Preventive Maintenance (PC)

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. Make sure your version of Windows has all the latest updates by checking Microsoft's automatic update page. Also, make sure you have the latest version of DirectX from Microsoft's website. This is important! You will need DirectX 9.0c or higher to play World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King on a Windows PC.

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.

Also, before starting the game in your Windows environment, make sure there are no other programs running in the background except for Explorer. Press Control+Alt+Delete to see a list of programs running in the background.

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, sound card, motherboard, and mouse.

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.

There is one exception to this rule of upgrades. If you are using a laptop, always use the drivers provided by the laptop manufacturer before using the drivers released by individual video and sound card vendors.

If you are not sure what video card you have installed and you are using a PC, you may use the DirectX Diagnostic program to find out what video card is installed.

Steps to run DirectX Diagnostic tool:

- Click the "Start" button.
- Click the "Run" item in the Start Menu.
- Type "dxdiag" (without the quotes).
- Press the Enter key on the keyboard.
- Click the Display tab in the Dxdiag window.
- Look in the Device information box at the top left of the screen for card information.
- Look in the Drivers information box at the top right of the screen for driver information.

Next, if you are a Windows user, you will need to make sure the latest video drivers you are using are compatible with the latest version of DirectX. If they are not compatible, you could experience video problems. Not every video driver is compatible with the newest versions of DirectX. Contact your video card manufacturer to ensure compatibility if you cannot find the information on the page you downloaded your video drivers from.

Motherboards require updates as well. If you do not know the name of your PC's motherboard manufacturer, you can speak to the system manufacturer for more information. First, check the motherboard manufacturer's website for updated chipset drivers, first. If you can't find the manufacturer's website, the three most common chipset drivers are for VIA, Intel, and NVIDIA, which can be found at VIA's website, Intel's website, and NVIDIA's website.

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. Adware/spyware/virus scan: Adware, spyware or a virus on your system may cause problems. Be sure to run full scans of your system with the latest definitions for your malware programs. If you need more information regarding where to get a virus scanner, please visit our Computer Security Page.

5. Drive maintenance: There are some basic forms of hard drive maintenance that can increase performance and reduce errors.

Please run a thorough scandisk and defragmentation of your hard drive(s). You will probably find it helpful to disable your screen saver and power management features before you use scandisk or defrag. Sometimes Windows will restart the defragmentation and/or scandisk if your screen saver or power management features engage.

- Open My Computer, and select the local disk you want to check.
- On the File menu, click "Properties".
- Click the Tools tab.
- Under Error-checking, click "Check Now".
- Under "Check disk options", select the "Automatically fix file system errors" check box and the "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors" box.
- Select "Yes" to schedule after restart if a dialog box comes up prompting you to do so.
- Restart your computer
- Open My Computer, and select the local disk you want to check.
- On the File menu, click "Properties".
- Click the Tools tab.
- Under Defragmentation, click "Defragment Now".
- Select volume to "Defragment".
- Click Defragment.