Basic WOW patch question

b4u

Golden Member
Nov 8, 2002
1,380
2
81
Hi,

Is it possible to download the patches for WOW without auto-downloading from blizzard servers?

I want to be able to download in late night hours where my ISP gives me free downloads, but the official site doesn't provide them????

I'm new to WOW, and don't play for some time, now I've heard about this 1.8.2, 1.8.3 patches (final) and a 1.9 beta patch ... I still have 1.7 version, and for upgrade I only found so far a patch update from 1.7.1->1.8.? ... I didn't even know that there was a 1.7.1 patch ... or maybe I'm wrong and I really have it installed on my PC.

So first, is there a place where I can find the patches? I would like a full patch up to 1.8.3, so that if I reinstall the game, I don't need to run a series of updates (and this will happen in the near future ... the reinstall thing).

Are those patches "official", or are they custom-made by users? Are they legal?

Thanks.
 

n0tdan

Member
Aug 29, 2005
184
0
76
Get all your patches here

nope, wow doesn't provide the patches any way besides their official patcher.

there is only 1 current patch version you can get and run wow (on an offical live server that is)

you want 1.8.3 (4807) release patch. Looking at the patch list, you may have to just run a full 1.8 patch then do a couple minor updates by just opening the game, i don't think there were any major patches since 1.8.
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
4,508
0
76
The patches you see on websites are after you complete the Blizzard downloader. The .exe patch file gets put in your WoW install directory. People simply upload those files to other hosting sites like Filefront, they are the exact same thing, and legal. Just a different way for you to download them.

Sometimes Blizzard does not release a complete full update from 1.0 to the latest version, you'd have to get close with say a 1.7 full patch, then do the few incremental patches after that. The few remaining patches are usually really small, they just take time to run...

I usually get my patches downloaded from Filefront, just like n0tdan linked. There are MANY other sites though that you could use, 3dgamers.com is also a good one. Most take up to a day to have the patch available after it is released because it takes time to get it from Blizzard then uploaded to a new host.
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
4,508
0
76
Also wanted to say that you do NOT want to do the BETA patches unless you are going to do a special install of WoW to play on the test servers that Blizzard has setup. My understanding is that if you try to use that BETA patched install of WOW on your normal realm, you will not be able to play. Yes, it is possible to have multiple installs of WoW on your same computer. You can even run multiple instances of the game at the same time if you have different accounts setup with Blizzard.
 

b4u

Golden Member
Nov 8, 2002
1,380
2
81
One more question: I reinstalled my wow completly, and connected to blizzard "by mistake", because I wanted to upgrade manually. The game started to download the lattest version, but I canceled it and exited the game.

Then I found a "mpg" (don't remember correctly if that's the extension) file which I believe would be the downloaded data I got from the web. Then I checked that the zip files with the small incremental patches also have that file (but the full downloaded data, ofcourse).

My question is, how to install them? Just put that file in the game main directory and start wow? it's catch it from there and auto-upgrade?
 

Cheetah8799

Diamond Member
Apr 12, 2001
4,508
0
76
Originally posted by: b4u
One more question: I reinstalled my wow completly, and connected to blizzard "by mistake", because I wanted to upgrade manually. The game started to download the lattest version, but I canceled it and exited the game.

Then I found a "mpg" (don't remember correctly if that's the extension) file which I believe would be the downloaded data I got from the web. Then I checked that the zip files with the small incremental patches also have that file (but the full downloaded data, ofcourse).

My question is, how to install them? Just put that file in the game main directory and start wow? it's catch it from there and auto-upgrade?



I am so confused by this. If you are patching WoW, just run the .exe patch you can download from the places we suggested. Don't be copying in any other files you downloaded from somewhere else. Who knows what the heck they are.

If you are really confused or lost by what we suggested, just run the patcher that WoW starts on it's own.

"mpg" is normally a movie file extension.
 

NeoV

Diamond Member
Apr 18, 2000
9,504
2
81
why does it sound like you are trying to run a pirated version?

The only way to be safe when downloading patches for WoW is to get them from the in-game downloader - if it's slow for you then either your router isn't properly set up to handle the program or your software firewall, like Zone Alarm, is causing problems.

 

b4u

Golden Member
Nov 8, 2002
1,380
2
81
Well, shouldn't it be normal for a person to be able to download a patch manually? I mean, if I have to reinstall the game, why should I have to download another 300mb worth of patching?

I personally keep a copy of all patches for all games I own. That may sound stupid for some people, but that's the way I work. I got tired in the past of looking for a patch for some game I reinstalled.

And it could be great to get the lattest patch from the official place ... the blizzard's site ... and it's ridiculous not having that option.
 

Concillian

Diamond Member
May 26, 2004
3,751
8
81
well, when the Blizz downloader downloads a patch and runs it, it doesn't delete it. So you end up with a copy of all the downloadable patches automatically if you use the downloader... assuming you don't delete the entire WoW directory.

However any patch NOT issued through the downloader you are totally screwed. there is no way to get tiny patches. As you noted, there are gaps, and you can't 'incrementally' patch from 1.0 to present. You have to use the full patch.