Hi all,
Sorry if this topic has been covered before, but I was not able to find an answer that covers my exact situation. I have WC3 classic installed (by activating disk keys on blizzard’s site a few years ago), and am currently patched to 1.30.4.
I want to stick with classic WC3, as the current stage of Reforged is not quite ready in my opinion. I am only interested in the campaigns and skirmish against the AI.
Its easy enough to avoid the update to Reforge when I play classic by declining the update when the game loads. The issue I have is when I launched the Blizzard App for other blizzard games, WC3 reforged started to download. I pressed “pause” in an attempt to stop the update, and have not tried opening the blizzard app since then.
My question is, am I able to permanently decline the update to WC3R, and still use the Blizzard App? I would like to get back into Starcraft 2 and other Blizzard games but do not want to risk losing access to classic WC3 and download 30 gigs of files I won’t use.
Sorry for the long post!
i have multiple copies of WC3 installed: one for Reforged, and one for the original game on patch 1.26 or 1.28 (which are the most common for certain older custom maps). I also have a HD graphics mod + widescreen support added to my OG version, along with a patch changer to switch between 1.26 and 1.28
If you still have your original CDs then its pretty simple to reinstall the older version, but if you no longer have your CDs then you can probably scour the internet for a downloadable copy. Try looking for WC3 ICCUP or Eurobattle.Net running on patch 1.26 or 1.28
otherwise, you can probably just copy/paste your WC3 root folder where you have it installed. Just save a backup copy onto a separate harddrive, so you can always go back and reload it. Its actually possible to do that with each patch version you want, so you can have like 5 copies all on different patches, and then load up whichever one you need for the specific map you are playing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQ3oxCJKsuA
I could be wrong but IIRC i believe patch 1.30 had lots of complaints about balance and the AI not playing properly (not creeping or casting spells) so I dont think that is a good patch to play on for skirmish or cgs
3 Likes
Thanks for the reply!
So to backup my old installation, all I have to do is copy the “Warcraft 3” folder from Program files to an external hard drive, or to another folder on the desktop?
I still have my original RoC and TFT CDs, so if I needed to, could I reinstall from the CD and then paste the 1.3 folder over the newly installed folder? I also have standalone installers for patch 1.27 that I downloaded years ago.
Do you think I could change the folder name of my current Warcraft 3 folder to something else, so that the Battle.net App can’t install reforged over my original installation? That is my biggest issue with reforged, is that it tries to replace classic WC3. Would have preferred it to just be a separate game with separate install. In your experience, does just opening the Battle.net App start the download of reforge to replace a classic installation? I have not tested it extensively since I did not want it to install over my original version.
Thanks again!
its hard to say because its different for everyone, and I havent done this since the game launched in January so… do you have another PC you can test things on? its always helpful if you can have a backup copy on a separate PC just in case anything happens to your main PC
What I would do is, copy the OG folder to a backup harddrive/PC 1st. Then you should re-install WC3 from the CDs in order to downgrade your patch version to 1.26. When you re-install it, save it to a different location (not the default programfiles/wc3 folder, just anywhere else)… After you get it patched to 1.26 correctly, then make a backup copy of that folder on your backup hdd, and you can rename it to whatever you want
Next, rename the main folder where the game is installed on your PC with patch 1.26. Once you do that, then installing Reforged should not effect the OG game (hopefully) just make sure you do NOT install reforged on top of the same folder as the OG game
After you install Reforged, try running the OG game. If it doesnt load try renaming the root folder back to WarCraft III (or whatever it was originally)… hopefully that should be enough, as long as you dont have any registry issues (registry issues are annoying to fix)
If everything is working then, at that point you can try updating it to patch 1.28 and make a 3rd backup copy so you have both (if you want, thats only necessary tho unless you play online). And finally, you can look into HD + widescreen mods… but stay away from patch 1.30 its not good
1 Like
the most simplest solution to avoid auto update is to set auto update to never…
open the battle.net app
find the [options] buttons (cogwheel icon right next to the play button) or [blizzard menu] button (top left corner) -> [settings]
then find [game install/update] and under [game updates] scroll down to [automatic updates] and select [never automatically apply updates]
in the same area u can also select [game specific settings] to disable update only for wc3 and keep other games updated automatically.
