Figured I may as well make a separate post since the bigger thread about it hasn’t been addressed. Every time I launch the launcher Hearthstone and wow initialize an update and then complete. This process takes about 3 or 4 mins before I can log into either game. Both games run fine otherwise. I have tried deleting program data, uninstalling the launcher and hearthstone, running the launcher on a new administrator account, moving the hearthstone folder, starting an install of hearthstone, and then moving it back. Nothing changes. This started in early November. I’m running windows 10 but I’ve seen reports from the bigger thread that the issue also affects mac and linux as well.
Hey Wrashis,
There were a couple of bugs that occurred with the Battle.net app which caused some permission issues with game folders as well as the Battle.net app itself. Those bugs have been fixed with the latest Battle.net app and Agent version, so they won’t occur on fresh installs.
Since the update issue is still happening after you tried reinstalling Hearthstone and the Battle.net app it sounds like there are still some lingering issues and we need to have you manually fix those. So there are some additional files/folders that we recommend clearing out when doing a full wipe and reinstall of the Battle.net app. Lets try this:
- In Windows 10 go to Start → Settings
- Click on Apps
- Uninstall the Battle.net desktop app
- Press Windows key + R
- Type the following into the Run window and hit Enter: %APPDATA%
- Delete the Battle.net and Blizzard folders inside the appdata folder if they exist.
- Repeat steps 4-6 with %LOCALAPPDATA% and %PROGRAMDATA%
- Empty the recycle bin.
Now reinstall the Battle.net desktop app: https://www.blizzard.com/en-us/apps/battle.net/desktop
Once the app is installed it should automatically locate the Hearthstone and WoW installs. If not then just hit the Locate Game button and point it to where the games are installed.
If the problem is still occurring for WoW specifically:
- Navigate to the World of Warcraft folder where the game is installed.
- Right-click on the folder and select Properties.
- Go to the Security tab
- Click Advanced
- Near the top look for Owner and make sure it shows your name, if not then click Change and make yourself the owner.
- For Permissions, make sure it shows “Full Control” for Administrators, Users, and INTERACTIVE.
- Make sure to apply any changes to all sub-folders and files.
Restart the Battle.net app and see if the game will update now.
If it’s still happening after that, a full uninstall and reinstall of WoW may be needed to fix the corrupt files. When you uninstall make sure to manually delete the folder so that nothing is left over before reinstalling.
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As I stated in my post, I deleted the program data folder and uninstalled and reinstalled hearthstone and the battle.net app. The issue still persists. The issue is also not a permission issue because as I stated I made an administrator account to check.
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Wrashis,
The ProgramData folder isn’t the only one that needs to be deleted, there’s a couple of other folders I mentioned as well in my steps.
There may be something else going on with the system that is causing the steps to fail in your case. I would recommend that you go ahead and submit a ticket so we can look over your DXDIAG and MSINFO files. We should be able to help get it resolved for you after a bit more information gathering and narrowing down what might be causing it.
I made sure to delete the localappdata and app data as well. Same issue. Gonna have to wait till tomorrow to submit a ticket because I need to talk to a human being so I need to wait for web chat to be open.
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Game Master Redacted here and I can totally understand how these constant updates in the Blizzard app would be annoying. Thanks for providing your system files and list of steps you have tried though, as this definitely helps narrow this down!
Based on what you described, this is likely due to a folder permission setting. First, check that the Blizzard app folder isn’t set to Read Only:
Also, make sure it’s not in a temporary location. The Blizzard app should normally be installed to one of the Program Files folder or another harddrive.
If none of this helps or applies, then let’s try configuring the folder permissions.
- Open the Documents folder
- Right-click the game folder
- Go to Properties >Security>Advanced
- Click ‘Change’ to the right of where ‘Owner’ is listed.
- Type ‘Everyone’ and click OK
- Check the box ‘Replace owner on subcontainers and objecs’
- Click ‘OK’
- Under ‘Permission for SYSTEM’, place a check mark on all the ‘Full Control’.
- Click on ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’.
Also adjust the permissions for the main Blizzard app and game folders:
- Open the Blizzard app
- Click the gear icon next to Play/Update/install
- Select Show in Explorer
- Right-click the game folder
- Go to Properties >Security>Advanced
- Click ‘Change’ to the right of where ‘Owner’ is listed.
- Type ‘Everyone’ and click OK
- Check the box ‘Replace owner on subcontainers and objecs’
- Click ‘OK’
- Under ‘Permission for SYSTEM’, place a check mark on all the ‘Full Control’.
- Click on ‘Apply’ and ‘OK’.
If this keeps happening, please gather the Blizzard app error logs:
Then email these to techinfo@blizzard.com with the subject line USredacted. Then reply to this ticket letting us know that you emailed the files!
If these steps fixed everything up though, it would be super appreciated if you could resolve the issue on our support site and let us know which steps helped!
https://us.battle.net/support/en/case/
Best wishes!
Tried the above steps. When I set the folders off of read only and reopened the properties read only had been rechecked. There was also no security option for the game folders, likely because I’m using an external harddrive. I don’t know what changed in early to mid nov but either the windows update messed something up or the way you guys read external harddrive data changed. I sent the log goblin data to you guys, but moving wow off of the external harddrive is not a possibilty because I simply don’t have room for it on the c drive. So either your tech guys find out what the deal is with how youre reading certain data files on external harddrives or find out what changed in the november windows update or I will just have to deal with battle net constantly updating all of my games indefinitly.
Just figured I would update this thread with the current state of my issue that is still ongoing.
Looking over your system files I’ve noticed your external drive is formatted to exFAT. Battle.net app doesn’t work too well with external drives, especially if it is formatted to anything else other than NTFS. I’m afraid this is not something Customer Support can change. It is possible that the only solution here would be to reformat your drive to NTFS (the drive will be wiped during the process) or move game to a different drive.
If you have any additional questions don’t hesitate to contact us again. Have a most excellent day. (*^∇^)ノ
Did not explain why this happened at the same time everyone else had permission issues and updates or how they were going to fix it on their end in the future or even how to format an external ssd to ntfs, but I was able to google how to format it. Not going to format it right now because I’d like to play wow today before I have to spend over an hour reinstalling it, but I will mark this thread as resolved when I do get around to it, assuming this is the solution.
I have the same problem. I am suspending my account, Unless a tech person wants to help me with this stuff, a problem which is pretty common and not something I am comfortable fixing myself. I doubt Blizz cares enough to do that. I have tried a lot of things on my own and even reinstalled with slow internet speed. I guess I keep my money and they keep losing customers. I can spend on other stuff.
This constant update upon launch is extremely annoying.
This can be caused by several different issues. In the original posters (Wrashis) case it was due to having the game installed on an exFAT formatted drive, rather than NTFS format. NTFS file format is the only drive format that our games officially support. So yes the Battle.net app will allow you to install the game on a different formatted drive, and the game might play fine for a while, but you will encounter errors as updates occur.
I would recommend anyone coming across this thread to follow my previous advice in this thread and submit a ticket along with your DXDIAG and MSINFO files. One of our Technical Specialists can assist with identifying and troubleshooting the cause of this type of problem.