Windows (7) Media Center won't start

Discussion in 'Software' started by ZoneIII, Apr 15, 2013.

  1. ZoneIII

    ZoneIII Private E-2

    I have run into a problem that has me stumped. I have Windows 7 Home Premium and just discovered that Windows Media Center won't start. I never use it but my grandkids need it when they visit and play our Xbox360 on-line (which I also never use). They hadn't played it in some months so I'm not sure how long Media Center has been broken. The files for Media Center exist but clicking the shortcut in Programs does nothing. I tried clicking on the executable file in the program files but still no luck. Nothing happens at all.

    I dread the idea of having to reformat which I haven't done since XP so I would like to see if someone has some ideas that I can try before doing that. Here's what I've done so far: I ran all my security and malware scans (Avast! (boot scan), McAfee Stinger (just as a 2nd scan), Malwarebytes, Super Anti-Spyware) and I also ran CCleaner just for starters. I ran sfc /scannow three or four times and it found no problems. I also ran DiskCheck which showed my drive is OK. I run all those things routinely anyway. I ran the other usual things just as maintenance too such as Cleanup, Defrag, etc.

    I can't run System Restore because it doesn't work. In fact, it stopped working the day after I bought my PC. I reformatted it then and it ran for a day or so and broke again. This happened with my old XP machine too and MS couldn't figure out why that is but two acquaintances of mine have experienced the same exact thing with their W7 machines. I don't worry about it because I rely on Image Restore if I run into a problem. Oddly, SA works on my wife's W7 laptop with virtually identical programs loaded on it. All of the security programs are the same.

    The last thing I can think of to try is Image Restore but I probably only have images going back a month or maybe two at the most. I delete old images after a while and just keep the last two or three. I'm out of state right now but when I get home tomorrow, I'll try whatever images I have but I doubt I will have an image that goes back far enough. Hopefully, someone has an idea for another possible fix. I did search the Internet for info on this but found nothing that works short of a reformat. Some of the information I found was also simply incorrect.
     
  2. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    1. Open Control Panel and if in Category View, click Programs; if in icon view, click Programs and Features. (the view is over near the top right)
    2. Scroll down until you see Windows Media Center and select it.
    3. click the repair button.
     
  3. ZoneIII

    ZoneIII Private E-2

    I should have mentioned that that was one of the suggestions I found previously but I don't have the repair option. In fact, WMC isn't even listed in Programs and Features but it is listed in Windows programs and features on the left. I should have also mentioned that I disabled Windows Media Center, re-booted, and re-enabled WMC. That was the main suggestion I found for repairing the program. Unfortunately, it didn't work for me.
     
  4. plodr

    plodr Major Geek Super Extraordinaire

    I don't have it listed on either Win 7 computers in the house, probably because I never set up WMP; I use VLC instead.

    Try this:
    Go to "Start" then "Default Programs" in the right pane then "Set program access and computer defaults" then "Click Custom" Scroll down to "Chose default media player:" and "Check" enable access next to Windows Media Center. Make sure the circle is selected in front of Windows Media Center too.
     
  5. ZoneIII

    ZoneIII Private E-2

    I tried that but still no luck. Also, there is no repair feature for Windows Media center. But I run sfc /scannow several times but no luck. I'm just about ready to give up on this thing. I've tried everything I could find about this problem which appears to be not too uncommon. I guess we just can't use our XBOX to play online. My grandkids are the only ones to use that but it bugs me that I clearly have a problem and it may possibly affect other things as well.
     
  6. Bladeski

    Bladeski Private E-2

    Well, my Windows Media Center will start up and you can hear the signature audio for the main menu page, but the screen goes black. Then the mouse hops on the black screen. Then I have to cont-alt-delete to get to the task bar page to restart. I have a Hauppage TV card inserted but I've had that since 2010 so I can watch and record live TV (cable). All of a sudden, it does this when I click on each WMC icon. If I just double click blindly on the black screen and luckily hit a shortcut, it goes to whatever I hit, but won't show on the black screen. And yes, the program is not listed anywhere on the programs list and there is no repair function. I system restored as far back as I could go. I think all this happened when I tried to load in my huge music library, but I'm not sure. Experience anyone?
     

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