edit: windows users are so funny 
i wonder why nobody suggested to format c and re-install or partition the hard drive and install a 2nd windows with a isolated wc3
1 Like
So sad how blizzard could screw up so bad that ppl need like special programs just to get the old bnet back
1 Like
how does that help the OP when that has nothing to do with the original (non-reforged) version of the game? the OP wants Reforged to not over-write his original version… just preventing updates doesnt help solve the OPs problem
who the hell wants to re-partition a harddrive just to store a backup copy of an old game? thats actually ridiculous, especially considering you dont need to go through all the trouble of formatting C and partitioning the drive just to save a backup copy of wc3
honestly what you just suggested sounds really dumb, you probably dont even realize how many problems you could cause somebody by telling them to do that cuz setting up 2 separate OS is not simple for most people
also, why are you laughing at Windows users when its mostly Mac players that have problems running games with their over-priced one-button mouse??
1 Like
Why won’t you update when you only play campaign and bot games? Missing profiles and ladder doesn’t affect you at all
Hi all thanks for the replies!
Seems there might be a few different options to try in terms of backing up or trying alternative installations.
For those that had classic WC3 installed, did starting the Battle.net app automatically start the update to WC reforged? Like one user mentioned above, I might be able to just disable WC3 updates, though that may not be a long-term solution.
My main goal is to be able to play Starcraft II, while still keeping my original installation of WC3. I can use the editor for SC2 to start the game by pressing “test map”, but can only play offline (i.e. campaign) since I need to patch SC2 to the current version. Maybe this would be better asked on the SC2 forums, but does anyone know if I can update SC2 without using the Battle.net app? Because it seems if I can just avoid using the Battle.net app then perhaps I could keep my original WC3 (without re-installing) and still play SC2 by launching via the editor.
@Flawaffles
My understanding is that WC3 reforged can’t play custom campaigns, and there are a number of bugs and general performance issues, if true, I would like to stay with my original version.
as i wrote before. simply disable the auto update feature for wc3 in the battle.net app.
try to go offline so the battle.net app doesn’t find new updates. is it so hard to check the settings menu of the battle.net app?
1 Like
As fibric has clearly mentioned, the solution is to stop automatic updates in the BattleNet application. Since Warcraft III Reforged should be known as an update it should not automatically start. Updates for other games like StarCraft II could be started manually as they are made available. Eventually when you feel that you are ready for Reforged you can turn automatic updates on and let Warcraft III update.
As the update has already started I am not sure if that will automatically resume when automatic updates are turned off. If it does you could try tricking it by deleting the associated temporary files or moving the Warcraft III install folder somewhere else.
I don’t know if you still have the discs lying around (or a cd rom) but I used those and in older versions it easy to avoid updates because you just never try to play on battle.net.
Blizzard has made it sticky since warcraft 3 on the launcher now always forces you into reforged
Technically it forces you to play Warcraft III. If you own the legacy games it will still boot up with classic graphics rather than Reforged, although it will use the new main menu interface layout.
1 Like
That’s my (and other’s) point. There is no classic client. There is only reforged. If you don’t own reforged, you get classic graphics in game, but there is no classic version, there is only reforged, an issue for some who miss the old campaign menus, or single player campgains (now added, but wasn’t there initially)
the original client can be easily installed if you have the original CDs or a backup copy, or by searching google for a downloadable copy
Technically yes. However, you do this by blocking 1.30.4’s access to the Internet with your firewall.
There’s no other way, unfortunately.
Oh yes, I just meant officially blizzard killed it. But yes, I still have the cds. I think I even have an old install of a public test realm that allows for lan/singleplayer games.