Hello. Ever since the most recent patch, I get a popup with this message when clicking the play button on the launcher. It happens for both Classic and BfA and continues to pop up regardless of whether I click yes or no. None of my computer hardware has changed. I’d very much appreciate some help with getting this popup to go away for good if possible. Thanks.
Same here, came with the most recent patch.
Thanks for your reports! This is an issue that our team is currently aware of and listed under the known issues list here:
The following workaround should fix this issue:
Open the System Menu via the Escape key and select System → Advanced → Graphics Card and select the correct GPU
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Thanks for the reply. I’m glad to know your team is aware of the issue and working on it.
Just as an FYI, I tried the work around described above days ago when I read it in this thread on this topic that was recently closed and it does not resolve the issue. I still get the pop up every time I switch between WoW BFA and WoW Classic.
Thanks for following up, Truthspeaker! The suggestion usually helps, but there have been a few other steps that have been helpful for a few others! Here’s a full list of what we’ve found to help with the Hardware Changed error.
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Open the System Menu via the Escape key and select System → Advanced → Graphics Card and select the correct GPU
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Resetting the User Interface - Some situations were caused by addons or left over addon cache.
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Set Nvidia as the preferred graphics by following these steps:
- Right Click on your Desktop, then find Nvidia Control Panel.
- Manage 3D Settings
- Go to Global Settings and switch the Preferred graphics processor, as “High Performance Nvidia processor.”
- Click OK and done!
If this helps for step 3, you can just set it for World of WarCraft by going to Program Settings > WoW.exe
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Update the graphics drivers from the manufacturer. ( Intel | Nvidia | AMD )
Note: We have not seen this issue occur on AMD cards. If you are experiencing the issue on AMD, please let us know!
For AMD cards, if you are experiencing a different issue, there has been some reported issues with the latest drivers on 19.12.2 with Radeon Chill (causes freezing or beeping) or the Blizzard Application crashing. Rolling back the drivers or disabling Radeon Chill should help.
Hopefully, this helps! I’ll try and update if we have any new workarounds or information on the situation. This is registered as a bug and our team is looking into this 
Good morning,
I just finished downloading (from WOW itself) onto my new computer. I received the error message -hardware changed. reload default settings. I don’t use any add-ons. Just the - stuff - lol that comes with wow. This is a new gaming computer purchased 2 weeks ago, I never had that pop up on my previous one - Lenova - or the one before that or the one before that either (just for reference). It also doesn’t matter whether I select Yes or No, it still pops up. I don’t understand how I would need to change anything with a brand new computer. Ummm, exactly what are the default settings & how or is there a way to compare them to what’s on my computer now? Thanks in advance for any help! Have a lovely day! Stay Safe 
Hey there,
Typically that popup should only happen if there are major system changes. It should only affect local device settings such as graphics quality, resolution, and similar. It should be mostly safe to ignore but it shouldn’t be happening and I’m sure that’s annoying.
The local settings are saved here:
\World of Warcraft_retail_\WTF
It will be the file named “config” which can be opened with Notepad.
What comes before that slash may vary depending on your install path. Click “Options” then “Show in Explorer” in the Battle.net application for World of Warcraft to have it find your specific install.
I might recommend closing the game, deleting this file, then reopening the game. Then if the problem continues beyond that we’d want to check addon managers and similar that may sync or interact with this game folder. I have seen addon managers sync older settings files to new computers/builds and do weird stuff!
I do hope the info helps. Let us know how things go!