Thread: Stuck on Examine stage of updating post 10/15 Updated

All, we believe the launcher on your system may have been interrupted at a key part of patching the games dat files. We hope to have a resolution to this ready and put in with an upcoming game update that will prevent it reoccurring.

However in the interim if you are currently encountering the launcher getting stuck at "examine game data" stage you will need to try the following steps to eliminate the issue by restoring the games "dat" files either via system restore or a "clean" reinstall of the game (by 'clean' I mean, running the uninstaller, removing the left behind files and folders and then reinstalling, there's a link to those steps at the bottom of this thread but I recommend trying the first two options first as they may resolve this without the need to reinstall).

There are two ways to do the following, the first is to try replacing the dat files individually the second is to try restoring the entire game folder (Note that if you have a custom install folder path that is not on the "C:\" drive these steps might not work since system restore defaults to only backing up the C: drive.)

Option 1.) Replacing the .dat files individually:

Start by closing the game launcher if it is open. Then perform the following steps:

1. Click on the Windows Start button and choose Computer from the list
2. In there double-click on your C: drive (it may display as "Local Disk C")
3. Double-click on Program Files (note: if you see "Program Files (x86)" double-click on that one instead)
4. In that folder double-click on the Turbine folder and then The Lord of the Rings Online

At the top of this window sort by file type by clicking "Type". You should see several files with the ".DAT" extension listed (e.g. 'client_hires.dat', 'client_map1.dat' etc).

Right-click each of these files in turn and select “Restore previous version”. Please note that some of the games dat files may not have previous versions available (if "Restore Previous Version" is not an option on the right-click menu, "System Restore" may not be active or active for the drive the game is installed onto). If the option is listed and in the panel that it opens there are available restore versions for the file then from the available dates, select any previous version before 10/15 and click Restore.

If the restore button in this panel is not available (greyed out) but the Copy button is, select Copy instead. You can copy the restored version of this file to the folder manually using the dialog panel that clicking on the copy button here brings up. Click the arrows next to "Computer" then "C:\", "Program Files (x86)" (or Program Files) then "Turbine" and lastly "The Lord of the Rings Online". Choose yes when prompted to 'overwrite' the existing file using the "Copy and Replace" option.

After you complete doing this for each dat file, restart the launcher.

Option 2.) Replacing the whole "The Lord of the Rings Online" folder (if the dat file steps above do not work):

Again start by closing the game launcher if it is open do the following:

1. Click on the Windows Start button and choose Computer from the list
2. In there double-click on your C: drive (it may display as "Local Disk C")
3. Double-click on Program Files (note: if you see "Program Files (x86)" double-click on that one instead)
4. In that folder double-click on the Turbine folder.

In here you will see the folder "The Lord of the Rings Online", right-click on it and select “Restore previous version”. The folder might not have an available restoration version or system restore may not be configured/running, but if it is an option and after you select it from the list that comes up select any listed previous version before 10/15 and click Restore.

As before if the restore button is greyed out but the Copy button is available, click the Copy button instead. You can copy the restored version of the folder manually using the dialog panel that brings up just like for the dat files only the location is different.

In this case click the arrows next to "Computer" then "C:\", "Program Files (x86)" (or Program Files) then "Turbine".

When you receive the prompt asking to overwrite the existing "The Lord of the Rings Online" folder (and its contents) choose yes and also "copy and replace" if any individual file replace prompts come up.

Option 3.) Reinstalling:

1. If you moved/deleted the games dat files (resulting in Game Error 201) or the steps above cannot be performed or do not remedy the issue and you need to reinstall then you will need to do a full "clean reinstall" (e.g. uninstall, remove folders/files left behind and reinstall) to ensure that no corrupt files are left behind before reinstalling.
2. If you already have an installation method that can be used but it is recommended that you follow the steps in that link above to remove the left behind data before reinstalling to ensure corrupt versions of files are not left behind by the uninstaller.
3. If an installer is needed the download here has been updated to include the Rohan content files so it will need very minimal patching once installed and there is a guide to the install process here.