It does seem like a constant battle to keep it running nowadays doesn't it and can understand why people disable updates but I use my PCs for than just Media Center and want them to be kept up to date. I have looked at most of the alternatives but, to my mind, there's nothing that even comes close to Media Center.
Strange but the Windows DvD Player setup (windows10.0-kb3081704-x64.msi) is not working anymore for Windows 10_1709 installations in the way they did until 1703 I'm referring to this treat: https://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/windows-dvd-player-app-for-windows-10.63128/
Thanks Stefan ....It was nice of him to create a fix....Try it. one tried...one fixed https://forums.mydigitallife.net/th...ible-alternatives.61061/page-421#post-1383754
v8.8.1 has a more improved uninstaller than v12........Best practice is uninstall with v8.8.1 Have a look in the BIN.....The v8.8.1 installs and registers the files in the BIN "WMC_v8.8\WMC-V8.8\bin\MediaCenter\Windows\ehome\ehshell.exe" I checked the compatability tab on the ehshell in the bin. This file is sent to ehome and sxs. I will dig up my notes on manual repair single file. Ehshell and mediacenter.ui were hex edited for RDP, then injected back into WMC and Win10 https://forums.mydigitallife.net/th...ible-alternatives.61061/page-177#post-1203535 The update did damage.
I think that the compatibility information is not held at the file level, but is held in the registry here: Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\AppCompatFlags\Layers When I couldn't see the compatability tab for ehshell.exe, I did try manually setting these entries in the registry, but they seemed to be ignored. There is some setting somewhere that is marking the ehshell.exe file (when installed using v12) as a protected / system / important file which not only suppresses the compatability tab, but also ignores any compatability settings in the registry. Looking at the v8.8.1 installer, it xcopies ehshell.exe only to the windows\ehome directory - I couldn't see any way it would copy it to the winsxs directory. But I could be wrong...
I added a link to the previous post.....after you had all ready replied. I could be mistaken also, but with your skills you should be able to tell from the code in the link.
Well, well, ehtray.exe has started working fine on my PC with 1709 and V8.8.1 but still not on the one with 1709 and V12. Looks like I've got one to reinstall MC on..... Everyone said that the V8 installer was better. Perhaps using dism and manipulating files in the side by side folders the way it was done in version 12 was not great for when MS changed things later on. Suppose it is surprising that it is working at all, given that they aren't doing any Media Center compatibility checking in new builds.
Thank you for the link - I think the patched files it refers to are ehshell.dll and microsoft.mediacenter.ui.dll, while the file we are currently trying to set compatability on is ehshell.exe which I don't believe was patched.
I think there is system confusion occurring because the V12 and V8.8.1 install and uninstall routines are NOT doing the same thing. The V12 installer invokes dism to install the media center package, creates the registry entries, adds the services and scheduled tasks and copies some patched files into the winsxs folders. The V12 uninstaller undoes all of these things. The V8.8.1 installer copies ALL the files, creates the registry entries, adds the services and scheduled tasks but doesn't use dism or go near the winsxs folders. The V8.8.1 uninstaller undoes all of these things. What neither uninstaller does is undo ALL of what the other version of installer did. Therefore, I think that the process of going from V12 to V8.8.1 should be to uninstall V12 with the V12 uninstaller, reboot and install V8.8.1. That is what I think I did on the one that is working perfectly and that is what I'm going to try on the other one. I'll let you know what happens.
Uninstalled V12 with the V12 uninstaller, rebooted and installed V8.8.1 this morning. I now have the compatibility tabs and everything is working as before but there's still no tray icon unless I launch it manually (or run StefanR's script). Checking to see if I can find out what is different about the PCs...... Update: I found a new 'feature' on my PCs running 1709 that doesn't exist on my PCs running 1703. In the registry, there's a service named bam and in usersettings, under the guid of the current user there is a list of entries for various apps. One of those was ehtray.exe and when I removed the entry, the tray indicator started working. Needless to say, I did this on a recently backed up test PC after exporting the registry and I cannot say whether removing the entry will have a detrimental effect. I'll guess I'll find out. I haven't been able to find out what this service does but, given that it doesn't even exist in 1703, I would guess it isn't essential. Forget that - it only worked for a while (on all three PCs) and isn't working any more. Back to the drawing board......
Since updating all my 1709 PCs to Media Center V8.8.1 in a attempt to fix the tray issue, whenever I launch MC in a Remote Desktop session all I get is a black screen. It never did that in V12. Can anyone shed any light on that please? A work around or fix would be appreciated.
Yes it is and it is turned on. If I switch to another app on the remote PC and switch MC to a window I can see it but as soon as I switch it back to full screen, it goes black. Never did that in V12.
That was the only bam I could find but it is part of BizTalk. Why would MS install a BizTalk service on PCs that have never had BizTalk on them? Are they using it to spy on us as part of their telemetry? The other thing is, BizTalk is an enterprise product but the service is present on both of my laptops as well, which are running Windows 10 home. Any ideas on the black screen when starting Media Center full screen in an RDP session?
WMC should now be put to rest as far better alternatives exist. Besides any possible security issues, the UI also looks dated and is ill-suited for 4K screens of the future.
Yeah, you got to use Maxifer or AMM (ActualMultipleMonitors) or adjust the window to almost full screen. Start clicking around in the top right corner the min/max/and restore buttons are there in a black screen...you just cant see them. I found them eventually and marked them with painters tape so I could find them again.