EDIT: THIS FIX IS REQUIRED WHETHER YOU USE INTERNET EXPLORER OR NOT. I REPEAT, IF YOU USE MOZILLA OR ANY OTHER BROWSER, YOU STILL MUST CONFIGURE YOUR INTERNET EXPLORER.

Hey everyone, I just spent a good 5 hours trying to reconfigure my internet to fix this problem. The major problem was within Internet Explorer itself.

If you cannot connect to the news server, make sure your IE Files are configured correctly.

First open Internet Explorer, Click on Tools on the top bar, Then click Internet Options.

Starting from the first tab (General), click Delete Cookies, Delete Files (this is your temporary internet files), and Clear History.

Once these steps have been done, Click on Connections. Now depending on your Network configuration, You may not see ANY form of networks on this page. That's OK!!! You're simply going to click on LAN Settings at the bottom of this page. Once this window opens, make sure of the following:

1) Automatically Detect Settings is checked!
2) Use Automatic configuration Script is UNCHECKED.
3) Use a proxy Server for your LAN is UNCHECKED!!!!

Step 3 for me was my problem. After doing some research, I found that if you have ever been attacked by any Malware or Spyware, some of those programs will Check that specifically to shut you down from using Internet Explorer.

Once I had unchecked this box (Step 3), I tried re-opening IE and BAM! Google popped up! (instead of the obnoxios "Page cannot be displayed" error). After this moment of grandeur, I double clicked my World of Warcraft icon. The News Server Booted IMMEDIATELY and Patch 3.3.3 began downloading right away!

I have Windows XP, so this fix may not be viable for all members of our community. If anyone is having further problems with the WoW Downloader or the News Feed, Feel free to leave a post and I'll try my very best to assist you!

Good luck everyone!!

EDIT: I'd also like to mention that if you have deleted Internet Explorer or have removed any of it's files, download IE 8 and install, then follow these steps, as you may have some files missing that will cause IE to not even run properly!

EDIT: IF YOU CANNOT FIND YOUR INTERNET EXPLORER ----- Just go to Start --> Control Panel --> Internet Options and follow the above 3 steps.

I went ahead and added some information to the Patch Common Issues sticky. The bolded part is what I changed:

Downloading the patch


1. Launcher cannot connect to the news server, Game gives Failed to Apply Patch error.

This error may happen due to a variety of reasons. The most common ones are listed below:

• The system's proxy configuration is incorrect. To fix this, go to Internet Explorer -> Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections tab -> LAN Settings. Once you're there, toggle the Automatically Detect Settings checkbox and apply the setting. Try the Launcher or game again. If it doesn't work, you may want to try the settings detailed in this post - Fixes For News Server and Downloader


• Internet Explorer is set to not connect. Go to Internet Explorer -> File, then uncheck Work Offline. Try the Launcher or game again.


• An internet security program is blocking the game files, or is set on a disabled/expired state. Please re-enable it and check the Programs section. If it is expired, you may want to uninstall it and use an alternative program. http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=20569