EPG Setup results in HUNG WMC Install !!

[1080p4me]

...
Whether or not you elect to add a dedicated system drive (doesn't have to be an SSD, but I'd definitely suggest it, not only for the speed, but even more importantly for the very high reliability), you should absolutely resolve two major issues ASAP: (1) the issue of not being able to image the OS drive; and (2) getting Windows up-to-date.

Yes, I am aware of this. I've already saved a copy of the mspr.hds file and the backup files for the WMC database, which are the most important things.

Worst case scenario, if the drive completely dies, I can switch over to the alternate drive with the year old image, copy over the mspr.hds file (to get all my DRM recordings working) and then use the WMC backup files with EPG123's migration tool to set up all the Series again. I'm going to have to setup all the Series again anyway, since I will be moving to EPG123 and that requires the WMC database to be wiped out, so losing the WMC database is no big deal.

My only real concern is if I made any changes in other areas on the system, such as the comskip stuff and my scripts. I usually made an image backup after I made any kind of major changes to the system, but I may have been lazy and not done it, so I would like to at least spot check certain folders to make sure they are in sync. So, yes, I should do this ASAP, but I am hoping the drive will last at least another week.

The drive has been acting strangely for a very long time. I never have any problems with recording (which are being written to the non-wonky drive) but the system seems to hang up at times with the HD light on the system being solid. After 30 to 60 seconds it is back and everything is fine. This only seems to affect video playback (of videos on the non-wonky disk), recordings never get affected. The playback will freeze while the system is in this state, but then continue afterwards (video needs to catch up to the audio for a while afterwards).

I have yet to see signs of any corruption on the wonky disk, the only symptoms are that the system freezes up a bit (probably due to drive reading issues) and the fact that Macrium Reflect is unable to make a disk image backup using Shadow Copy. I'm going to try booting from a Macrium Rescue flash drive and see if I can make a copy that way (not using Shadow Copy), if that fails I'll just use the year-old image backup and copy over any of the above files I need from the wonky image.

Space, some comments, suggestions and information which may be of help to you and others on this post and several others and which may run contrary to what others have posted, neglected to mention or simply don't have the knowledge of:

FIRST, EVERYONE AND I MEAN EVERYONE!...
1. If you haven't created a Windows Rescue Disk (no matter what version) as you were prompted to, do so immediately.
2. Create a system image on a different drive than your OS drive.
3. Set up Backup and Restore on a different drive which is different than a system image in certain areas for one it provides additional "system restore points" even if you delete them or something else does from your Windows drive and when you choose to restore to an earlier point and ask it to scan for more restore points it will find those on the other drive.
4. If you suspect your drive is failing to confirm so there are dozens of drive health free softwares that will tell you the condition of your drive such as HDDscan, CrystalDiskInfo and even Windows itself. To check your Hard Disk Health natively in Windows 10/8/7, open a command prompt window. First, type wmic and hit Enter. Then type diskdrive get status and hit Enter. If the status of your hard disk is fine, you will see a message, OK.
5. You can check your disk for errors and bad sectors per the Drive Properties Tools option and using the "sfc /scannow" option at the command prompt.
6. If you suspect, know or find out that your drive is failing, do not write anything at all further to your drive. You may be able to still clone it if done so immediately or file transfer to a new Windows install. There are also numerous recovery softwares for free that can even work with drives that aren't severely damaged. As for cloning, I prefer a cloning dock to software as there is no chance of programs not working properly as they sometimes do using even the best of software as they clone bit by bit exactly as on the source drive, Bytecc makes a good one I've been using for years. I will state that when I upgraded to a Samsung Evo Pro SSD that I was pleasantly surprised by how perfectly their Migration Tool worked.
7. My previous points now bring me to the discussion of DRM and Media Center Files. First, choose a different Drive to store your Media Center Recordings than your OS Drive. Next, there are ways around DRM some of which are from this excerpt:
"Part 2. How to Remove DRM from WMV Videos
WMV is short for Windows media video. It is available from most video websites such as BBC iPlayer, Amazon Unbox, Windows Media Player center. It is locked by Microsoft's PlayForSure DRM protection, making it only playable on specified PCs.

To remove DRM from WMV, you can use the free tools FairUse4WM, FreeMe2 and so on. I have downloaded them to test and they work well.

