How To Solve Elder Scrolls Online Update Freeze Issues

Yesterday was the first day of early access for some PC users to the highly anticipated MMO The Elder Scrolls Online. With both North American and European servers opening up at the same time, many players ran into significant issues. Rest assured, you weren’t alone as I was a victim of frozen update screens not wanting to download as well.

My nightmare began at 6am EST. I of course, ran the patches that were recommended on Thursday but that still didn’t protect me from yesterday’s debacle. Since I had played the beta, I thought it would be easy. Just run the patch that would convert the beta files into the actual game files. Sounds simple enough, but did that happen? HELL NO IT DIDN’T!

I was in screen-freeze purgatory for hours and I mean hours. I stopped it, then tried reloading–nothing. I ended up so aggravated I deleted all the ESO files on my PC. Went to their website to download the PC Client again. It ran its install, I selected my language, then it went to “updating” and…FROZE AGAIN. I even took a picture with my cell and sent it to my fellow GameSkinny team members and they couldn’t figure it out. I had sent in two tickets to Bethesda for help and hadn’t heard anything back.

Look familiar?

I turned to Facebook to The Elder Scrolls Online page to see if anyone else was having problems. From reading the hundreds of comments everywhere, I was happy in a sense to know I wasn’t alone. I can’t tell you how many smug schmucks were on boasting about not having issues and having the audacity to complain to the ones who didn’t have smooth sailings. Not to mention the hundred or so posts by trollers who don’t like the game or complaining it’s too expensive. Really? You trolls have nothing better to do with your time.

After nearing 10 hours of frustration, I was ready to do some remodeling on my walls with my head and fists–that’s when my phone rang. BETHESDA! Just hearing a voice telling me they received my ticket was such a relief. I literally had a HUGE sigh. I had the awesome pleasure to speak with Jaclyn the Brave who was an absolute delight. We spoke and discussed I did everything correctly but that something on my PC was preventing the game from working. 

SOLUTION: 

Here’s what to do:

• Click on Start; click Run
• Type msconfig; right-click to Run as Administrator
• Click on Selective startup; unselect “Load startup items“
• Click on Services tab; select “Hide all Microsoft services“; then select “Disable all“
• Click Apply; then OK
• Restart PC

Once I did that, the game worked fine and I had no problems at all. ESO downloaded and updated like normal. I was able to play the game. In an email later sent, she told me to reset everything back to normal and also to contact my ISP (Time Warner Cable) to open Port Forwarding for port ranges  24100 – 24131 and 24500 – 24507 if I had additional problems.

Simple, right? Again, wrong.

With everything downloaded and set back to normal, everything should work. That’s not what happened. Time Warner will not help you if you own your own router. They’ll assist you if it belongs to them. When I had to call NetGear, I found out my router was out of warranty and they wouldn’t help me unless I purchased another warranty. Nice right? I turned to my GameSkinny comrades who told me about a site called portforward.com.

I selected the guides, selected my router brand, selected the model, selected port forwarding, and step-by-step it told me what to do. I had to have my IP address, router userID and password, the site told me how to obtain that info since I didn’t have it handy. Once I was completely finished, I went to The Elder Scrolls Online icon and voila–it works perfectly!

So for anyone out there that is having issues of freezing screens trying to load the game–here’s your solution without having to disable your firewall. I hope this helps!

For all your Elder Scrolls Online needs please go to our directory for help, tips and guides.