having same problem, just noticed it today, hope it gets fixed soon. and yeah windows 8.1 for me too.
Issue is still occuring. Are we going to get a fix for this before Shadowlands?
Saying “No ETA” this close to an expansion release really isn’t acceptable.
Found as of tonight that I am now unable to connect to the PTR because the versions are incompatible. This WILL almost assuredly happen in the next 2-3 weeks to all players facing this issue with the retail game as well when you turn on Shadowlands. We need Blizzard to try and expedite a repair on this issue, or in lieu of that give us a rolled back and functioning version of the Battle.net App for Windows 8.1, and we need it before the pre-patch event starts.
That or players will need a means to download the entire game from your website, without the use of the currently messed up and buggy as hell Battle.net App. Please give an update on the status of this issue as well as an idea of how long we can expect for this issue to continue.
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Hey there,
Our games, on Windows, were made for NTFS file format. I noticed in your post you mentioned using this external SSD for the game. The exFAT file format is going to be the cause of this issue.
The resolution would be to either reformat the device as NTFS or create a partition. This can be done using built-in Windows tools. For information on formatting drives please reach out to Microsoft.
Note, please back-up any important data from the drive before changing formatting or partitions.
I also highly recommend deleting the current install for World of Warcraft and conducting a clean install to the desired folder after resolving the exFAT file format issue. This will help ensure all the files are fresh and in-tact.
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That seems strange considering that where it relates to Battle.net, the App is saved to my C:/ Drive which is a NTFS Drive, and the issue I’ve had hasn’t been the actual game’s performance. It runs fine when I boot it through the WoW.Exe.
The problem I’ve had has been getting the Battle.net Application which has always been located on C:/ to actually function. As a matter of fact, my entire system (aside from the external SSD, which only has WoW on it and a couple other MMO’s) is purely NTFS Format.
While it’s probably nothing, I also feel it’s worth mentioning that I have used this SSD for most of Legion and all of BFA, yet the issue only began 2 weeks ago following the update on Blizzard’s end. Regardless, I will buy a new portable SSD and see if this issue resolves it by formatting it as a NTSF. Will update once I’ve got it working.
Ancilliary:
Interestingly enough I found a strange partial solution with the Task Manager. While I’ve done the reformat and solved the issue with Kalydraydis steps and recommendations (see above for the solution), I’m going to leave what I discovered here, on the off chance it helps Tech Support in some way.
If one opens Battle.net, and gets the error Exception Processing Error, there is a way to force B.Net open so as to allow updates to work, which will help players at the least to keep their files updated.
Issue:
Solution:
I have been able to get Battle.net to work properly as well as update the PTR with this trick. If you shut down the PC, you’ll have to perform all of the steps again. But if you only close Battle.net the final four steps are all that you will have to do. I assume it to have something to do with Agent.Exe, though only a Blue could confirm why this process works.
Update: 4:45pm (09-12-20):
Booting the Computer without the SSD that used the exFAT File System, caused Battle.net to load up properly with no Exception Processing Message Errors. Currently installing WoW from a fresh boot presently.
Will provide an update once this is completed.
Following several reboots and reloading tests on Battle.net, with a NTFS Re-Format of a fresh SSD complete, I’ve encountered none of the previously discussed issues. Thank you very much for the assistance Kaldraydis. It looks like that was exactly where the problem was, going to mark your response as the go to solution. 
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Hey there,
Thanks for following up! Super glad it worked <3
I have had the same issue since the beginning of September as well. My WoW is installed on the C:\ drive, no external SSD. It goes into an infinite loop when attempting to start Battle.net application; however, if I start wow.exe directly, the game functions just fine. If I reinstall the battle.net application, it works once, then continues the infinite loop cycle.
Was there some update to battle.net with a hard-coded drive letter at the beginning of September? That seems like the most likely cause of this issue.
Unfortunately it seems that after I changed SSD’s a new issue which breaks the game entirely now has manifested. I can’t even play now which is a downgrade over the last 2 weeks. Every 20 seconds I get the following Error. 1424050960 File I/O Error.
Guess I get to miss the pre-expansion event because something’s screwing off.
It’s either that, or I’m going to have to go back to using the exFAT version and somehow break into Battle.net with my steps, to get the update on the other SSD. At least with that I could actually play, and as I see it there’s no good reason I should be out 80+ dollars because the code suddenly can’t hack it or write to a SSD that worked fine for most of Legion, and which I had to get because the Dalaran load times became intolerable.
Edit:
I have had nothing but trouble with the SSD which I reformatted to NTFS. I bought that one fresh from Best Buy because I doubted the issue was that. Since that SSD, a Samsung SSD T-7 500GB has failed at the issue it was supposed to solve, I plan to take it back tomorrow.
Despite that after reinstalling WoW and B.net to my HDD’s C:/ and then forcing the game to update my original SSD on J:/ (the original one with exFat format, which I submitted the info of with LogGoblin) the issue involving the File I/O Error the issue seems to have resolved and the entire Exception Processing Message seems to of vanished as of this moment.
Assuming that error is a new one and not related to prior issues, here is a description of that problem. The I/O error is always preceded with the game music skipping and the background of things like the spell-book not loading, before the game freezes and ultimately results in a crash; the error message of which I have screen-shotted and can be found in the imgur link.
I do not consider this a true fix given the fact that I have had to rename my C:/WorldofWarcraft folder to something else (HDDWoW in this case) so that Battle.net would not detect it (please note, I am trying to avoid using my HDD because load times are horrific on a HDD now and have been since late Legion).
