Thank you and goodbye :(

Chat with other TGB members about whatever is on your mind.
Post Reply
walt

Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:51 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Thank you and goodbye :(

#1

Post by walt » Thu Jan 16, 2020 7:11 am

Thank you TGB and all on here.

I remember recording SD content using SageTV before WMC. Guests were amazed I had recorded shows and could skip commercials. I built my win7 WMC box and it was part of our family for years.

Wife turned on the win7 WMC box at lunch and what popped up was an "Windows Installation" screen and Windows 10 logo.
I tried a few repair/uninstall updates/roll back options, but my PC just wants to update to Windows 10. I looked online and many sites say come 01.15.20 I could still use windows 7, but I can't find out how to win7 back to it. I didn't know I had to or know how to safeguard my WMC box from today :thumbdown:

I could rebuild a win7 WMC box, but these issues:
eventually paying for EPG123
this PC sometimes recording very pixelated shows (especially fast moving shows like basketball which my wife and I are super fans)
dealing with Xfinity and their outages/ high price for many channels I don't watch just so I can get a few channels I want
my Ceton CableCard tuner occasionally not working

I'm calling it quits.

This site and its members have helped me through many problems for many years. The most frustrating problem was MS taking the guide down and not knowing when it would come up and the lack of MS support. My 14 and 11 yo sons only know WMC for watching cartoons, shows, movies and the PC to have YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ (recent addition) a Chrome browser and the ease of a wireless keyboard to control it all.

Tonight we took out the PC and moved in the XBox One. RIght now we have Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. I'm researching how to get Amazon Prime, Kodi, local channels and maybe subscribing to ESPN Plus and I'll be looking into cheaper internet service, cutting the cord and finding out how to connect a keyboard to the XBox One.

I'll be around researching what other folks are using (I see a few goodbye posts) other than WMC.

Time to move on, this is a sad day for me and my family. :(

tonywagner

Posts: 178
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 1:53 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by tonywagner » Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:57 pm

walt wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 7:11 am Wife turned on the win7 WMC box at lunch and what popped up was an "Windows Installation" screen and Windows 10 logo.
I tried a few repair/uninstall updates/roll back options, but my PC just wants to update to Windows 10. I looked online and many sites say come 01.15.20 I could still use windows 7, but I can't find out how to win7 back to it. I didn't know I had to or know how to safeguard my WMC box from today :thumbdown:
There is no forced upgrade, but there was a full screen nag about Win7 end of support, recommending an upgrade to Win10. I suspect someone accidentally activated the upgrade process rather than canceling the screen.

viewtopic.php?p=137326#p137326

You might be able to let the upgrade finish and then roll back, if this article is still accurate:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3074020 ... grade.html

walt

Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 11:51 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by walt » Thu Jan 16, 2020 5:06 pm

tonywagner wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:57 pm
walt wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 7:11 am Wife turned on the win7 WMC box at lunch and what popped up was an "Windows Installation" screen and Windows 10 logo.
I tried a few repair/uninstall updates/roll back options, but my PC just wants to update to Windows 10. I looked online and many sites say come 01.15.20 I could still use windows 7, but I can't find out how to win7 back to it. I didn't know I had to or know how to safeguard my WMC box from today :thumbdown:
There is no forced upgrade, but there was a full screen nag about Win7 end of support, recommending an upgrade to Win10. I suspect someone accidentally activated the upgrade process rather than canceling the screen.

viewtopic.php?p=137326#p137326

You might be able to let the upgrade finish and then roll back, if this article is still accurate:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3074020 ... grade.html
Thanks @tonywagner!
Now that the PC is out of our media cabinet I'm going to clean it up and see if I can roll it back to win7.
I'm going to talk it over with the family because we watch a lot of tv, maybe too much. :D

I haven't been the one turning on the PC since the summer, my family has it on when I get home. No one is confessing if there was an update screen.

Thanks again for finding that link, but it still maybe time to move on.

tonywagner

Posts: 178
Joined: Thu Feb 04, 2016 1:53 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by tonywagner » Thu Jan 16, 2020 5:53 pm

walt wrote: Thu Jan 16, 2020 5:06 pm Thanks @tonywagner!
Now that the PC is out of our media cabinet I'm going to clean it up and see if I can roll it back to win7.
I'm going to talk it over with the family because we watch a lot of tv, maybe too much. :D

I haven't been the one turning on the PC since the summer, my family has it on when I get home. No one is confessing if there was an update screen.

Thanks again for finding that link, but it still maybe time to move on.
I'm all for cutting the cable cord!

Depends on your viewing habits, I suppose -- if you watch enough cable content to warrant subscribing to YouTube TV, for example, you may just be better off using YouTube TV for everything, since it has DVR and a lot of local channels too. (I do know that YTTV has NBA TV and a lot of regional sports networks too, for basketball.)

But if you prioritize more video-on-demand content, like Netflix, Amazon Prime, or HBO Now, then maybe it's still worth it to keep a Win7 WMC HTPC around as well for over-the-air channels.

Feel free to chime back in if you need any more help or advice. There may be others around the internet trying to downgrade back to Windows 7 this month. :)

Post Reply