Media Center Extender Disconnecting

[TotallyAwesome]

Hello,

I have been going crazy trying to fix a problem with my media center extender, it keeps disconnecting. I do not get a error and/or dialog box on my media center pc. The media extender disconnects and asks me if I want to reconnect. So I went thru the event viewer on the media center computer and here is what I have found.


1. The media center extender is disconnecting at event 123, which is described as “The Media Center Extender session was terminated because an unauthorized window opened in the session.”
2. Prior to this I am getting warning events (event 109) which is described as
a. An unauthorized window was detected while running Windows Media Center with file name 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\Platform\McUICnt.exe', could not retrieve the window title.
b. An unauthorized window was detected while running Windows Media Center, 'McAfee Vulnerability Scanner', with file name 'C:\Program Files\Common Files\McAfee\Platform\McUICnt.exe'.


So the logical conclusion based upon the info above is to assume that the cause is Mcafee. So I had numerous tech support chat sessions. Mcafee was removed and then reinstalled without the vulnerability scanner, so that issue went away. The media center is still disconnecting, events 109 and 123 are still there. Mcafee told me it is not a Mcafee problem, windows in incorrectly reporting Mcafee as the source of the problem.
I am running Windows 7 Ultimate (Service Pack 1) and my extender is a D-link DSM-750. So can someone help me with media center extender issue?

 

[barnabas1969]

First, uninstall McAfee from the Control Panel -> Programs and Features applet.

Then, follow the instructions at the link below to un-install McAfee, but skip step #3 (because you DO NOT want to re-install McAfee):
How to uninstall or reinstall supported McAfee products using the Consumer Products Removal tool (MCPR)

After you follow those instructions (and reboot the computer) try to see if the extender gives you the same problem. Be aware that you should not browse the internet during this period, because you do not have any virus protection.

If the extender now works correctly, you will have proved that McAfee was, indeed, the problem.

At that point, go install Microsoft Security Essentials (instead of McAfee). McAfee is, in my opinion, the most bloated and problematic "security" software available. Many say that Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) doesn't protect as well, but I've had no problems with it. You can get Microsoft Security Essentials (free) at the link below:

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

 

[TotallyAwesome]

Hello,

Tried that, I did unistall Macafee and rebooted. The extender is still disconnecting

 

[barnabas1969]

You said that you uninstalled McAfee, and then re-installed it. I didn't tell you to re-install it. I told you to un-install, reboot, and test the extender (without McAfee installed). Further, I told you to use the Consumer Products Removal tool, not just the regular uninstall process from the Windows Control Panel.

After McAfee is COMPLETELY removed (using the MCPR tool I linked in post #2), try your extender. If the problem remains, then McAfee was not the cause. If the problem is gone, then you have proven that McAfee was the cause.

If McAfee was not the cause, then you have to look at the other software installed on your computer. Any software that attempts to run a Windows application inside the extender session will cause the error you are seeing.

 

[TotallyAwesome]

Hello,

I am making progress on the issue(s) I am having with my media center extender disconnecting. Here is what I am done so far

1. Used the Add/remove programs to remove all Mcafee products
2. Restarted the computer
3. Used the Mcafee Product removal utility to remove all files/etc for Mcafee products.
4. Restarted the computer.

After the steps above are performed I can watch recorded program on my media center extender without anything being disconnected. I have been able to watch recorded TV for several hours without the media center disconnecting. So this has convinced me that removing Mcafee allows me to use my media center extender.
So I have re-installed Mcafee so that my wife and I can navigate the internet. The media center extender works for a while, the exact duration has not been determined. I have gone thru the process above (remove and re-install) and the results are consistent.
So stay tuned for further details. I just want to share what I have done so far so that others may not have to go thru what I have done.
The saga continues…stay tuned for further details!

 

[barnabas1969]

OK, so that confirms my suspicion. There may or may not be a way to change settings in McAfee so that it doesn't break your extender... you'll need to call McAfee about that.

Or... you could just follow my recommendation in post #2 and use Microsoft Security Essentials instead of McAfee.

