Transitioning to EPG123

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AnotherDave

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Transitioning to EPG123

#1

Post by AnotherDave » Wed Sep 20, 2017 1:16 pm

Guide End Date: 25 Sep, 8:00 PM
Cable Provider: Comcast/Xfinity
Location: Palm Beach, FL

Having just suffered through two weeks of Hurricane Irma coming & going, I was hoping for a little normalcy. Went to program for next week's new season prime time debuts and found: nothing. Does anybody else find that just a little too convenient to be accidental?

There seems to be much less participation in this discussion than during the July outage. Given the many repetitions of this drill, I'm wondering how many people simply got tired of fighting and abandoned WMC EPG for EPG123? The fewer people who register their complaints here, the less motivation for anybody to fix it.

At the risk of going a bit off topic, I attempted to install EPG123 on one of my systems in July. Total disaster. Never got it to load data for HD channels. Then found it impossible to switch back to WMC EPG, even after updates were restored. After many frustrating hours, I finally had to completely re-install Windows 7. In the process, I lost all the accumulated programming data. Now, I'm gun shy about attempting that transition to EPG123 on any of my units. Any suggestions?

[Moderator note: topic split from guide data outage thread]

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Bee_Dee_3_Dee

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#2

Post by Bee_Dee_3_Dee » Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:18 pm

AnotherDave wrote:Guide End Date: 25 Sep, 8:00 PM
Cable Provider: Comcast/Xfinity
Location: Palm Beach, FL

Having just suffered through two weeks of Hurricane Irma coming & going, I was hoping for a little normalcy. Went to program for next week's new season prime time debuts and found: nothing. Does anybody else find that just a little too convenient to be accidental?

There seems to be much less participation in this discussion than during the July outage. Given the many repetitions of this drill, I'm wondering how many people simply got tired of fighting and abandoned WMC EPG for EPG123? The fewer people who register their complaints here, the less motivation for anybody to fix it.

At the risk of going a bit off topic, I attempted to install EPG123 on one of my systems in July. Total disaster. Never got it to load data for HD channels. Then found it impossible to switch back to WMC EPG, even after updates were restored. After many frustrating hours, I finally had to completely re-install Windows 7. In the process, I lost all the accumulated programming data. Now, I'm gun shy about attempting that transition to EPG123 on any of my units. Any suggestions?
I'd suggest what i recently suggested on THG: (http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id- ... l#20168481) But Note: the Youtube link in it (below) shows all uses of the Acronis Software vids in a series- configuring and setting it up, etc.. What most all ppl, u need to focus on, is just Full Back-ups and Incremental Backups and Restoring a Backup (and Universal Restore is SWEET! if ever needed). Igor the extra stuff they include these days- especially no need for cloud storage they offer. Some of my PCs (like my Gaming PC) get a Full Backup on the 1st day of the month and an Incremental Backup everyday (immediately after waking from sleep mode) before doing anything whatsoever on them. My WMC PC Media Server, only gets Full Backups every other month, but an Incremental Backup whenever I want to experiment with software like EPG123, registry settings, drivers, updates, etc..
(http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id- ... l#20168481)

Yes. Good idea.

If u want a perfect plan that allows u to experiment try something like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmgWWtpblAs&list=PLJbh8...

With ^^ totally mastered, there's a whole other realm to explore that ppl can't get near for practical reasons. And with it, the sky's the limit. I've used it, some sort of it- different brands- for twenty years and it should be the 1st thing that anyone is taught on PC; but actually less than 1% of PC users take advantage of it. The best thing to compare it to is like having a time machine that allows u to go back quickly in time, to a time before u made an intentional or unintentional mistake. But even better is gaining the ability to try anything software related and going back in a matter of minuets. Best of all is when everything is working perfect; u can forever save the configuration of ur PC and go back to that perfect time, in a matter of minuets. :-)
GL :) ^^ is truly the 1st thing to master on PC. Use a "Test PC" to learn it and not a PC that u haven't back-ed up. There is a learning curve that involves one or more unsuccessful restorations before u get the hang of it. But once u get the hang of it there's nothing better. I guess i should say, the 1st time u successfully restore a PC will blow ur mind. U feel like Dr. Frankenstein screaming, "it's alive". lol ;)
Last edited by Bee_Dee_3_Dee on Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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garyan2

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#3

Post by garyan2 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 2:20 pm

AnotherDave wrote:There seems to be much less participation in this discussion than during the July outage. Given the many repetitions of this drill, I'm wondering how many people simply got tired of fighting and abandoned WMC EPG for EPG123? The fewer people who register their complaints here, the less motivation for anybody to fix it.

At the risk of going a bit off topic, I attempted to install EPG123 on one of my systems in July. Total disaster. Never got it to load data for HD channels. Then found it impossible to switch back to WMC EPG, even after updates were restored. After many frustrating hours, I finally had to completely re-install Windows 7. In the process, I lost all the accumulated programming data. Now, I'm gun shy about attempting that transition to EPG123 on any of my units. Any suggestions?
The July fiasco brought around 2000 folks to EPG123 and for the most part they are still using it. So yeah, there are significantly less TGB members concerned about the problems with MS/Rovi guide.

To further the off-topic'ness, your failed attempt to use EPG123 in July was probably something very simple that was overlooked. If you want to make the attempt again and want some help, PM me and we can get you all set up. The installation guide and the video on my website covers everything about the installation but there may be something unique about your setup that is not covered.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

rickmktg

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#4

Post by rickmktg » Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:56 pm

I've put this on my calendar for Friday to do if MS and Rovi haven't gotten their act together. One question I have - I have two different PCs in two different localities. Can I use ONE subscription for the data to update two copies of EPG123?

I had hoped that my direct messaging to MS Support on Twitter would get them to bring the proper attention to the issue, but they appear to have given me the "sorry, go to this site which has support information from 2012" brushoff. :evil:
Moved to W10 and NPVR in December 2019. Bye.

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garyan2

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#5

Post by garyan2 » Thu Sep 21, 2017 12:49 am

The membership agreement with SD is typically identified as "per household". I'm not sure how far apart your "localities" are, but sounds to me like you are the primary user in both locations which wouldn't be a problem on a single subscription. If you have questions, you can ask them through their website (http://schedulesdirect.org/contact" or PM rmeden directly from here.

We've set some people up with multiple lineups in their subscription because they are snowbirds (live up north for the summers, down south for the winters). I, myself, am using lineups from CA, AZ, and DirecTV (USA) to update 4 computers; though I use the server/client configuration to only do a single download for all stations.
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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rmeden

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#6

Post by rmeden » Thu Sep 21, 2017 3:22 am

Basically, what Gary said. :)

SD allows unlimited machines in "your household". We use common sense. +Vacation Home, +Work home (say an apartment in a different work city) +Kid at college (granted that's pushing it, but we're pretty generous).... all constitute your "household".

Your adult brother across town, doesn't count.

Robert
Schedules Direct

rickmktg

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#7

Post by rickmktg » Thu Sep 21, 2017 4:19 pm

Thanks. Vacation house, same geographical area, and more importantly exact same line-up, OTA Detroit.
Moved to W10 and NPVR in December 2019. Bye.

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