But if you just don't care about spending some money, you can also use the most famous Aimersoft DRM Media Converter which has a much more user-friendly interface. And it works for almost all DRM movie resources including Limewire, uTorrent, FrostWire, Amazon Instant Video, Xbox Live Store."

To prove another theory which is in the process of re-encoding as I write this, you can rename the .wmv/.wtv extension of your Media Center file to .wav and Handbrake will accept the file and convert it.

Lastly Cyberlink PowerDVD will play your Media Center .wmv and .wtv files as I use it instead of Media Center for video playback as it has a better picture and video enhancements.

8. EPG's:
While everyone is in love with EPG123 combined with Schedules Direct, why do I keep reading SO many posts about reoccurring issues, update issues, the wiping out Media Center, etc.? Seems like a lot of continuous updates/tweaking/problem solving for something that's supposed to be so low maintenance and not free at the same time. Also I'm still receiving Media Center EPG updates as of today. Yes, I'm getting ready to find another Guide but will probably use zap2xml, mc2xml, EPG Collector, Media Portal or some other option, and my needs are only for a very few OTA channels. There are TOO many other ways to get or watch every kind of movie, tv series, etc, for free I might add and legal, to bother with subscription services of ANY kind.

9. I've read statements and questions regarding Windows Updates. First you do NOT need windows 11 to get them. Any browser can get them from The Windows Catalog or from Goggling them. There are also plenty of sites that have packages of complete and up to date updates which can be downloaded.

Lastly, don't believe everything you read on any forum/board, not just this one, as there are ALWAYS more than one way to "skin a cat" and many such forums/boards state a lot of misinformation or biased ones at the very least. I'm not a programmer or computer guru but I am A+ certified and have solved and prevented almost every issue to date. Where there's a will there's a way!

[garyan2]

8. EPG's:
While everyone is in love with EPG123 combined with Schedules Direct, why do I keep reading SO many posts about reoccurring issues, update issues, the wiping out Media Center, etc.? Seems like a lot of continuous updates/tweaking/problem solving for something that's supposed to be so low maintenance and not free at the same time. Also I'm still receiving Media Center EPG updates as of today. Yes, I'm getting ready to find another Guide but will probably use zap2xml, mc2xml, EPG Collector, Media Portal or some other option, and my needs are only for a very few OTA channels. There are TOO many other ways to get or watch every kind of movie, tv series, etc, for free I might add and legal, to bother with subscription services of ANY kind.

Are you reading the same threads I am? Reoccurring issues, update issues, wiping out Media Center? A lot of the latest releases and fixes have been to make the installation procedure easier and adding the new FREE option to get guide data from SiliconDust, if you are subscribed to their DVR Service, using HDHR2MXF. Ask anyone who has been using EPG123 for any length of time, and you will find that it is very reliable... no tweaking or problem solving. Certainly the perception might be there because there are a lot of new users, and that is to be expected. Zap2xml is a webscraper, mc2xml will still require a subscription to somewhere (not free), EPG Collector is garbage for a WMC guide, and I don't have a lot of experience with Media Portal, but wasn't too impressed with how they handled the guide and the very limited recording rules (read none). You can't tell Media Portal to record New episodes only... go figure.

Other than that: Interesting info on DRM... don't know if that kind of discussion is allowed here, but will file that away to play with later.

You're welcome to try out EPG123 and put that A+ cert to good use. Though I have been driving the ship on EPG123, it has really been somewhat a community effort to continually make it better. I need the input, good and bad, to do so and you are obviously willing to express your opinion. Contact me if you wish to help.

[1080p4me]

8. EPG's:
While everyone is in love with EPG123 combined with Schedules Direct, why do I keep reading SO many posts about reoccurring issues, update issues, the wiping out Media Center, etc.? Seems like a lot of continuous updates/tweaking/problem solving for something that's supposed to be so low maintenance and not free at the same time. Also I'm still receiving Media Center EPG updates as of today. Yes, I'm getting ready to find another Guide but will probably use zap2xml, mc2xml, EPG Collector, Media Portal or some other option, and my needs are only for a very few OTA channels. There are TOO many other ways to get or watch every kind of movie, tv series, etc, for free I might add and legal, to bother with subscription services of ANY kind.