 

[TotallyAwesome]

Hello,

My Media center extender worked great for almost 48 hours until my media center extender started to disconnect. So went looking thru the event viewer and found the following information in one of the warnings prior to my extender starting to disconnect.
Does anyone know what this means?



The maximum file size for session "McAfee.{E4367DA7-2B80-47f3-86D2-7626A18FC6F4}" has been reached. As a result, events might be lost (not logged) to file "C:\ProgramData\McAfee\MCLOGS\ETW\mclogs.etl". The maximum files size is currently set to 16777216 bytes.

 

[barnabas1969]

Yes, the log file listed in the message reached 16MB. There must be some setting in McAfee to limit the size of the log file. I doubt this had anything to do with your extender disconnecting.

Why don't you take my advice? Microsoft Security Essentials works fine to protect your computer from viruses, and it works perfectly with Media Center. It's also free.

As an alternative, you might try Avast. Avast is free too, and protects better than McAfee. McAfee is overpriced, a resource hog, and causes all kinds of problems with Media Center.

If you want a larger pool of people to help you with your Media Center problems, go to TheGreenButton and sign up for a free account there. You can post your questions, and get answers from many experienced Media Center users.

 

[TotallyAwesome]

Hello,

I was days aware from dumping Mcafee and doing exactly what you said. So read on....

I am 98 percent certain that the issue I was having with my media center extender disconnecting has been solved. The solution is properly configure/setup Mcafee, which I found by participating in a Microsoft Community forum. This issue appeared in the past because the Xbox can also function as a media extender. Here is how to configure/setup Mcafee to support a media center extender…

Xbox disconnect "A program on your media center has caused your extender..."

If you are using McAfee, this may be your solution.

This is how I solved this problem......
First:
Open McAfee... Click on Navigation.... Under settings, click on General Settings and Alerts.... Click on Access Protection.... deselect Access Protection
Second:
Click on Navigation.... Under settings, click on Features.... click on Firewall.... click on Net Guard.... then deselect "Turn on Net Guard"
Third: If you are still having problems...
click on Navigation..... Under settings, click on Features.... Deselect McAfee Vulnerability....
Good Luck......


So I did the 3 things above and presto….my media extender has not disconnected once in the past 24 hours. Hopefully the trend will continue. I am also disappointed that the first and second level support people at Mcafee were unaware of how to configure/setup Mcafee to support a windows media center extender. I will send this info to Mcafee with the hope and/or expectation that the Mcafee support people will become educated on how to configure their own product to work with a media center extender.

 

[barnabas1969]

So, you basically turned off all the protection of the antivirus and firewall software, leaving your computer unprotected. This is almost as bad as having no antivirus software at all.

What you have done puts your computer at risk. Please... Save yourself money and problems and just follow my advice.

 

[TotallyAwesome]

Hello,

I will review he changes with Mcafee tech support. The Mcafee software does not provide any indication that my computer is compromised. For example, the vulnerability checker verifies that your software is update (or not). There is no reason for macafee to tell me this. The vendor software already does this. Having Mcafee duplicate functionality is useless.
I will you know what I find out after I contact mcafee.

 

[barnabas1969]

Well, access protection should be what scans your files when you access them. That's the main part of any antivirus software that protects you from unintentionally installing a virus when you access a file that you (intentionally or unintentionally) downloaded from the internet.

 

[JohnAS]

I have had the same issue with the extender disconnecting and tried Totally Awesome's fix above which now seems to have cured the problem. However , I am still concerned that we haven't got to the root of the problem.

My problems started with the automatic installation of the most recent windows updates (around 20th November 2013). I restored my pc to a time before the update and the problem went away. However, when the update reinstalled overnight the problem came back. This leads me to think that the problem is related to the windows update and there may be a compatibility issue with McAfee.

I have to add that this is not the first time that I have found that a windows update caused problems with the extender. A year or so ago an update caused all sorts of problems with the extender which I could not resolved - but a couple of weeks later a further update resolve the issue. I suspect that Microsoft know all about these problems that they cause - but will not admit to them! Then they quietly push out a fix at a later date.

I am therefore going to go with Totally Awesome's fix for the present and await the next Windows update and see if it fixes the problem without my having to switch off the McAfee options that Totally Awesome recommended.

