Blizzard has changed around the way patch files are stored on Windows Vista. They are no longer stored under the C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\Patches directory. They are now stored under the C:\Users\Public\Documents\Blizzard Entertainment\World of Warcraft directory. This change is due to the way that Window Vista and Microsoft wants programs to store internal documents and settings, which is technically what a patch is.

This might be confusing to some people expecting to go in and make a mirror of the patch for guildies and friends, or copying the files over to multiple computers to cut down on the update time.

In particular, in the new C:\Users\Public\Documents\Blizzard Entertainment\World of Warcraft directory, you want to go one step further into the Patches folder, and then into the WoW-2.3.3-to-2.4.0-enUS-Win-patch folder. There you'll see three files:

1. BNUpdate.exe
2. wow-final.MPQ
3. wow-partial-1.MPQ

These can be copied to another computer, with BNUpdate.exe being ran to start the upgrade.

Mac OS X has not changed. The patch files are still stored under the World of Warcraft/patches directory.

Please remember that WoW Insider cannot make any guarantee the above technical information will work. But with that said, the above information works for me as of March 25th at about 4:30 p.m. CST.

Filed under: Patches, Odds and ends, Blizzard, News items