Since it has come out that Shadowlands is going to require a SSD in order to run the game, how do I go about getting my preorder money refunded?
My laptop which is an HP Omen that is only 1 year old (I bought it for BFA because my old one couldn’t run BFA very well) doesn’t have a SSD and I can’t afford a new laptop. So, in light of that, I want a refund since I won’t be able to run the new expansion.
Would you be able to replace your hard drive with a SSD? I recently did that in my old 2016 Lenovo laptop.
Or perhaps you could use an external SSD. I did that for a while before installing an internal one.
But if you still wish to do a refund, you will need to submit a request for that.
Click CONTINUE on this page and it will list out any purchases that are eligible for a refund.
https://us.battle.net/support/en/help/product/wow/166/1152/solution
Since the character boost was used, it probably won’t be considered eligible by the refund system. However, there will be a link at the bottom that says “I still need help” and you can submit a ticket with more details.
I can’t guarantee anything, but you can at least submit for exception consideration.
I don’t know how to replace the hard drive in a laptop and I honestly didn’t think about using an external.
I recently upgraded a kinda older model HP with a SSD, though the size is smaller then the original, it’s alot faster. The cost of SSDs and memory according to reports might actually go cheaper soon also.
As far as replacing a Drive, i found a few guides on youtube.
If you have a restore media you probably can even upgrade the SSD back to stock and keep the other drive as a storage device. There are some software you can find that will help you clone your drive as well.
You sure it doesn’t have a SSD already? 512 seems standard with the Omen.
wait, what? Were these requirements known before Shadowlands went on presale?
Unlikely, but the system requirements have been public for at least a month.
I also highly doubt an SSD can actually be required, but having an HDD will merely impact certain performance.
It should also be noted the notation they include in the support article:
Note : Due to potential changes, the System Requirements for this game may change over time.
Thank you, my computer is about a year old now so I wasn’t worried about any minimum requirements but I did not get an SSD.
SSDs are the best single upgrades for most use cases, assuming sufficient RAM, these days. 
If you’re familiar with installing Windows, or know someone who is, it’s totally worth the time.
So far in the beta, I haven’t noticed any issues even though my laptop does not have an SSD drive. I was under the impression that the SSD requirement was only linked to the Ray-tracing of shadows being turned on.
That seems strange to me. I suppose it’s possible, but ray-tracing is the process of following backward from the viewport (your screen) the directions light take and calculating the interactions that way.
I imagine it should be more computationally-heavy than anything else. What needs to be there, data-wise, is information on the shapes occupying a given scene, and the reflective qualities of those shapes.
If that data isn’t there, ray-tracing won’t work, but you also won’t have a scene either.
Man I sure hope it is not a REQUIREMENT because I do not have one, nor the money to upgrade. Bleh
SSD is listed as a minimum requirement.
It is impossible to REQUIRE an SSD. It just makes the game run better because the game is optimized to run on one.
You sure about that? I’m mostly sure that laptops are coming with SSDs now, just based on the specs you regularly see.
Regardless of that, an SSD is relatively inexpensive (pretty sure you can get a 1TB for $100) and cloning software can be found for free (I have two different free programs on my computer for this, one even resizes the partitions).
It will still run on an HDD. Guaranteed.
It will just run BETTER on an SSD.
Blizzard needs to clarify this, because they should have known better.
I don’t think they will, though. “Requiring” an SSD means that they cannot / will not / do not want to support systems still relying on an HDD. If you have problem XYZ, but are still running an HDD, they won’t even move beyond that troubleshooting step. Replace HDD and try again.
They could, however, list an HDD as usable but unsupported, as a footnote in the requirements. But then they should also list the video cards and processors below the minimum requirements that will work, as well (I run both below, and they work fine.) Then, they ought to specify that having RAM below the minimums will still work…
It’s a slippery slope. Easier to just say, “nope.”
The difference between video cards and the difference between a hard drive TYPE is not the same thing.
If you said “X” hard drive but not “Y” hard drive, that analogy would work.
In this case, saying a control pad is REQUIRED to play but not mentioning a keyboard and mouse would still WORK would be analogous.
This need a clarification so people don’t panic and make threads like this one.