Win7 March system update killed WMC/mce

[prsa01]

Great fix @andyhi @Toaster4000
I found that running MCE as Administrator does not allow wifi remotes etc to operate, but resetting the Permissions seems to fix everything

Agree! Worked well for me.

Thanks guys

[Fpostgate]

Reg key Worked for me Thanks!

[sfshank]

Prehaps these problems may be related to CVE-2022-21973 Windows Media Center Update Denial of Service Vulnerability, released 3/8/22
https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide ... 2022-21973

[jriker1]

So what exactly is the visual impact with this? I came to GreenButton to see if there were others having issues with watching content on their XBox360 extenders needing to download the Optional Media Update that is already installed and now can't login to XBox Live at all and found this. Note didn't even know Windows 7 was getting updates anymore, but I recently moved to 8.1 MCE. I manually install updates and have one pending for 2022-03 Monthly Quarterly Rollup KB5011564 so not sure if this is the one and if I haven't seen some issue that is happening behind the scenes. That update is 550 megs and my system was recently built, wow.

[sgbroimp]

I am running Win 7 with updates turned off. I have not seen this problem. Am I likely to???

[stuartm]

No, since you have updates turned off and the problem happens as the result of applying an update. If you turn on updates or apply them by hand you could see the problem.

[sgbroimp]

Thanks, SM. Thought so and and no, I won't be doing that. Much obliged for your quick response.

[Kestrel88]

I can also verify that adding 'Everyone' with full permission on the registry key 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center' will also work after update is installed.

I just processed this update yesterday and found the problem when opening WMC just now. This seems to have bypassed the issue.

[bilditup1]

This thread has been great--I reverted back to an earlier image and had been using that for a few weeks before stumbling upon this. Thanks a lot!

As Toaster4000 said here, adding the Set Value and Create Subkey permissions back for the INTERACTIVE user seems to be the key in terms of permissions. Comparing before and after using screenshots, this appears to be the only thing that changed thanks to the update permissions-wise.

I didn't need to install IT Troll's registry patch just get WMC working on the machine itself, however my extenders (Echos) were still just displaying a blank screen. After applying his patch on a fresh reboot, I still got a blank screen--the key there was to open WMC on the host machine just once before turning on any of the extenders again. After that the extenders worked fine. Thanks again!

[gjgman7]

Can someone please let me know where I can access WMC in Windows 8.1 so I can change the permissions to repair the problem everyone has experienced to be able to update my Channel guide using EPG123?

[Toaster4000]

Can someone please let me know where I can access WMC in Windows 8.1 so I can change the permissions to repair the problem everyone has experienced to be able to update my Channel guide using EPG123?

You don’t need to. The April update fixes the regression.

[IT Troll]

Yep, fixed in the latest ESU.

April 12, 2022—KB5012649 (Security-only update)
Addresses an issue in Windows Media Center where some users might have to reconfigure the application on each start.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/top ... f3852e9482

[mfrankwilson]

I can also verify that adding 'Everyone' with full permission on the registry key 'HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center' will also work after update is installed.

Similar problem on my Win 8.1 Media Center box. Uninstalled the March 8, 2022 monthly update (Win 8.1 - KB5011564) prior to seeing this thread as a work around.

I checked permissions to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center after uninstalling KB5011564 and see the following:

Users:
- Read [Inherited from parent]

Administrators:
- Read + Full Control [Inherited from parent]
(These only apply if launching MC as admin or if UAC is completely disabled on your box.... Other wise the User and Interactive permissions will be the limiting factor.)

INTERACTIVE:
- Read & the following Advanced / Special permissions: Query Value, Set Value, Create Subkey, Enumerate Subkeys, Notify, Read Control. [Explicit permissions assignment / Not inherited from parent. Applies to child key and subkeys.]
(For anyone not familiar with this special windows security principal - Users interactively logged into the windows console/shell are part of this special security group. I.e. The windows user that launches the Media Center app.)

For anyone else looking at these permissions - Check to see if the 3/22 Monthly update resets/changes any of these permissions, particularly those assigned to INTERACTIVE. Unfortunately I'm not in a situation to reapply KB5011564 to compare what changed.

Please bear with me. I don't quite follow exactly what portion of the registry should look exactly like. For example, where in the registry "tree" should I see "Users:
- Read [Inherited from parent]", and do I need to add that line? I'm a little nervous fooling around with the registry.

BTW, thanks a million to you guys supporting this software. When I first stumbled into this issue I was afraid I was stuck looking for a WMC replacement now. I don't browse around here much, but my impression is that I'll be able to migrate to Windows 10 when support for win 8.1 support ends and run for a bit longer.

Thanks,
Frank

[Toaster4000]

Don’t make any manual changes; just install the latest update. The issue has been fixed.

[mfrankwilson]

Don’t make any manual changes; just install the latest update. The issue has been fixed.

Thanks Toaster. I installed the updates I could find for Win 8.1 and that did not resolve, still need to run as administrator.
I'm now assuming that this update to which you refer may not appear for me for a couple days. Will chill for a couple days and retry.
Big thanks to all of you who are supporting us.

Frank

[Toaster4000]

Don’t make any manual changes; just install the latest update. The issue has been fixed.

Thanks Toaster. I installed the updates I could find for Win 8.1 and that did not resolve, still need to run as administrator.
I'm now assuming that this update to which you refer may not appear for me for a couple days. Will chill for a couple days and retry.
Big thanks to all of you who are supporting us.

Frank

It was part of the April Patch Tuesday update, so if you’ve installed the latest update rollup, it should be fixed. What’s the latest rollup you’ve got installed?

[mfrankwilson]

I've got:
Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 8.1 KB5014011 installed 5/19/22 and 5/11/22 (!)
Security and Quality Rollup for .NET Framework KB501372 installed 5/18/22 and 5/11/22

I usually don't pay much attention to the Windows updates, so I don't know whether it is unusual to see the same update installed twice, as both of these were.

Frank

[Toaster4000]

I've got:
Security Monthly Quality Rollup for Windows 8.1 KB5014011 installed 5/19/22 and 5/11/22 (!)
Security and Quality Rollup for .NET Framework KB501372 installed 5/18/22 and 5/11/22

I usually don't pay much attention to the Windows updates, so I don't know whether it is unusual to see the same update installed twice, as both of these were.

Frank

Hmm, you should have the fix, then. What permissions do you see for Authenticated Users on HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center in the registry?

[mfrankwilson]

Sorry, I don’t know how to determine that. When I look in the registry at that location (HKLM\software …\MediaCenter) what I see are:
Default REG_SZ (value not set)
20 foot oobe reg_dword 0x0
Digital audio end point reg_dword 0x1
Dolbymode reg_dword 0x2
EnableSPADLaunchErrors 0x1
Ident 6.0
LoudnessEqualization 0x0
SpeakerFill 0x0

So I don’t know what to look for. Sorry for ignorance. Where do I need to look?

[Toaster4000]

Sorry, I don’t know how to determine that. When I look in the registry at that location (HKLM\software …\MediaCenter) what I see are:
Default REG_SZ (value not set)
20 foot oobe reg_dword 0x0
Digital audio end point reg_dword 0x1
Dolbymode reg_dword 0x2
EnableSPADLaunchErrors 0x1
Ident 6.0
LoudnessEqualization 0x0
SpeakerFill 0x0

So I don’t know what to look for. Sorry for ignorance. Where do I need to look?

Right-click the key and select Permissions.