Are you reading the same threads I am? Reoccurring issues, update issues, wiping out Media Center? A lot of the latest releases and fixes have been to make the installation procedure easier and adding the new FREE option to get guide data from SiliconDust, if you are subscribed to their DVR Service, using HDHR2MXF. Ask anyone who has been using EPG123 for any length of time, and you will find that it is very reliable... no tweaking or problem solving. Certainly the perception might be there because there are a lot of new users, and that is to be expected. Zap2xml is a webscraper, mc2xml will still require a subscription to somewhere (not free), EPG Collector is garbage for a WMC guide, and I don't have a lot of experience with Media Portal, but wasn't too impressed with how they handled the guide and the very limited recording rules (read none). You can't tell Media Portal to record New episodes only... go figure.

Other than that: Interesting info on DRM... don't know if that kind of discussion is allowed here, but will file that away to play with later.

You're welcome to try out EPG123 and put that A+ cert to good use. Though I have been driving the ship on EPG123, it has really been somewhat a community effort to continually make it better. I need the input, good and bad, to do so and you are obviously willing to express your opinion. Contact me if you wish to help.

Garyan2, "Are you reading the same threads?" with over 4000 posts it seems to be a fulltime job for you for fixing issues and explaining how to install and resolve issues with software that is supposed to be SO user friendly and simple to use/install and trouble free. I don't know why you're so defensive and negative to other options or feel the need to attack me, other than maybe the kickback you receive for your software. I did not bring up DRM, several other posts did and were asking for options. If you feel the need to be a tattletale or deem my post inappropriate and report it, feel free to do so. I can certainly live without this site and your apparent attacks as you have others like Adam1991 et al. I GUARANTEE you that I will find an acceptable and fully functioning FREE alternative to Media Center EPG and your pet project. You claim not to have noticed any of the issues and complaints that I'm reading but just within this particular thread McGary has several posts of how his friends Media Center installation was destroyed and appears still to be having issues since using your software.

"Other than that: Interesting info on DRM", I was providing information for "Space" who by others' own comments is knowledgeable and who has yet to accept/install your software, that should say something. Don't go throwing rocks if you're not prepared to catch some yourself. I've never disparaged you or named you specifically. Seems you're an overly sensitive person and might want to take a breath before attacking others for comments/observations and the providing of information and/or options to solving their problems and questions.

[garyan2]

You seem to have misread my intent there. I don't have a problem with alternatives or anything of the sort. I take issue with your misrepresentation of any kind of facts that you obviously have no first hand knowledge of. Since you pointed out this thread, take a look and read carefully and you will find that the problem is not with my software, but the users OS/WMC install. In fact, he still has problems with the Task Scheduler which has absolutely nothing to do with EPG123 except that it is letting us know there is a problem. Everything worked fine after WMC was uninstalled and reinstalled except for that. Again a misrepresentation. A lot of my 4000+ posts are to help people not only with EPG123 but also to help them with their OS, WMC, and whatever. Obviously not something you have done with your now total 11 posts.

Speaking of this thread... why post to this and not start another? What made this thread so special that you felt the need to set everyone straight?

So, believe it or not, I wasn't attacking you. I just don't agree with your post and the "options" you present to everyone are not well thought out.

[1080p4me]

You seem to have misread my intent there. I don't have a problem with alternatives or anything of the sort. I take issue with your misrepresentation of any kind of facts that you obviously have no first hand knowledge of. Since you pointed out this thread, take a look and read carefully and you will find that the problem is not with my software, but the users OS/WMC install. In fact, he still has problems with the Task Scheduler which has absolutely nothing to do with EPG123 except that it is letting us know there is a problem. Everything worked fine after WMC was uninstalled and reinstalled except for that. Again a misrepresentation. A lot of my 4000+ posts are to help people not only with EPG123 but also to help them with their OS, WMC, and whatever. Obviously not something you have done with your now total 11 posts.

Speaking of this thread... why post to this and not start another? What made this thread so special that you felt the need to set everyone straight?

So, believe it or not, I wasn't attacking you. I just don't agree with your post and the "options" you present to everyone are not well thought out.

