[FIX] WOW Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition

Some World of Warcraft players are encountering the ‘WOW Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition‘ when trying to launch the game. Error #134 is typically encountered when the main game executable is prevented from making changes to the game file.

There are several different causes that might end up triggering this startup error message with World of Warcraft:

Method 1: Running Blizzard Battle.net app with Admin access

As it turns out, one of the most common causes that will end up causing the ‘WOW Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition‘ is a permission issue that’s being facilitated by insufficient admin privileges. As it’s been reported by other users in a similar situation, this problem typically occurs with the World of Warcraft launcher (Blizzard Battle.net desktop app).

If this scenario is applicable, you should be able to fix the issue by forcing the game launcher to run in administrator mode. This operation will end up fixing various scenarios in which this error code ends up affecting installation, patching, networking, and start-ups.

Follow the instructions below in order to force Blizzard’s Battle.Net app to run with administrative privileges in order to resolve the ‘WOW Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition‘:

1. Right-click on the Blizzard Battle.net app executable and choose Run as Administrator from the newly appeared context menu.

   

2. When you are prompted by the UAC (User Account Control) prompt, click Yes to grant administrative access. Next, wait for the game launcher to start, then use it to launch World of Warcraft and see if you’re still encountering the same problem.
3. In case the same problem doesn’t occur now that you have granted admin access, you just pinpointed the problem. However, unless you do some additional modifications, you will need to repeat this step every time you want to launch the game.
4. However, if you want to make things easier for yourself, you can force the executable to always launch with admin access. To do this, right-click on the launcher once again and choose Properties from the context menu.

   

5. Once you’re inside the properties screen, select the Compatibility tab from the list of available options, then move over the Settings section and ensure that the checkbox associated with Run this program as administrator is checked.

   

6.  Click Apply to save the changes. Then repeat the launching process and see if the problem has been fixed.

In case the same problem is still persisting and you’re still seeing the ‘WOW Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition‘ when you try to launch World of Warcraft, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 2: Deleting the Game’s Cache folder

The game’s cache folder is often responsible for the apparition of this particular issue. Some users that were also encountering the WOW Error #134 at every startup attempt have confirmed that they were able to fix the problem by navigation go the game’s location and deleting the cache folder.

This operation will end up eliminating any temp file that might serve as the root cause of the apparition of this issue. The next startup will force the game to launch without any remnant data from previous launches.

If you want to give this fix a try, follow the instructions below to clear the Cache folder of World of Warcraft:

1. Open File Explorer (My Computer on older OS versions) and navigate to the location of your World of Warcraft installation. Unless you installed the game on a custom location, the default location of WOW is:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft

2. Once you arrive at the correct location, right-click on the Cache folder and choose Delete from the newly appeared context menu.

   

3. After you’ve done this, launch the game once again to see if this fix has been succesfull.

In case you still end up seeing the Error #134 (0x85100086) after the initial startup fails, move down to the next troubleshooting step.

Method 3: Eliminating the Read-Only Attribute

Depending on your UAC (User Account Control) settings and whether you applied custom attributes to files belonging to World of Warcraft, you can expect to see this error code due to the fact that the main WOW executable (WOW.exe) and other sub-components are using the Read-only attribute which prevents the game’s launcher from modifying and updating the files.

If this is the case in your particular situation and a new update is available, you can expect to see the Error #134 (0x85100086) after a failed attempt to modify these files.

In the event that this scenario is applicable to your particular scenario, follow the instructions below to fix the error by getting rid of the Read-Only attribute:

1. Open File Explorer and navigate to the location where you installed World of Warcraft. Unless you installed it in a custom location, the default path is:

   C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft

2. Once you get to the correct location, right-click on Wow.exe and choose Properties from the newly appeared context menu.
3. From the Properties screen, select the General tab at the top, then uncheck the box associated with Read-Only and click Apply to save the changes.

   

   Note: If the box is already checked, move down to the next potential fix below.

4. Next, repeat step 2 and step 3 with the Data and Update folders to ensure that the Read-Only attribute is not enabled there.
5. Launch the game normally and see if these modifications have successfully allowed you to fix the Error #134 when launching World of Warcraft.

If the same problem is still persisting, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 4: Whitelist WOW’s launcher or disable security suite

As it turns out, the Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition in World of Warcraft can also occur if your 3rd party suite ends up blocking the connection between the game’s launcher and the game’s server. In the event that this is caused by a false positive (you AV is overreacting), you can fix this elegantly by whitelisting Blizzard Battle.net Desktop app + the main WOW executable from your AV settings.

Note: If whitelisting doesn’t work, you will need to uninstall the 3rd party security suite altogether in order to be certain that you’re not dealing with an AV-induced security interference.

A. Whitelisting Battle.net Desktop app + the main WOW executable via Windows Firewall

In case you’re using Windows Defender, follow the instructions below to whitelist Battle.net Desktop app + the main WOW executable from Windows Firewall:

Note: The instructions below will work for every recent Windows version (Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10)

Note 2: If you are using a 3rd party Antivirus + firewall, you need to search online for specific steps of whitelisting the two executables or follow the second guide below for steps of uninstalling it.

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Next, type ”control firewall.cpl” and press Enter to open up the classic interface of Windows Firewall.

   

2. From the main Windows Defender Firewall menu, use the menu on the left to click on Allow an app or feature through Windows Defender Firewall. 

   

3. Inside the Allowed apps menu, click on Change settings button and allow admin access by clicking Yes at the UAC (User Account Control) prompt.

   

4. Once you have admin rights, scroll down through the list of allowed applications and see if you spot the entries associated with World of Warcraft and Battle.net. In case they are missing, click the Allow another app button, then click Browse, navigation to their location, and add the two entries manually by clicking Add.

