Windows 7: How to disable Media Center starting / updating unattended

Hello,

sometimes I get this icon in my tray : . I guess it belongs to MC. I think it eats my resources and it even tries to turn on my TV card (LED is on) even if I don't intend to watch TV. I suppose that behaviour is unacceptable.
My question is how to disable MC completely to perform any actions in the background while I work with my PC. In another words how to keep MC completely inactive unless I myself run it. In the process viewer I have gathered this is ehrec.exe executable.
Thanks for all advices.

what you recording
failing that hows your v-scaner

PVR services turning on to record something or some one in the network or hacking is watching tv from your pc

This is a task that runs only for a couple of seconds, I really don't think you should go all the way to disable it.

You can disable both maintenance and the update in the Media Center settings section.

I already disabled the update on trya icon but it appeared again and not for couple of seconds but lasted for hours. The worst is that I caught it trying to turn on my TV card in the background even that I hadnot scheduled no TV related task in Media Center. I disabled all MC related services now and it didnot start again so far but only at the cost to fully disabling all TV services of MC systemwide.

its remote access to services is there any pc's in your network that have that pc set up as a sharing tool or an extender? if both of these are no i suggest you run a scan for anything that's not to be there in your system

In low resource systems when you run an extender ehrec.exe opens as a full program in a high resource system it runs as just a process when it runs as a program it locks up resources when it runs as a process it just uses what it can.

for some reasion WMC wants alot of resources for a remote task. ehrec.exe pertains to remote access tasks such as remote live tv or an extender

the question isn't "how to turn it off" but "who is using your computer"

It's not connected to home network, then is my computer hacked from internet?

If you want to change the Startup Type for WMC, this can be done through Services.
Services - Start or Disable

If you want to disable the Startup icon in the tray, see method 3.
Startup Programs - Change

If you want to totally disable WMC, see option 3.
Windows Media Center - Enable or Disable

If you schedule recordings using WMC, it's best to leave the Startup Type defaults as they are, in Services. If you watch TV and only record programs on the fly, then you can change the Startup type to manual, in Services. The updating of the EPG data is an essential part of WMC, however having the Icon showing the update status icon in the tray is not. It can be disabled on the Startup tab in Msconfig.

You can also go to the Task Manager, Processes and see how much of the CPU and Memory, WMC is using while updating the EPG.

If p5bdkw Failed to proving an answer that works for your situation then chances are yes

The program in question comes up when pvr is recording when an extender is reading the WMC or other WMC remote or self activating events such as updating
personally I can't see listings updates taking an hour

from time to time that icon will show up for like 10 minuets tops for a 1 meg update

That being said 3 things remain 1 an extender is connecting 2 a WMC pc is watching your media or 3 The Pc is being used as a sling box all 3 are "with or with out your permission"

What this means to you i don't know cause i don't have your setup and i don't know your intentions
I would sugest a scan for anything that would not belong Example : Trojans, melware, spyware

but also to that same point because I don't know how your system is set up I could be meaninglessly putting ideas out that may not be necessary your issue

The only right answer is the diagnostically proven

I believe you're seeing the "Guide update" service which normally runs every 12-hours. There's one at 3AM and another in the afternoon.

It's part of the automatic update function required if you use WMC to make scheduled recordings via TV tuner cards or hardware. It's based on your TV signal/guide setup that describes your zip-code location and service provider (one or more of either digital cable, satellite or OTA/ATSC digital).

Yes, this service DOES take a while to run (maybe an hour?) and DOES seem to use a fair amount of CPU. But it's required to keep the GUIDE current, assuming you've configured WMC to do TV recording/viewing which therefore requires an onscreen GUIDE... and this is the twice-daily automatic update of that Guide data. You will thus see about 11 days into the future on the Guide cells, at all times.


Is this description not pertinent for you? Are you NOT viewing/recording TV on your system with WMC?

At some point you must have wandered into this setup dialog for WMC and activated automatic updates for GUIDE, because that's the only way that could be happening. I have two machines of my own, one of which is my WMC/HTPC (with Ceton tuner card) and the other is not. I see this twice-daily Guide service icon on my HTPC but not on my other non-HTPC machine.

Can you recall doing this?