Background Download Data on Desktop

We are aware that the background downloader is currently delivering data to the desktop of some players. Early next week we will deploy a tools patch which will move any data delivered to the desktop to the proper location.

We recommend that you do not move the data yourself, but allow us to move it for you during our next tools patch. Otherwise, the background downloader will fail to find the data, and begin background downloading the data again.

If, for whatever reason, you must move the data, please contact our technical support team first. There are a number of steps that you will need to take in order to successfully move the data and prevent future problems.

As before, Macintosh players who wish to background download will need to run the background downloader manually. Information on doing so can be found here:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=48697005&sid=1

Update

We are aware that a few players are currently experiencing a problem where the Tools Patch triggered by the Launcher does not complete successfully. The patching process gets stuck in a loop where the Launcher continually triggers a Tools Patch which can never complete, and never launches the game. If you are currently experiencing this problem, you may delete your backup.mpq file. Once the file is deleted, the problem should be resolved. You can find this file in the data folder inside your World of Warcraft game folder (default C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Data\ ).

Q u o t e:
does this apply to the new stuff 450 meg portion, or the old 35meg piece?

It can occur with both data portions until we release a new background downloader update to correct the issue. We're currently working on the update to fix the problem, but we have no estimate as to when it will be released.

If you would like to turn off the Blizzard Background Downloader, or if you would like to background download at a different time, you may do so.

You can set your background download preferences from the Launcher by clicking on the “Options” button. Here’s are the available options:

* Download while playing; continue download after game exit.
Starts the Blizzard Downloader in background mode when you launch World of Warcraft. Download will continue until all of the available data has been received, even if you exit the game.

* Download while playing; stop download upon game exit.
Starts the Blizzard Downloader in background mode when you launch World of Warcraft. The Downloader will continue running until you exit the game or until all of the available data has been received.

* Download after game exit; stop download upon game re-launch.
Starts the Blizzard Downloader in background mode when you exit World of Warcraft. The Downloader will continue running until you launch the game again or until all of the available data has been received.

* Do not download now.
Prevents any background download at this time. Note that this option is not recommended, as it will result in a significantly longer cumulative download time on patch day.

The default option for the Background Downloader is the third option listed above: Download after game exit; stop download upon game re-launch.

When the patch goes live, users who have not background downloaded some or any of the patch data will download (and patch) the remaining data normally. Blizzard will also be providing standalone patches to a number of mirror sites.