors and you believe reinstalling may be necessary, while this is not a recommended step, it can help getting around having to completely re-installing the game.

Locate you World of Warcraft installation folder and enter the /Data/ folder. Delete the file named patch.mpq, this will revert the game back to the install version but will require that you run the repair tool.

Once the repair tool has fixed the install you will need to download the latest complete patch again. Patching is usually recommended in safe mode if you have an external exe patch downloaded from a mirror website, some of which are listed in the Patch Download Mirrors sticky thread on this forum.

It’s possible after installing the last major patch that you may also need to download the smaller hotfix patches. If you have any problems please try some of the steps previously mentioned in this guide.

Blizzard Downloader Troubleshooting

Should you experience any problems using our download program then please check out the following website which contains links to guides that may help you solve most downloader problems.

http://faq.wow-europe.com/en/article.php?id=015

Patching Errors regarding missing files

If you are getting error messages when patching similar to the following:

---

Q u o t e:

Blizzard BNUpdate v2.123 compiled on Jan 23 2006
Log created at 4:11 pm on 05/03/2006

This patch upgrades World of Warcraft from version 1.10.1.5230 to version 1.10.2.5302.

ERROR: unable to apply patch to file 'G:\Games\]-RGP-[\World of Warcraft\BackgroundDownloader.exe'

---

The cause of this problem is because the patch needs to update a file that is missing or has been removed.

If these files are missing you can use our repair tool to automatically replace them. You can find this tool within the World of Warcraft folder, called repair or repair.exe

Should you be missing this file you can download the latest file from our website:

http://www.wow-europe.com/shared/wow-com/downloads/tools/repair.zip

Simply extract the .exe file into your WOW folder and run the file from that directory.

Downloader is stuck at XX%

When downloading any patch it’s important that you have configured all your Firewall hardware/software, to allow the ports required by both the game and the Blizzard downloader.

We have seen some cases where the downloader is stuck on 84%. There are a few steps to try if you run into this problem:

Disable peer-to-peer downloading. You can do this in the File -> Preferences menu in the downloader

Open the proper ports in your firewall and configure your router properly

For the Downloader to function correctly you will need to make sure that the following ports or open, on the incoming ports.

TCP Ports:
3724
6112
6881-6999

If you are unsure how to configure your firewall you may find a few guides on some of the more common firewalls and routers within our FAQ site:

Firewall:
http://faq.wow-europe.com/en/article.php?id=291

Router:
http://faq.wow-europe.com/en/article.php?id=292
If you are unable to find a guide for your router or firewall, please consult the manufacturer of the router/firewall for further assistance. You may also find information on the following website, which covers a lot of different routers/firewalls:
http://www.portforward.com

Note: Disabling your firewall may not solve the problem. Security features on many firewalls will actually restrict traffic more when disabled.

Patch Mirror Sites:

If you are still having problems downloading the patch, please consult the sticky on the forums listing the patch download mirror sites for a list of potential mirror sites to download the patch from.

Mac Patching Error: "mpq.icns"

If you are receiving an error while patching stating "/Games/World of Warcraft/World of Warcraft.app/Contents/Resources/mpq.icns" could not be opened, please follow the following instructions.

Download (http://ftp.blizzard.com/pub/WoW/other/mpq.icns.zip) to your desktop.

Double-click the mpq.icnz.zip file to uncompress it.

Open the /Applications/World of Warcraft folder.

Right-click (Control-click) the World of Warcraft.app, and select Show Package Contents from the popup menu.

Go to the /Contents/Resources folder.

Drag the mpq.icns file to the /Contents/Resources folder. Be sure to not copy the ZIP file, as it will not work.

Locate and double-click the Blizzard Updater application in /Applications/World of Warcraft.

Tools Patch Invalid Source File Size Error

If you are encountering an error such as the following after having clicked on the World of Warcraft icon:

---

Q u o t e:

The patch "BackgroundDownloader.exe" could not be applied. (Invalid source file size: expected 762116, actual 766212.)

---

Please follow these steps:

-Reboot your computer
-Right click on the World of Warcraft icon on the desktop then click on Properties
-On the shortcut tab, click on Find Target button
-Into the new window opened, go to the Data folder
-Select Backup.mpq then delete it
-Start the game again from the World of Warcraft shortcut on the desktop