I initially posted to this thread to possibly provide some options/help for "Space" who I quoted and replied to specifically, not you, not that I need your approval to post anywhere I chose. Again, saying that I've contributed nothing in any of my posts shows how little of a man you are that you have to attack others unprovoked and others might disagree with your assessment of value of my shared information. Out of my long initial post just on this thread you chose only to focus on point #8 and take it personally offense or an affront to you. As I've stated, I've read hundreds of posts of people who have had issues with your software or disagreed with you and you have attacked them like you have me. If you can't conduct yourself like a grownup person, please at least exhibit some common courtesy by not addressing me in the future and I will do the same.

[1080p4me]

Lastly, DRM bypass or removal is not wrong if they are your own files that you paid for and/or aren't sharing with others. By paying for Windows and Media Center one is entitled to copy their files and protect them from an OS which is dying or trying to deprive them of their own files

[garyan2]

To nobody in particular... I read a previous post that specifically noted they were providing comments, suggestions and information "which may run contrary to what others have posted, neglected to mention or simply don't have the knowledge of". Now most of the post is informative concerning how to do backups, check hard drive health, and protect yourself from catastrophic failures, but I took exception to one of their notes not related to all the others. That post was concerning the EPG.

Now popularly referred to as Note 8, the poster recommended some possibilities that need some clarification because the poster apparently neglected to mention some things or simply doesn't have the knowledge of.

• Zap2xml: zap2xml is a webscraper and using it almost certainly violates the Zap2it website Terms of Service. Please visit https://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/terms-of-service/
• mc2xml: a good product to create XMLTV files but will need to be converted into the MXF file format for WMC. Also, you will need to be subscribed to some provider. That means not FREE as the poster suggests.
• EPG Collector: there are 2 ways you could use this. The first is having it strip the guide info off of the OTA stream. It is very limited in detail and you would be lucky to get 24 hours of info for US users. The other is to provide a XMLTV file to convert to the MXF file. I evaluated the resulting MXF file and though it might look good the first day, you will find it highly risky. If your lineup changes, you will get guide listings assigned to wrong channels. Also, it can't tell the difference between a new or repeat episode so limits you there. It also doesn't assign a Generic flag so if your schedule changes, then your guide won't update.
• Media Portal: I haven't evaluated it much, but it's not too bad. You need to provide guide with an XMLTV file from somewhere. I do know you can't tell it to record New only, but it can at least tell if you have recorded a episode in the past so as to not record it again. My suggestion rather than Media Portal would be NextPVR (free, no guide) followed by JRiver (pay-for, no guide). I'd also highly recommend emby as a good PVR solution (pay-for, guide included from Gracenote).

I will make a correction, though. I implied that the posters entry was irrelevant to this post, but looking back I see that the discussion went off topic for a while so it was supporting the off-topic discussion.

[garyan2]

Lastly, DRM bypass or removal is not wrong if they are your own files that you paid for and/or aren't sharing with others. By paying for Windows and Media Center one is entitled to copy their files and protect them from an OS which is dying or trying to deprive them of their own files

Agree on principle, but I'll let the lawyers figure that out.

[1080p4me]

Lastly, DRM bypass or removal is not wrong if they are your own files that you paid for and/or aren't sharing with others. By paying for Windows and Media Center one is entitled to copy their files and protect them from an OS which is dying or trying to deprive them of their own files

Agree on principle, but I'll let the lawyers figure that out.

Speaking of lawyers, I'm sure that you're reporting all the profits/donations that you receive as income to the IRS. Per site violations and the reporting of posts:
"The reported message has the only purpose to advertise or a website or another product." I wonder how 4000+ self promoting posts for EPG123 and Schedules Direct relates to that?
Some people don't know when to leave well enough alone or respect someone's polite request to refrain from addressing them.

[garyan2]

Yes, as required by law... and that is donations (definitely no profits, especially if you consider the 1,000's of hours I've worked on this and supported everyone over the years). I don't sell anything -- EPG123 is free. I am not associated with Schedules Direct, I just built EPG123 around their service.

Anything else?

[Scallica]

Per site violations and the reporting of posts:
"The reported message has the only purpose to advertise or a website or another product." I wonder how 4000+ self promoting posts for EPG123 and Schedules Direct relates to that?

We welcome developers here that contribute to WMC. Developers forum names are in pink. You don't have to use their software or correspond with any of them. You can use the forum's ignore function to hide any posts from a specific forum member.

This thread has run its course. Locked.