I don’t consider getting a internal SSD devoted to WoW, or purchasing an upgrade to Windows 10 legitimate solutions, especially given how tight finances are (and likely other players are as well), due to Covid-19. I have to give a long pause to any potential upgrade due largely to Window’s draconian measures, since evidently I will not be able to roll back to Windows 8.1 if new errors arise.
Simply put it’s not a good thing to bet on given things seem to be working for now.
As a result of all of this, it seems keeping 2 installs of WoW, one on my SSD and one on my PC and then naming the one located on my C:/ (the HDD) to something else appears to be the only way I could force the Battle.net App to boot, behave itself and then use the SSD version of WoW, as otherwise it auto reverts to using C:/ as a default instead of the correct drive.
This measure has also seemingly corrected the Battle.net Exception Processing Message I was getting, but for how long only Blizzard knows. I do not believe the issue is related to file formats any longer, nor the fact that the original SSD uses Ex-Fat, since a computer code error does not magically ‘fix itself’ like that.
Whether we ever learn why this issue arose to start, I don’t know. But for now the game seems to be playable again. Regardless, it is my hope that all of this information helps Blizzard to fix whatever they changed 15 days ago; and ensure a long term solution exists.
Still experiencing this problem myself to no avail. I’m honestly at my wits’ end.
Same problem here. Been running WoW on the same setup since 2012, never a problem until the latest Bnet app update. I can get around it by ending all Bnet tasks, restarting the app and randomly spamming all the popup buttons over and over. Not sure I’ll renew my subscription if I have to spend a half hour getting Bnet app to launch. It isn’t my hardware, it isn’t my HD format, it isn’t a peripheral, it is the BATTLE NET APP.
Running Windows 8.1 on an 8 core i7 iMac. When it works, it works great.
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Battle.net pushed an update through today. The issue did not manifest for me again, so it most definitely had nothing to do with my SSD’s file system. For those still dealing with it, I wish you the best. I wound up having to do a complete factory (the long one) reset to get Battle.net to behave itself.
If you do the same, be sure to back EVERYTHING up.
Pre-patch starts next week and I’m still struggling to get past this error and launch the app. I’ve done a clean re-install to no avail. It’s not my computer and it’s not my internet connection.
I’m at the point where I’m ready to cancel my subscription until this finally gets resolved – if it ever does ( Who pays for a game they can’t play?? ).
same problem… takes an hour to get battlenet functioning after failure
I’m still having this problem as well on windows 8. I posted last month on Mål and Moltov on this thread.
I’ve been using the Warcraft shortcut itself since then. I uninstalled the launcher from C drive today and reinstalled it only to have the exact problem as before.
This is frustrating because the shadowlands prepatch is dropping today, and I’m not sure I’ll even be able to play later on if I can‘t run updates through the launcher.
I can’t believe this is still a problem, I’ve never had an issue last this long with blizz. Very disappointing. 
My Battle.net won’t even start up. It shows two different executables (one being ‘agent’) in the task manager, but it never seems to do anything other than causing the computer to “think” for a brief second, then zilch. I’m hoping this is a symptom of the patching, but It’s now 7pm EST on Oct. 13th, the realms are up, and I’m still incapable of getting Battle.net to launch. Any solutions to this?
They still haven’t fixed this? I’m sorry guys. I was able to correct it by doing a full factory reset. I also made sure in the settings panel for Battle.net to ensure that it ONLY opened via the SSD, however the issue only was solved when I cloned the game-files to the PC’s HDD.
I do know however that the claim of it being a format issue relating to FAT32 / NTSF systems was not accurate at all, nor was it the cause. I say this because following the issue vanishing for me, I was able to run for a full month the game on FAT32 with 0 issues. Ironically NTSF’s OS made for a wildly unstable game experience.
As I said weeks earlier, a full factory reset, should also NOT be considered a viable solution. I was really hoping this issue wouldn’t linger this long, but I dunno. I had a feeling that fixing this issue wouldn’t be a high priority. That was why I sought my own solutions to the matter. 
To be expected, I suppose. It’s a pretty intensive patch that will more than likely screw with a lot of systems in its implementation. That being said, however; Blizzard are a TITANIC company that have been doing this for nearly 2 decades. One would think that they would have considered a few different fixes/mitigations to pre-patch and expansion issues, i.e.- time zone staggering the release, temporary server load increase in the day or two leading up to patching, 24-48 hour hardline maintenance cycles to prevent unforeseens from having as tremendous of an impact, etc.
EDIT: Perhaps not as titanic as they once were, per the spectacular Mr. Kotick.
MAJOR EDIT: I was able to dig into the files in the WoW folder itself, open the one called retail , and start the program up while bypassing the Battle.net app altogether. This may be a good temporary fix, but when I tried getting on, the whole thing was FUBAR anyway due to the mass influx of pre-patch loggers. So maybe this whole thing will work itself out in time.
Update: I upgraded windows 8 to windows 10 and my launcher problem is solved. Everything works and it is updating Warcraft atm.
I was lucky enough to still have a free upgrade from a few years ago. I guess I activated it for my computer but never finished the install.
Which is fortunate. I couldn’t afford an upgrade right now otherwise. Good luck everyone that is still having issues.
I hope blizz offers a way to patch the game without the launcher in the future if they’re not going to support any OS below 10 for their launcher.
Nearly a month and still dealing with this…