Media Centre only seems to work for one day, after doing system restor

[Florio]

Yesterday I posted in the Windows Media Center section but, as I have had no response whatsoever, I thought I'd try asking here; more people seem to browse the General Discussion.

Last week I was having big problems getting my Media Center to play DVD discs; the screen resolution seemed to have changed, even though I had not altered the settings. A message came up saying that it was impossible to play the DVD, and that either the device was in use by another application, or that it might have been necessary to reduce the video resolution etc. I DID get it to work again after doing a system restore, and in fact I watched a couple of DVDs on my PC the day before yesterday. But yesterday morning the problem had returned, even though -- once again -- I had not touched anything. The Media Centre seems as if it is going to play the DVD, then suddenly the screen size changes and the error message comes up again.

The other day I noticed, quite by chance, that Windows was attempting to update the Media Centre (I could see the Media Centre icon in the Notification Area), but I then saw a message that the update was unsuccessful. I went to Windows Update to see if I could try and do a manual update, but apparently there were no updates to be downloaded.

Does anyone know what the problem might be here, and how I can get updates for the Media Centre? (btw I have tried updating the video driver via Device Manager, but this causes my laptop to crash, and when I reboot it, none of my media players will work.:huh:

 

[mike009]

Hi Florio, I have not used Media Centre as I use XBMC Media Center. Is this problem affecting only DVD playback?
You can try two things: install the lates codeck pack to play media files (K-Lite Codec Pack 10.90 (Full)); try using different media player to make sure it only affecting Media Center(I like to use XMBC on my HTPC)

 

[badcrc]

re: WMC updates - AFAIK WMC updates are just TV stuff (EPG etc), not Windows updates in the conventional sense. Sometimes WMC problems can be fixed by disabling WMC (in Control Panel, Programs and Features, Turn Windows features on or off), rebooting, re-enabling. See pic



like I said, sometimes . . .

 

[Florio]

Thanks for your feedback guys, but since my first post, the situation has changed dramatically!!
I tried to resolve the problem again this afternoon by doing another system restore (I had created a restore point when the Media Center was working properly), but for some reason the restore would not complete (it was unable to extract a file from the restore point), and it didn't complete even when I chose other restore points.

I then followed mike009's advice and downloaded the latest K-Lite Codec pack, and when I was installing it a message came up saying that the Graphics driver was outdated or obsolete, and it gave me details: Vendor ID:1002, Device ID: 68c1. Where should I go to download this?

Anyway, at the moment I cannot use ANY of the five media players on my laptop -- Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player, VLC Player, QuickTime Player and Media Player Classic -- to watch DVDs or .avi files. I can't even watch YouTube now (here it says that the Adobe Flashplayer plugin has crashed).

Any ideas on what I can do? I'm desperate!

 

[greenthingsjump]

Hey. A few questions, I feel like they might be dumb. So if they are forgive me.

1. Why cant you use VLC or any of the other players?
2. If there is an error message when you try VLC what is it?
-I have never ever had any problems with vlc. I am inclined to believe it's not the players that stoping it.
3. Why did you do a system restore?

A quick note. A quick search on "vendor id:1002, device ID:69c1" brings back and ati radeon graphics card. Find out what card you have and go to the amd site below looking for your graphics card and updating it. Also I would check for windows updates just to be safe. If you are unsure of your graphics cards or specs you could use a cool safe program called cpu z.

Download Drivers
CPU-Z CPUID - System & hardware benchmark, monitoring, reporting

 

[Florio]

Hello greenthingsjump. I'll try and answer your questions. First I should tell you that last night I DID manage to get Windows Media Center playing DVDs, but now the same old problem has come up again, at least as far as the Media Center is concerned!!
1. As I explained, at a certain point none of my media players would work, and not just as regards playing DVDs; I couldn't even open .avi files. The players would open, and then immediately close. I figured that some important drivers/codecs must have been unintentionally moved or deleted, or were otherwise obsolete.
2. None of the media players, including VCL, gave me error messages when I tried to open them or play a video file. When I was faced with the initial problem, with Windows Media Centre, a message did come up to the effect that my DVD couldn't be played, and that the screen resolution was probably too high.
3. I did a system restore because the other day I thought I had solved the problem, and so created a restore point when everything seemed to be working properly.

I was desperate yesterday when I couldn't do a system restore, so I went onto the AMD website and used their auto detect utility to see if I needed a new graphics driver. I downloaded the one they suggested, and afterwards everything seemed be working perfectly. I created another restore point in case I was going to have more problems.

I've just tried inserting another DVD, and the old problem has resurfaced with Windows Media Center. I'd like to be able to fix this without having to resort to another system restore. Can you help me??

 

[greenthingsjump]

I dont have a lot of knowledge on the issue but i'll help if I can. Thinking about it there is a disconnect between the hardware and the software. So because of this I have a few suggestions for you. To explain you have to determine if the dvd players bad, your windows install is bad, or there is a third party software interference.

1. Go to safe-mode, then uninstall all players except one. Try it again in safe mode if possible. The reason for this is to check to see if it there is any third party software interfering.
2. Physically remove the dvd drive and install it on another pc, see if it will play dvds. If it works that means at the very least it is not the dvd player it self.

If 1 fails, then it is possible there is a program preventing you from viewing the movies. If it passes then you should have fixed your problem. As for number 2, it may or may not be related at this point we dont know. If it works on another pc then we know its good and it could be something else.

To be honest, if you have access to a hard line for the internet, your windows cd key, and an original windows disk. I would format the hard drive and reinstall. Obviously save your word docs and any other stuff first. This is not the easiest work around by any stretch, but it cuts straight to it. Elimnates any chances of it being a windows problem. Then it would have to be hardware or third party driver. Once you deterimne its either of those, you could figure it out pretty easily.

*also check to make sure the dvd's are not bad.

 

[Florio]

Thanks greenthingsjump. Hopefully it won't be necessary to do a complete windows reinstall!!

I have now identified the glitch, but have yet to find a solution. The original problem with the Windows Media Center was/is caused by a Windows Update. Strangely enough, the update in question concerns Windows Defender (KB3019215). I did yet another system restore, choosing the point I'd created yesterday when everything was working well; this time it completed without problems, and the Media Center plays DVDs again like it should!!

Latest news: I had to go out for a while an hour or so ago, and now that I've come back I see that Windows Update has again downloaded, but not installed, the Defender package. Is there a way of preventing these particular updates?

 

[greenthingsjump]

Below is the link that should help with turning off automatic updating. By chance have you turned off/disabled windows defender?

Turn automatic updating on or off - Windows Help

 

[Florio]

Okay. I have now asked to be able to choose whether or not to install downloaded updates, and I have turned off Defender. I'm not really happy about this, but I do have anti-virus and other anti-malware programs.
I've noticed that when I turn off my computer, or restart it, the latest download of Windows Update is going to be installed. Is there a way of preventing this?:huh:

 

[greenthingsjump]

Whats the update number of the update that screwed you over? I will help you research the problem update if you give the the windows update serial number. Normally its starts with "kb" followed by a bunch of numbers.

edit update:
I found the follow link that might help you.

How to troubleshoot definition update issues for Windows Defender

 

[Florio]

I've managed to solve the problem!!

Turns out it was all caused by a conflict with my Avira anti-virus (which I'd installed about a month ago and have now removed). I would never have suspected this. Anyway, everything is now running as it should (for the time being, LOL)

Thanks for your help and suggestions.

F.

 

[greenthingsjump]

woot. dont forget to mark solved.