The only other way is to go back to a restore point and switch off automatic updates until Microsoft fix the problem that they introduced with another update.

 

[SusanNB]

I applied the fix sequence noted below and the extender disconnection problem was solved. I was not too happy about disabling these McAfee features so I re-enabled them on a last applied first re-enabled basis. I was planning to find out which part of the sequence was causing the problem. I re-enabled all the features and the disconnection issue did not repeat. Prior to this sequence of disable/re-enable the extender was disconnecting on a very regular basis, every few minutes.

I did notice that on re-enabling the McAfee Vulnerability Scanner a new version was installed. I have no idea if that made a difference.

All fine after a few hours...

Hello,

I was days aware from dumping Mcafee and doing exactly what you said. So read on....

I am 98 percent certain that the issue I was having with my media center extender disconnecting has been solved. The solution is properly configure/setup Mcafee, which I found by participating in a Microsoft Community forum. This issue appeared in the past because the Xbox can also function as a media extender. Here is how to configure/setup Mcafee to support a media center extender…

Xbox disconnect "A program on your media center has caused your extender..."

If you are using McAfee, this may be your solution.

This is how I solved this problem......
First:
Open McAfee... Click on Navigation.... Under settings, click on General Settings and Alerts.... Click on Access Protection.... deselect Access Protection
Second:
Click on Navigation.... Under settings, click on Features.... click on Firewall.... click on Net Guard.... then deselect "Turn on Net Guard"
Third: If you are still having problems...
click on Navigation..... Under settings, click on Features.... Deselect McAfee Vulnerability....
Good Luck......


So I did the 3 things above and presto….my media extender has not disconnected once in the past 24 hours. Hopefully the trend will continue. I am also disappointed that the first and second level support people at Mcafee were unaware of how to configure/setup Mcafee to support a windows media center extender. I will send this info to Mcafee with the hope and/or expectation that the Mcafee support people will become educated on how to configure their own product to work with a media center extender.

 

[dsperber]

I agree with barnabas1969.

There is no reason not to use Microsoft Security Essentials, as it (1) is free, (2) is quiet, non-intrusive and unbloated, (3) works perfectly to protect my files and Internet browsing, (4) is intuitive and easy to understand and work with, and (5) has ZERO effect on Windows Media Center and operation with extenders (in my case, four Linksys DMA2100's). Why wouldn't you use it?

Anytime I build a new machine for friend or family member, if it was a "retail" machine (and I only buy Lenovo now) I am sure to right away first thing uninstall any and all pre-provided MacAfee or Symantec anti-virus software which was pre-installed for use in "trial mode"... waiting to seduce you into subscribing for money.

And then I immediately install Microsoft Security Essentials, and forget about it forever. It uses virtually no machine resources, and never interferes with what I'm doing. It just runs, quietly and happily.

I have NEVER had any problems with WMC or extender use, so it follows that MSE is obviously not interfering in any negative way whatsoever.

I believe MSE is now officially implemented and delivered pre-installed in Windows 8, renamed back to its original "Windows Defender". But it's MSE. Can't go wrong.

 

[barnabas1969]

I hope that you all realize that Totally Awesome's "fix" will leave your pc unprotected.

 

[DRA6ON]

I Have also had the same problem with McAfee. Event ID 107, 109 and 123 "The Media Center Extender session was terminated because an unauthorized window opened in the session".
This was happening every minute or two during play back but not in the menus.
Tried to disable those components described by TotallyAwesome but still kept happening.
So followed barnabas1969 advice and completely removed McAfee (by following steps provided in the link). Then installed Microsoft Security Essentials and haven't had a problem with it since.
Security Essentials seems to be a much better (as described by dsperber) anti virus than McAfee anyway and i would recommend this solution to anyone with the same problem.
Thanks

 

[alabamasteps]

Wanted to tell TotallyAwesome....YOU Rock !!!! I had the same exact problem...called xbox..they no longer are trained to answer and solve problems with windows media center....But I followed your steps...and I am back listening to my music and watching my movies through my Xbox 360....Thanks Again.