Getting black screen when playing World of Warcraft

Getting black screen when playing World of Warcraft

Hi Steven,

This has been an ongoing issue with World of Warcraft. Unfortunately no patch has been released by Blizzard to fix the problem since it has not been proven that the fault is through the connection of the game.

Here are things you can check, some of which have been able to solve the similar issue of other gamers of WoW:

1. Corrupted Game – Your game data files may have been corrupted. If one or more files are missing, it would cause the game to crash. Getting a black screen is one of those.

Blizzard has a repair utility that can check if your game files are corrupt and replace them if they are.

• Get it here: http://games.brothersoft.com/blizzard-repair-utility.html

2. Direct X – Sometimes the Graphics / Video card is compatible with the latest Direct X.

However, as I have checked, your NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 is compatible with DirectX 11.

• You can get new versions of Direct X, once they come out, here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-in/download/details.aspx?id=17431

3. Drivers – Make sure that you have the updated Driver for your graphics / video card as well as your motherboard and install the latest chipsets.

• Check with your motherboard’s manufacturer or if you are not sure who the manufacturer is, you can check the list from Blizzard.

4. Other Programs – When you play WoW, it is advisable to close other programs that are running. This is to ensure that the resources are maximized for playing World of Warcraft. Believe it or not, running applications in the background can run the risk of crashing the game, including the Antivirus.

It is a good idea to stop or lessen the startup programs. You can do this by typing “msconfig” at Run or at the Search box.

5. Remove, Repair, Return – One of the advices of Blizzard is to Uninstall the Game, Do a Error-checking, Defrag the Drives and Reinstall World or Warcraft.

• Uninstall the game through the programs in the start menu
• Do an Error-checking by right clicking the drive, Properties, Tools tab, then press the button “Check Now”
• Defrag the drive by right clicking the drive, Properties, Tools tab, then press the button “Defragment Now”
• Reinstall WoW

6. Disable Power Management – Turn off the screen saver, remove the setting on hibernate, turn off monitor and stand by – have them all set to “Never”. It has been known that for some reason, these functions still work even if the WoW game is running. There have been known situations where the computer still stands by or goes to a screen saver even if the game is running, especially on a laptop.

7. System File Checker – This process checks operating system files and replaces any missing or damaged ones using either the windows back up or the Windows Installation CD or DVD.

XP:

• Click Start >Run
• Type “sfc /scannow” (including space, without quotes)

Vista/7:

• Click Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt
• Type “sfc /scannow” (including space, without quotes)

Note: During the process, it is recommended to close other applications.

8. Update OS – Updating the operating system also helps in preventing any errors. The updates are important especially when using the computer for such a high resource and graphics hungry tasks. The updates allow you to run the game smoothly, since they contain fixes for bugs and other errors that were reported before.
Get the latest from Microsoft here: http://www.update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/thanks.aspx?ln=en&&thankspage=5

Heat – If your processor is overclocked, it could heat up very fast. Heat can have adverse effects on the programs that you are running. Since games take up a lot of resources, disk space and uses high graphics, it is also contributing to the system heating up. Just like when a car is running fast, the engine heats up quickly. Check the cooling fans and add a couple more if necessary.

The power supply can also cause errors if it not capable enough to supply power to all of the hardware installed. Check the wattage of your power supply against the requirements of the motherboard, CPU, Video card and other hardware. Replace it if it’s not enough.

10. NVIDIA Settings – You may have a customized settings for your graphics ion your PC. Try changing it back to the default settings or at least lower the Screen refresh rate and Make the Anti-aliasing settings Application controlled or at 4x.

• Go to Control Panel > Display > Settings tab > Advanced button
• Go to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 tab
• Go to Performance and quality settings for the Anti-aliasing
• Go to Screen Resolution and Refresh Rate