A few people have been having difficulties with getting NPCScan to work, so I decided to write up a visual guide (because pictures say 1000 words) to try and help hunters get it working. In addition to that, I’ve also included some info for another great alternative to NPCScan.
Vista Users: WoW’s active Addon folder may be located in: User/Public/Games/World of Warcraft, instead of your install location. Supposedly some users have been having issues where the addons weren’t showing up because the addons in the main WoW addon directory weren’t being called up by the game – because it was using the ones in the User/Public/Games/World of Warcraft one.
Methods of Installing
With the Curse Client
Firstly, the easiest way (and one way I use) is to fire up the Curse Client. I’ve been using it for a very long time and haven’t had any issues with it (sometimes downloads fail, but that’s usually my ISP acting funny — curse you ISP!). Curse does have security measures in place with their client and also scans all addons that are submitted. Though at the same time, Curse makes money from Premium users, so they wouldn’t widely mention security vulnerabilities. Of course, the posts about accounts being hacked might not even be legit. Those could be someone purposely giving bad rep to Curse.
Ultimately, what method you use is up to you, and what you feel comfortable with. No matter what method you use, you should always have a good security package setup. Personally, I use Avast, Comodo Firewall and Malwarebytes (great for picking up keyloggers – you should also copy and paste your password when logging into WoW just in case you picked up a keylogger doing something naughty).
Follow the instructions and install it, but don’t use the same password you use for WoW. Not because that’s a security issue with Curse, but you shouldn’t be signing up for anything using your WoW email address and password 😉
Once installed, you can now install addons via the Curse website. Click on the Install via Curse Client button, or click on Download More Addons in the Curse Client. Now wait for the addon database to download, then search for NPCscan in the top right corner, then click Install next to the addon’s name to install it, and you’re done. Curse client will periodically check for updates (frequency depending on the options you select).
Manual Installation
If you choose the manual method you will need an unzipping tool. Usually all operating systems come with an unzipper built in which handles the common archives like ZIP. I use WinRAR, but for screenshot purposes I’ll use 7-Zip which is a FREE unzipper which not only handles ZIPs but a whole range of other archive types.
Choose the version for your system type – 32/64 bit. If you are unsure, you can right click on My Computer to see the processor type – or just choose 32 bit to be safe.
After installing, download _NPCScan. Then, open up the download destination folder and right click on the file to extract as shown in the screenshot.
You should now have a folder called “_NPCScan”. When you open that folder you should see the contents:
Copy the “_NPCScan” folder over to your World of Warcraft Addons folder. Similar to below, but of course you may have installed to a different directory but the folder structure inside is the same. Note my comment at the start of the article if you’re a Vista user.
When you open up WoW you should see NPCScan near the top of your addons list.
To edit preferences in-game, use the command:
/npcscan
Now the issue with NPCScan is you have to always empty your cache, and this can be a pain. The method I use is having my cache directory cleaned every time I start Windows. You can download an application that can do this, as well as empty lots of other temporary files.
Install the application, selecting the options you want (be sure to read the installation, don’t just click next next next as sometimes apps will select to install search toolbars by default). I usually select the option to display CCleaner when I right click the Recycle Bin.
After installing, open up CCleaner and firstly uncheck anything you don’t want the app to auto delete on start up (for example, memory dump files/recycle bin). Secondly, click Options -> Include -> Add. Click Browse, and select the Cache folder.
Once hitting OK, you should get the following screen:
Now click Settings, and make the adjustment below to have it run on start-up.
Once you get cached in-game, you can exit WoW and right-click on the Recycle Bin and click “Run CCleaner”.
Alternatives to NPCScan
Although it’s a great addon, it’s limited to how many rares you see, especially if you want to see most of the “rares” in WoW. Plus, the caching system is a bit of a nuisance to clear because you have to log out of WoW.
This is where SilverDragon comes in. It has a database of currently 438 rares (rare tameables and rare mobs/NPCs), PLUS… if the rare does cache, it will still alert you again (no logging out of WoW needed).
You just have to make some changes to you get alerts more often.
Use the command:
/silverdragon
Once the preferences window has popped up, adjust the settings as below:
Now click on Data Management and import the database:
And voila… you’re done!
I hope this guide has helped at least one person, but if you are still having troubles with the addons please let me know and I’ll try to find a work around. 🙂
– Ancksanura
