Re: Media Center refusing to show video

From: Luis A. Burgos (luis_at_dontlikespam.com)
Date: 08/25/04 

Date: Wed, 25 Aug 2004 00:35:03 -0400

GTJimBob,

If the problem is in fact caused by a patch released by Microsoft and
recommended to the general public that somehow breaks Media center, then I
think you could blame it on them, however.

My point is that the first line of support should be your OEM, which
warrants your product for certain period of time, and if the computer, as
the origial poster mentions, was like this "out of the box", then I'd say it
is definitely the responsibility of the OEM, and not Microsoft.

Your case, however, may be different. I have an hp 873N which I have
upgraded to 2004 and recently applied SP2. I have always had it with
automatic updates to install the patches automatically, and I have not had a
single problem with it. I have installed all patches as they have been
released, and I keep the drivers up to date as well, although I must
recognize that lately I've been a bit lazy with the driver updates. I have
not experience this behavior you describe.

I will look at your post and will let you know.

Thanks for your comments.

Best regards,

Luis

"GTJimBob" <GTJimBob@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:AABB64AE-1B9D-486F-A31E-457343F9E8E5@microsoft.com...
> I'm thinking that when Dave first turned on his new computer, amid the
> flurry
> of registering products and checking for current versions of software
> online,
> it's possible he may have installed that dreaded KB838358 update that
> scores
> of people, including myself, are having trouble with.
> I would think that Microsoft would at least chime in and say that there
> may
> be a problem with this update. Even though it does seem more the
> responsibility of the computer maker to address this issue, the product is
> called 'Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition'. Instead, the page for
> this hotfix remains the same as its release date with no reference to the
> before mentioned issue. If you are interested, my post is under 'CANNOT
> LOAD
> FILES error' in the Media Center forum. Maybe check it out and see if it
> sounds familiar, Dave.
>
> "Luis A. Burgos" wrote:
>
>> Dave,
>>
>> This is codec problem. Either the files needed to decompress the mpeg-2
>> stream are missing, or some of them are missing, or no registered
>> correctly
>> etc.
>>
>> This is not a Microsoft fault, as Microsoft does not ship any MPEG-2
>> decoders with any version of windows, including Media Center. As a matter
>> of
>> fact, Microsoft Windows XP Media Center is released, as you probably
>> know,
>> as "OEM", which means that you can only purchase it already installed and
>> configured from a Computer Manufacturer.
>>
>> It is up the OEM to guarantee that their installation is done correctly,
>> so
>> if you are still having problems, then you should definitely contact your
>> OEM and ask them for a solution.
>>
>>
>> Now, if you installed WinDVD 6, and that is not part of the original OEM
>> installation, then your original equipment manufacturer will tell you
>> that
>> they cannot guarantee proper results after you have modified their setup.
>>
>> I'd suggest you do the following:
>> 1.- Uninstall all DVD software and codecs you may have installed on your
>> PC,
>> including, but not limited to: WinDVD, PowerDVD, nvDVD, Elecard,
>> codecPacks,
>> etc
>> 2.- reboot your computer
>> 3.- make sure that you cannot play any mpeg-2 files in Media Player (not
>> media Center)
>> 4.- make sure you install all updates and patches released for media
>> Center.
>> reboot if necessary
>> 6.- Install WinDVD. Follow the instructions and reboot if necessary
>>
>> If everything is fine, you should be able to play Live TV. Now, I know
>> that
>> WinDVD 3.5 and probably 4,0 are certified to work with media Center.
>> WinDVD
>> 6 is probably fine too, but I'm not sure.
>>
>> If after doing that it still doesn't work, please completely uninstall
>> WinDVD and re-install the original DVD playing software that came with
>> your
>> PC.
>>
>> I do not understand, you mentioned that it has never worked, not even out
>> of
>> the box, and you also said that you have upgraded to MCE 2004, what leads
>> me
>> to believe that you originally had MCE 2002, which was released in 2002,
>> and
>> it never worked? Did your OEM never did anything to get it working? Why
>> did
>> you not returned it?
>>
>> I do remember lost of people having this problem when MC was released in
>> 2002, but slowly but surely MCE has become a more stable product, and
>> most
>> OEMs have refined their installation procedures and improved the quality
>> of
>> their products, so this is not something I would say happens to most
>> people
>> who buy MC.
>>
>> For one, I have been running my HP 873N since November 2002 24x7 and it
>> is
>> still our work-horse, very dependable, it has recorded most -if not all-
>> of
>> the athens 2004 olympics broadcast here in the states, not to mention
>> those
>> spongebob and fairly odd parents shows that mt daughters record every
>> day,
>> and later watch over and over...
>>
>> Please let us know if you are still having problems too see how can we
>> help
>> you.
>>
>> best regards,
>>
>> Luis
>>
>>
>> "Dave Smith" <Dave@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:C15C3F90-46B0-4673-AD84-2EE6B5D30E92@microsoft.com...
>> > Hi,
>> > Ever since I have had Media Center I have been experiencing this
>> > horrible
>> > "Files are missing or currupt for radio or TV...." I have had this
>> > problem
>> > since I got it out the box. I've installed WinDVD 6 only which is OEM,
>> > downloaded all device drivers and have upgraded to Media Center 2004.
>> > DVD
>> > works perfect it's only this annoying message when I ty to start My TV.
>> I've
>> > talked to Tech support which were no help, sending me to Microsoft Tech
>> > support, and getting nothing. Really Microsoft should do something, as
>> their
>> > are thousands of posts regarding these error messages on this forum and
>> > others, using Google. To me Microsoft does not really appreciate
>> > helping
>> > their customers with support into getting Media Center todo it's most
>> popular
>> > use...TV!.
>> >
>> > Thanks
>> >
>> > Dave.
>>
>>
>>

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