   

   Note: The default location of the Battle.net executable is C:\Program Files (x86 / x32)\Battle.net

5. Once you’ve made sure that both entries appear inside the list of Allowed apps and features, ensure that the two associated boxes (Private and Public) are checked for both of them. Do this for the Blizzard Battle.net app and for World of Warcraft and click Ok to save the changes.

   

6. Once these modifications have been enforced, launch World of Warcraft once again and see if the WOW Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition has been resolved.

B. Uninstalling 3rd-party suite via Programs and features

If you are using a 3rd party Antivirus that doesn’t allow you to whitelist items or you’re looking for to get rid of it, follow the instructions below:

Note: If you’re using Windows Defender and whitelisting didn’t work, try disabling Windows Defender while running the game.

1. Open up a Run dialog box by pressing Windows key + R. Next, type ‘appwiz.cpl’ inside the text box and press Enter to open up the Programs and Features screen.

   

2. Inside Programs and Features screen, move over to the right section, scroll down through the list of installed programs, and locate the 3rd party AV that you’re trying to uninstall.
3. When you finally manage to locate it, right-click on its entry and choose to Uninstall from the newly appeared context menu.

   

4. Once you get to the uninstallation screen, follow the on-screen prompts to complete the uninstallation process.
5. Restart your computer and launch World of Warcraft once again once the next startup is complete to see if the  Error #134 (0x85100086) has been fixed.

If the same problem is still occurring, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 5: Running the Blizzard Repair tool

As it turns out, Error #134 can also be an underlying signal that you are dealing with some type of damaged game files. This is typically reported to occur after a failed attempt to update the game or after an overprotective AV suite ended up quarantining some files.

Fortunately, Blizzard provides a built-in tool that’s capable of resolving the vast majority of corrupted game files automatically. It’s built straight into the Blizzard Battle.net app and some users have confirmed that it allowed them to fix the Error #134 (0x85100086).

Follow the instructions below to run the Battle.net Repair tool:

1. Right-click on the Battle.net executable and click on Run as administrator. If prompted by the UAC (User Account Control), click Yes to grant admin access.
2. Once you’re inside, select the Games tab at the top of the window, then click on World of Warcraft from the list of game titles on the left.

   

3. After you select Word of Warcraft, click on Options to bring up the drop-down menu, then click on Scan & Repair from the list of items.

   

4. At the confirmation prompt, click on Begin scan and wait patiently until the operation is complete.

   

5. Once the operation is complete, restart manually if not prompted to do so automatically and see if the problem is fixed at the next startup.

In case you still end up seeing Error #134 (0x85100086) even after trying to repair your game files, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 6: Update OS version to the latest version

Depending on your Windows version, you can expect to see this error if World of Warcraft doesn’t have the required OS infrastructure in order to run. This is typically reported to occur with Windows 7 users that haven’t installed the Platform Update and Windows 10 users that haven’t install the Creator’s update.

If you haven’t updated your OS build in a while and you think this scenario might be applicable, try installing every pending update and see if this ends up fixing the issue for you.

Follow the instructions below to update your Windows version to the latest build available:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Then, type ‘ms-settings:windowsupdate’ and press Enter to open up the Windows Update tab of the Settings app.

   

   Note: If you’re encountering the problem on Windows 7, use the ‘wuapp’ command instead.

2. Inside the Windows Update screen, start by clicking the Check for Updates button and wait for the initial scan to complete.

   

3. Once this operation is complete, follow the on-screen prompts to install every pending Windows update until your Windows build is up to date.
4. In the event that you have a lot of pending updates, there’s a high chance you will be prompted to restart before every update is installed. When this happens, do the restart as instructed, but make sure to return to this screen once the restart is complete to continue the installation of the remaining updates.
5. Once every pending update is installed, do a final machine reboot and launch World of Warcraft once the next computer startup is complete to see if the problem is fixed once and for all.

In case you still end up seeing the Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition when you attempt to launch the game, move down to the next potential fix below.

Method 7: Update GPU drivers to the latest version

A driver incompatibility issue can also be the root cause of Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition when launching the World of Warcraft on Windows. As some affected users have reported, this can be facilitated by outdated / partially corrupted GPU drivers that are missing some key dependencies that are actively used by the game.

If this is the root cause of the problem, you should be able to fix the issue by updating the GPU drivers + the physics module that is handling the in-game graphics.

In case this scenario is applicable and you haven’t updated your GPU drivers in a while, follow the instructions below for step by step instructions to uninstall the current GPU drivers and reinstall the latest versions in order to fix the World of Warcraft Error #134:

1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. In the run text box,  type ‘devmgmt.msc’ and press Enter to open up Device Manager.

   

2. Once you have successfully managed to open Device Manager, scroll down through the list of installed devices, and expand the drop-down specific to Display Adapters.
3. After the menu is expanded, right-click on the GPU driver that you want to update and choose Update driver from the context menu.

   

   Note: If you’re encountering this issue on a laptop or PC with both a dedicated and an integrated GPU,you will need to update both drivers.

4. At the next screen, click on Search Automatically for updated driver software. Then, after the initial scan is complete, follow the on-screen instructions to install the latest GPU driver that the scan has identified.

   

5. After the driver has been successfully installed, reboot your machine and launch the game at the next system startup to see if the Error #134 (0x85100086) Fatal Condition has been fixed.
   Note: If the same error message persists, it’s possible that the error is being triggered by a missing or outdated physics module, in this case, you will likely need to rely on the proprietary software provided by your graphics card manufacturer in order to install the missing drivers. Here’s a list of software that you will need to use based on your GPU manufacturer:
   GeForce Experience – Nvidia
   Adrenalin – AMD
   Intel Driver – Intel

In case you’re still encountering the same error message even after updating your GPU & physics drivers, move down to the next potential fix below.