[Bluspacecow]

HOW TO INSTALL THE PTR

IF YOU STILL HAVE A WORLD OF WARCRAFT PUBLIC TEST FOLDER FROM LAST TIME:

You should be able to just open the Launcher in the "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder.

This will download a program called "WoW-0.3.0.10522-enUS-ptr-patch" which will be about 1.4 GB (heh big content patch lols)

IF INSTALLING FOR THE FIRST TIME:

This is copy and pasted from last content patch we had. Names have changed a bit. Please note I don't know what all the patch file names are as mirrors aren't up yet for me to check against. Also this guide assumes you want to reinstall the PTR hence step 1.

For Mac OS X replace .exe with .app

0) If you are reinstalling drag any files starting with "WoW-0.3.0" in your "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder to a safe location EG the desktop.

1) Delete any and all "wowtest" and "World of Warcraft Public Test" folders you may have.

2) If on an OS that allows you to do so go to your Live Wow folder and right click the wow.exe program there. Select "Run as Adminstrator". Log into a toon. Then log out. This step is to make sure your registry is all up to date

3) Run the downloader file (WoW-3.0.1.8874-PTR-US-Installer-downloader.exe) . It will ask you for a location for where to put the "3.0.1.8874 US PTR Installer" folder. Please remember where you put this folder for the next step.

Skip this if you already have this downloaded from before or have downloaded it from a mirror.

4) After the downloader has completed downloading into the folder "3.0.1.8874 US PTR Installer" open that folder and run "Blizzard Updater.exe"

5) Choose any location with enough space to install the PTR client onto (15-20gb free space)

6) The installer will install the 3.01 PTR inside a folder called "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder. This folder should be installed outside your live wow folder.

7) Open that folder and open the launcher (Launch.exe or Launcher.app)

8) The launcher will download some updated tools and files in a "patch.mpq" file in the wow public test folder.

9) Run the PTR from that folder by opening the Green Test icon. If on Vista you might want to do a Right Click-> Run as administrator. The version number down the bottom of the PTR login screen should read "Version 0.01 (8874)"

10) Login and it should download the downloader for WoW-0.3.0.10522-enUS-ptr-patch.exe . This is 1.4GBish in size.

If you've already downloaded it from a mirror or had it backed up from before just quit the downloader and copy that file into your "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder (replacing the one the downloader started to download).

11) If the Launcher from the "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder isn't running then open it. This should automatically open WoW-0.3.0.10522-enUS-ptr-downloader.exe program or the Background Downloader.exe .

This will allow do a integrity check on the file you downloaded. After it's
done it will automatically run WoW-0.3.0.10522-enUS-ptr-patch.exe to patch the PTR.

12) If it's your first time installing you'll need to download a seperate updater for each build that has been pushed out to the PTR.

A build is like a mini patch. Its where the devs activate new features and, put out bug fixes and the like. You can't login without being at the latest build. Each build updater can only update the build before it.

Details of the builds are in the thread below. Your patience with this is appreciated. Always start up the PTR from the Launcher.exe inside the "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder.

Just have some patience and wait for it to update. It will repeat the process of opening the Launcher , downloading an update , applying until it is at the latest build.

As of 22 November the latest build is 10835. Pay attention to the top of the launcher window where the last 5 digits of the title is the build number. From now I will not be updating this post with the build numbers so just see my replies to this thread as to what build is the latest.

13) If reinstalling take the files you dragged to the desktop in Step 0 and put em back in the "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder. Close down any PTR patch updaters before starting tho. Then start up the Launcher.exe from the "World of Warcraft Public Test" folder

14) Wait for the Launcher to completely update to build 10835 (as of 22 November 2009 17:35 NZST) . The patching process will repeat until it is at the latest build. You can see which build the PTR is at by looking at the top of the launcher window where the title of the window is.

The last 5 digits of this will be the build number. Just wait until the PTR launcher has stopped updating. From this edit I will not be updating this particular post with the latest build number. My last post about the a new build you can assume to be the latest build

From there you should be golden.

WHAT TO DO WHEN NEW BUILDS ARE PUSHED OUT

Open the PTR from the Launcher inside the "World of Warcraft Test" folder.

Back when I was actively answering posts on the PTR I was seriously answering at least 2 posts a day when people were having problems installing with this advice. Also it's been confirmed by a Blizzard rep that's pretty much their preferred way to push out new builds.