Preventive Maintenance (Mac)

One of the most important steps in preventing game errors is ensuring that your system is optimally configured for play.

1. OS updates: Our games work best with updated and patched operating systems. For Macintosh users, file permission problems can arise when Mac OS X is updated. Such problems can prevent our games from launching or cause them to unexpectedly quit when certain game features are accessed. When problems occur, please use the steps below to repair file permission settings for the hard drive on which you have installed World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.

Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4, 10.5 (Panther, Tiger and Leopard):
- Click the Finder icon in the Dock.
- Open the Applications folder.
- Open the Utilities folder.
- Double-click the Disk Utility application icon.
- Select the volume on which the game is installed.
- Select the Disk First Aid option.
- Click the "Repair File Permissions" button.

2. OS settings: In the operating system of your computer, there are settings you can change to provide a smoother game experience and reduce errors.

First, make sure all power management settings are disabled or turned off. If you have a screen saver, set it to "None" before playing the game.

On Mac OS X, make sure to quit any applications that you are not using. You can tell if an application is running if there is a triangle next to the application's icon in the Dock.

If your system is overclocked, it may be producing too much heat, which will adversely affect program performance. If the system is producing high amounts of heat but is not overclocked, we would suggest you add a fan to your system to help distribute heat in the case.

3. Driver updates: It is critical that your hardware devices are using the latest releases of their driver software. Such devices include your video card and sound card. To start, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and sound cards. You'll want to check with your computer manufacturer or the video/sound card manufacturer's website for the current drivers that match the model of card you have in your system. Contact information for several major manufacturers can be found on our website.

Apple provides driver updates for both the ATI and NVIDIA video hardware bundled with their systems. New drivers are included in each update to Mac OS X. Please use the Software Update panel in the System Preferences application, or check Apple's Mac OS X site for the most recent updates to Mac OS X.

While mouse difficulties are uncommon, those that do occur can usually be easily resolved through software updates. Make sure that you are using the latest driver for the device as indicated by the manufacturer. Some pointing devices also utilize proprietary software, and you may need to update that as well. If problems still occur, you can disable such software and/or try running with a generic driver from the operating system.

4. Drive maintenance: With Mac computers, game files can become corrupted, ironically, by some brands of popular "Disk Repair" software if they have not been updated to work with the version of the Mac OS that is installed on your computer. Thus, if you need to reinstall your game for any reason, you may want to disable any drive maintenance software you have prior to installation of the game.