WoW installer stuck at initializing (another post, yes)

Desktop App Tech Support
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I have seen this issue being mentioned several times in different forums, but nothing seems to work for me. I am trying to install World of Warcraft.

I have followed the instructions mentioned here:
WOW Stuck at Initializing but to no avail.

It looks like the installer/updated is stuck in a loop, as every time, it moves from initializing, it gives a set of number that increment until is gets to the number is being reported before (2145571/2145571).

And every time it gets to this number it pops up a confirmation window to let Battle.net File Switcher to allow it to work on my computer. It goes back to initializing, the sequence of numbers and it goes to the confirmation window again.

I have changed dns, deleted all files, even set the launcher to beta and nothing seems to work.

One piece of information though, is that even when I pause the updater, the confirmation window will randomly pop, even if there is no download taking place. This may take a few minutes, but if I have Battle.net open, it will continue to try to download, even if I paused it myself. In fact, if I pause it, the confirmation window will continue to pop up non-stop until I select yes, in which case, we are back at square one.

I have to say that reading the thread mentioned above, in one instance, I was just reading the forums and looking through the internet and noticed that the launcher had already started downloading files. At around 4% I stopped it and when I tried to unpause it, it went back to the initialization cycle situation.

I decided to try again. Deleted everything, changed dns, deactivated firewall and antivirus and made a deep clean of registry just in case. Reinstalled Battle.net and ran it as administrator.

I am still experience the same initialiazing cycle, with the same number as indicated above. The only difference this time is that I am not getting the confirmation window, but everything else is pretty much the same.

I will update if I see any change as I keep the app open. Keep in mind that I don’t have WoW installed. I will also try the Selective start and creating another account just to check, but at this point I am about to give up and forget about installing the game.

Update #1: Left it for hours, it never got past 0% install. Also, folder remains at the same size: 629 megas.

Update #2 (because the forums won’t allow me to post twice even when I deleted one post):

I am not sure if that is the problem. If it was blocking the installer, then it wouldn’t even be able to download the 628 megas it always downloads. No, whatever it is triggering this has to do with that magic number of 2145571, whatever that is is the point where the process gets stuck. The installer is already downloading stuff, but for some reason it decided to reset things. I would reckon that if it was being blocked, it wouldn’t be blocked just for one specific set of files, but for all of them, and no download would occur.
The other reason I very much likely doubt there is something blocking the installer is that I am able to install Diablo 3 with no problems. Like I said, very unlikely my ISP is blocking wow specific files.

And to Rafa, I tried that, but no change, the same initializing loop that has happened before.

4 Likes
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Howdy Sixaola,

Based on what you described, something on the computer or network is blocking the update. Testing another network like a mobile hotspot could also help you narrow down the problem.

If the problem keeps happening on this other network, then the issue is something on the computer. If you have a third party antivirus program then I would suggest uninstalling that temporarily and then restart the computer.

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I was having the same problem, and I think i found the solution.

My client was trying to update before the instalation was done, so it always came back to initializing. So, what I did is, I went into options and told it to “never update”.

It automaticly started downloading the game after that.

Hope it helps!
Happy new year!

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Having the same problem. I am critical of the notion of blaming peoples computers/networks for the issue when this is happening to so many people. Does WoW Live use different protocols and installation algorithms than WoW classic? I’ve gone through all the troubleshooting steps that I can find on the internet except the different network. It sounds silly to me that it would be the network when the installer goes through Bnet. WoW Classic installs fine. Again, WoW Classic installs fine. SC2, D3, Overwatch, WC3, all install through Bnet with no issue. Any other ideas? If the steps you listed regarding the network don’t work, I’m going to get a friend to zip and drop his WoW data files in a Google doc, download them, and then just repair the file as necessary to see if that works…

EDIT: It worked! I used an incomplete installation on another computer and dropped it in Google Drive, downloaded it to the computer I want to play on. It was immediately playable. Scanned with BNET and it began updating and repairing.

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Tech support does not care about solving the issue on the account on Battle.net I am writing this message here and in other sections - purposefully. Even if it’s not on the topic, but everyone should know that they don’t care about the buyers of games. People pay them money for games that it is impossible to enter later. They do not want to return the money and they do not want to solve the issue of blocking accounts. The result is a fraudulent scheme. I personally don’t care about the money spent! But I am outraged by the bestial attitude towards people who are from Russia or Ukraine!!!

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