Options for WMC w/ Ceton Ethernet tuner after Win7 EOL

Discussion of getting WMC to work on Windows 10 (unsupported)
Post Reply
Phoil

Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2017 10:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

Options for WMC w/ Ceton Ethernet tuner after Win7 EOL

#1

Post by Phoil » Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:12 pm

Hi,

Long-time WMC and EPG123 user here, first time back to GreenButton in a while (many thanks to Holidayboy for helping me re-establish my account).

Anyway, I've been on CableCard tuners for about a decade, now using a Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH (network CC tuner) with multiple Win7 boxes, and I'm looking at the following options for moving ahead after Win7 goes end-of-life:
  • Leave the machines on Win7 -- I dislike this for security reasons... but it would be the simplest solution.
  • Update to Win8 with WMC -- Will work, but I'm not sure how feasible this is, since I'm seeing no way to purchase legit WMC add-on keys.
  • Update to Win10 and use WMC 10 -- From what I'm seeing, the current state (v8.8.4?) won't work with Ceton ETH tuners, per this thread.
  • Update to Win10 and use Win7 VM -- Seems feasible since I'm on a network tuner, can anyone provide some feedback on how well this works?
  • Drop WMC / CableCard and go with service provider's system -- I'd really hate to do this, but it's an option if nothing else works well.
Any and all feedback is welcome. I've always appreciated the amazing work and knowledge of the folks here.

Thank you!
Last edited by Phoil on Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Scallica

Posts: 2797
Joined: Mon Jun 06, 2011 7:09 pm
Location: USA!

HTPC Specs: Show details

#2

Post by Scallica » Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:25 pm

Phoil wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:12 pm [*]Update to Win8 with WMC -- Will work, but I'm not sure how feasible this is, since I'm seeing no way to purchase legit WMC add-on keys.
eBay or ask someone on this form to sell one to you.
HTPC Enthusiast / Forum Moderator - TGB.tv Code of Conduct

Phoil

Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2017 10:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#3

Post by Phoil » Wed Sep 11, 2019 7:04 pm

Scallica wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:25 pm
Phoil wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:12 pm [*]Update to Win8 with WMC -- Will work, but I'm not sure how feasible this is, since I'm seeing no way to purchase legit WMC add-on keys.
eBay or ask someone on this form to sell one to you.
That would be great, but eBay has them for $35+ (which is nuts), and from what I'm seeing in the WMC 8 subforum, people are having issues with keys purchased online. Also, from this thread, it doesn't appear anyone has keys they are willing to sell around here.

Any other info that might help?

SpencerC

Posts: 140
Joined: Sat Aug 15, 2015 1:35 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#4

Post by SpencerC » Fri Sep 13, 2019 8:21 pm

Phoil wrote: Wed Sep 11, 2019 6:12 pm Hi,

Long-time WMC and EPG123 user here, first time back to GreenButton in a while (many thanks to Holidayboy for helping me re-establish my account).

Anyway, I've been on CableCard tuners for about a decade, now using a Ceton InfiniTV 6 ETH (network CC tuner) with multiple Win7 boxes, and I'm looking at the following options for moving ahead after Win7 goes end-of-life:
  • Leave the machines on Win7 -- I dislike this for security reasons... but it would be the simplest solution.
  • Update to Win8 with WMC -- Will work, but I'm not sure how feasible this is, since I'm seeing no way to purchase legit WMC add-on keys.
  • Update to Win10 and use WMC 10 -- From what I'm seeing, the current state (v8.8.4?) won't work with Ceton ETH tuners, per this thread.
  • Update to Win10 and use Win7 VM -- Seems feasible since I'm on a network tuner, can anyone provide some feedback on how well this works?
  • Drop WMC / CableCard and go with service provider's system -- I'd really hate to do this, but it's an option if nothing else works well.
Any and all feedback is welcome. I've always appreciated the amazing work and knowledge of the folks here.

Thank you!
If you use an older version of Win10 your Ceton tuner should work. Then use https://greatis.com/stopupdates10/ to stop it from updating. Disabling the windows update service is not sufficient.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#5

Post by jachin99 » Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:47 am

Honestly if your happy with wmc then stick with it. Everything else seems like a compromise.

adam1991

Posts: 2893
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:31 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#6

Post by adam1991 » Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:52 pm

jachin99 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:47 am Honestly if your happy with WMC then stick with it. Everything else seems like a compromise.
This.

What "security issues" does one have running a simple WMC machine?

Phoil

Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Jul 10, 2017 10:44 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#7

Post by Phoil » Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:03 pm

adam1991 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:52 pm
jachin99 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:47 am Honestly if your happy with WMC then stick with it. Everything else seems like a compromise.
This.

What "security issues" does one have running a simple WMC machine?
It's not just a WMC, it's used for a number of other things.

choliscott

Posts: 598
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:56 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#8

Post by choliscott » Sun Sep 15, 2019 7:52 pm

The security issue could be is, if you have certain things enabled, what role you have a user set (admin/user) and what you have the password set for. For example, on my parents WMC machine, I set the password to something real simple (so they would remember) and enabled RDP so I could remote in. One evening, I got a call from my mom mentioning that she couldn't watch anything. When I went over to take a look, I noticed the machine got hit with ransomware, even though no links was clicked on. (When I set everything back up, made sure to not to set the password as simple, and changed role of main user)




adam1991 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:52 pm
jachin99 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:47 am Honestly if your happy with WMC then stick with it. Everything else seems like a compromise.
This.

What "security issues" does one have running a simple WMC machine?

choliscott

Posts: 598
Joined: Mon Dec 19, 2011 8:56 am
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#9

Post by choliscott » Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:03 pm

Besides WMC, what other things are you using the machine for and are you using any additional plugins, addons, etc?

adam1991

Posts: 2893
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 2:31 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#10

Post by adam1991 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:04 am

Phoil wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 5:03 pm
adam1991 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 4:52 pm
jachin99 wrote: Sun Sep 15, 2019 2:47 am Honestly if your happy with WMC then stick with it. Everything else seems like a compromise.
This.

What "security issues" does one have running a simple WMC machine?
It's not just a WMC, it's used for a number of other things.
To answer the direct question, then, is straightforward: you get another PC to do everything else, and you turn your Win7 rig into a dedicated WMC setup.

jachin99

Posts: 1293
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2016 3:36 pm
Location:

HTPC Specs: Show details

#11

Post by jachin99 » Mon Sep 16, 2019 1:32 am

Can you be more specific about these other things? There are probably ways to protect your pc in this situations also. I'll use the web browser as an example. There are plenty of browsers that will continue to get security updates that are compatible with win 7

Post Reply