Troubleshooting "An unauthorized window was detected"

[teeces]

When I connect a Linksys extender to my Win 7 media center, I get two events in the Media Center event log:

An unauthorized window was detected while running Windows Media Center with file name 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe', could not retrieve the window title.

An unauthorized window was detected while running Windows Media Center with file name 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center\ipoint.exe', could not retrieve the window title.

Does anyone know what steps can be taken to eliminate these errors? Thanks!

[barnabas1969]

What anti-virus software are you using? My guess is McAfee (crap-a-fee). If so, uninstall it (first in Control Panel -> Programs and Features, and then run the "McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool", which is available for download on the McAfee website). Next, install Microsoft Security Essentials.

[koberhol]

Next, install Microsoft Security Essentials.

Because it works great and it's FREE!

[teeces]

What anti-virus software are you using? My guess is McAfee (crap-a-fee). If so, uninstall it (first in Control Panel -> Programs and Features, and then run the "McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool", which is available for download on the McAfee website). Next, install Microsoft Security Essentials.

The only anti-virus / anti-malware I have is MS Security Essentials.

[barnabas1969]

How far do you get before the problem happens? Please detail the steps you take to reproduce the error.

[teeces]

How far do you get before the problem happens? Please detail the steps you take to reproduce the error.

I start with the extender powered off. I power on the unit and attempt to connect. It connects, stays connected for approx. 30 sec. then disconnects. I see this sequence of events in the "Media Center" log:

Code: Select all

The Media Center Extender session was established.

An unauthorized window was detected while running Windows Media Center with file name 'C:\Program Files\Microsoft Mouse and Keyboard Center\ipoint.exe', could not retrieve the window title.

An unauthorized window was detected while running Windows Media Center with file name 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe', could not retrieve the window title.

The Media Center Extender user was abruptly disconnected.

At the same time, the following two events appear in the "Application" log:

Code: Select all

Windows license validated.

The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because a composited theme is not in use

[holidayboy]

I could well be dreaming it but I seem to remember somebody else having issues with the MS mouse/keyboard software?

Intellipoint.

Worth a quick search / google just in case?

[barnabas1969]

teeces, Please follow the steps below and report back here.

Before beginning, make sure that all extenders are turned OFF. You must logon to the system as a user with local Administrator privileges.

1) Click the Start button, and type "regedit.exe". Press ENTER.
2) In the left pane of the Registry Editor, select the HKEY_USERS key.
3) Click the "File" menu, and choose "Load Hive".
4) Browse to C:\Users. Here you will see a folder for each user on the system. The extender users are named Mcxn-<computer-name>, where "<computer-name>" is the name of your computer, and "n" is a number which indicates the order that the extenders were installed on the system. So, for example, if your computer is named "HTPC" and you installed an extender, uninstalled it, and then reinstalled it again... it would be assigned a username of Mcx2-HTPC.
5) Open the folder for the extender in question.
6) Open the file named "ntuser.dat".
7) The Registry Editor will prompt you for a key name. Give it a name like MCX1, MCX2, etc. to match the username. A new key will be created under HKEY_USERS named MCXn, where "n" is the number you chose.
8) Expand the key HKEY_USERS/MCXn/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run, and click on the "Run" key to see what is in that key (it will be displayed in the right pane). There should be nothing in that key except "(Default)" with (value not set).
9) If there is anything else in that key, please right-click on the Run key, and choose "Export". This will take you through a series of steps to export that registry key to a file named <filename>.reg. Make a note of the filename you assign to the file, and the folder path where you saved it.
10) Open that file with Notepad (using the Windows Explorer, navigate to the folder where you saved the file, right-click on the file, and choose Edit), and paste the contents here in a Code block.
11) Click on the HKEY_USERS/MCXn key to select it.
12) Click the "File" menu, and choose "Unload Hive".
13) Confirm by clicking "Yes".
14) Close the Registry Editor.


If you are unsure of which MCX user is assigned to the extender in question, you can repeat the steps above for each MCX user.

[barnabas1969]

I accidentally clicked "Submit" to submit my post above before I was finished writing it. I added extra steps. Please make sure to refresh your browser to see the full list of steps in post #8.

[teeces]

barnabas1969, thank you for helping me troubleshoot this. I went through the steps and found that the "Run" key was empty (except Default):

Code: Select all

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_USERS\mcx1\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run]

[barnabas1969]

Was there only one extender user?

[barnabas1969]

How about taking a look in the following folder, using Windows Explorer. Tell me what's there for each MCX user:

C:\Users\Mcx<n>-<computer-name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

EDIT: You may need to enable the viewing of hidden files/folders in order to look there. If you don't know how to enable viewing hidden files/folders, let me know and I'll explain it.

EDIT2: The "Startup" folder should not even exist. If it's not there, that's OK. But, the "Start Menu\Programs" folder should exist.

[teeces]

I do have the Start Menu\Programs folder, but it has no Startup folder.

C:\Users\Mcx1-MCPC\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

Contents:

Accessories
Maintenance
Microsoft SkyDrive

[barnabas1969]

OK, well... I'm stumped. The only other thing I can think of is global startup items, such as the ones in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run, and several other places where global startup items can exist. However, the programs and/or the OS should prevent standard Windows desktop programs from running in an extender session.

The previous suggestion to uninstall the Intellimouse/Intellipoint drivers/software is a good place to start. I don't know why Media Player would be causing a problem though.

[teeces]

I uninstalled Intellipoint. Any thoughts on the event "The Desktop Window Manager was unable to start because a composited theme is not in use"?

EDIT: after uninstalling Intellipoint I only get the one warning about wmplayer.exe.

[barnabas1969]

I don't know. Have you tried uninstalling the extender (in Control Panel -> Devices and Printers), and then setting it up again?

[holidayboy]

The old ones are the best:

You could try running SFC/scannow in an admin cmd prompt window just in case I suppose.....

[holidayboy]

Can you post your system specs (own built PC specs / brand+model number etc, installed software) when you get a chance.

Take a look here too:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... f=8&t=4785

[teeces]

FYI, I formatted & reinstalled Windows 7 on the media center PC, and the extender now connects with no problem, and no error messages in the event log.

[alphatango]

What anti-virus software are you using? My guess is McAfee (crap-a-fee). If so, uninstall it (first in Control Panel -> Programs and Features, and then run the "McAfee Consumer Products Removal Tool", which is available for download on the McAfee website). Next, install Microsoft Security Essentials.

Hey, thank you for the Mcafee pointers. I'm at 2 hours without a crash. I could not find the Consumer Products removal tool anywhere, is this a critical step or can I pass. A pcworld article said this was a defunct tool.

Shame on Mcafee for not fixing their garbage by the way

MCPR.exe

http://download.mcafee.com/products/lic ... s/MCPR.exe

What is really dirty is it takes a special tool to get the crap off your PC...