January 2020, what could possibly go wrong?

Paul Anderegg

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January 2020, what could possibly go wrong?

#1

Post by Paul Anderegg » Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:46 am

It's a good bet the guide will no longer work...EPG123, issue solved.

It's also a good bet that new activations of Media Center and PlayReady might not be allowed...too bad, you should have installed earlier, issue unsolvable.

What other issues exist that could 100% kill the ability of Windows Media Center to continue to be used with cablecard tuners and copy protected channels?

Are there Windows XP Media Center editions still purring along without problems?

Paul

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joecrow

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#2

Post by joecrow » Fri Aug 23, 2019 6:09 am

Here in Germany the upgrade of OTA TV to HEVC (HD-H265) encoded DVBT2. 2 years ago, killed off WMC, the German website closed down too. I was not a hardware issue, for example Media Portal copped with the change with a software update!

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#3

Post by adam1991 » Fri Aug 23, 2019 12:59 pm

Paul Anderegg wrote: Thu Aug 22, 2019 1:46 am It's a good bet the guide will no longer work
boy, those Windows 8.1 users--who are still supported--will be awfully mad.

And of course, every Win7 computer in the world will simultaneously explode.

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#4

Post by mrsilver » Mon Sep 23, 2019 6:29 pm

Here in the UK the EPG data for the HD channels is barely functional - so I run EPG Collector at 6am each day which gets the guide data OTA and uploads it into W7MC.

Even if Microsoft pull the plug on the guide, that should continue to work.

SunnyR

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#5

Post by SunnyR » Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:11 am

I'm curious what people are planning to do when Microsoft stops support, security fixes, etc for Windows 7 come January, 2020?

Keep running Windows 7 WMC, and risk security breaches since there will be no more fixes and updates?
Or
Updating to Windows 10, and then what? How to replace the invaluable WMC? :o (I can't imagine watching TV without it - scheduling recordings, being able to FF, etc.)

BTW, I'm already using EPG123, (thank you for that!)

Thanks for your opinions.

[Moderator note: topic merged]

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#6

Post by Ken H » Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:38 am

I just received a message in WMC that says:

"SWITCH TO AN ALTERNATIVE TV PROGRAM GUIDE PROVIDER

Starting in January 2020, Microsoft is retiring its Electronic Program Guide Service.
To continue receiving TV Program Guide information on your Windows Media Center, you may configure an alternative TV listing provider."

In the message window are two buttons, OK & LEARN MORE.

Learn more takes you to this page: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/hel ... g-problems

Troubleshoot Guide downloading problems in Windows Media Center

This is the section that applies:

Why isn't information available in the Guide?

The Guide information is downloaded periodically over the Internet from your Guide's listed service provider. You're notified that "No data is available" in the Guide if:
  • Windows Media Center can't connect to the Internet to download the new Guide information, and the Guide information that was previously downloaded is corrupt or has expired.
  • Guide information isn't available for your location from the Guide listings service provider.
  • You set up Microsoft's Electronic Program Guide (EPG) as your TV listing provider. It’s being retired after January 2020, so you’ll need another TV listing provider if you want to continue receiving TV Program Guide information.


Looks like if you want to continue to use WMC, next stop is EPG123.

Ken H

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#7

Post by Ken H » Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:48 am

SunnyR wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 12:11 am I'm curious what people are planning to do when Microsoft stops support, security fixes, etc for Windows 7 come January, 2020?

Keep running Windows 7 WMC, and risk security breaches since there will be no more fixes and updates?
I've ran WMC ONLY on a PC for years without any trouble. Just don't do anything else with the PC. No browser use, no email, no nothing except dedicated WMC. Windows 7 should continue to work fine and run WMC without any issues, just like using Windows 98 running Outlook Express.

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garyan2

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#8

Post by garyan2 » Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:14 am

Ken H wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:38 am I just received a message in WMC that says:

"SWITCH TO AN ALTERNATIVE TV PROGRAM GUIDE PROVIDER

Starting in January 2020, Microsoft is retiring its Electronic Program Guide Service.
To continue receiving TV Program Guide information on your Windows Media Center, you may configure an alternative TV listing provider."
Wow, I actually wasn't expecting that. I guess I'm going to have to step up my game and get serious about adding additional languages.

Does MS suggest any alternative TV listing providers to configure?
- Gary
Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#9

Post by Ken H » Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:26 am

The page I linked above is the only info they provide. It doesn't say how to 'configure' another provider or who that might be.

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#10

Post by StinkyImp » Wed Sep 25, 2019 3:55 pm

garyan2 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:14 amWow, I actually wasn't expecting that.
That is pretty surprising. The general consensus has been that since the guide was going to be available to Win8 users after January 2020, it would be available to Win7 users too. I guess that theory's been negated.

I was reading an article the other day (I don't remember where it was), but it concerned current Win7 updates. Some of the most recent updates evidently include reminder pop-ups that Win7's going out of service, and "speculatively" crippling various services with those same warnings. The bottom line was that these messages pointed the user to a Win10 update site that also recommended modern computers with Win10 pre-installed.

I've been using EPG123 for a few years and also turned off updates a few years ago. I don't foresee any troubles moving forward.

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#11

Post by wifiwanderer » Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:47 pm

Tentatively, will keep my 10-year-old Win7 PC connected to my TV to view old WMC recordings. Planning to add a new Win10 PC and install a new Hauppauge TV tuner card http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/ ... uners.html with their current WinTV software. Tried WinTV some years ago, nowhere near as convenient as WMC, but it worked. Using WinTV was kinda like scheduling an old VHS recorder. Trusting the 2020 version of WinTV will be improved, not that there will be a viable alternative.

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#12

Post by SunnyR » Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:00 pm

wifiwanderer wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:47 pm Planning to add a new Win10 PC and install a new Hauppauge TV tuner card http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/ ... uners.html with their current WinTV software.
That's an interesting alternative. Does WinTV come with an integrated TV Guide - and is that source reliable? (We know how WMC's TV guide is not!)

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#13

Post by choliscott » Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:25 pm

MS is no longer going to be offering guide service come January

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... age-center

SunnyR wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:00 pm
wifiwanderer wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:47 pm Planning to add a new Win10 PC and install a new Hauppauge TV tuner card http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/ ... uners.html with their current WinTV software.
That's an interesting alternative. Does WinTV come with an integrated TV Guide - and is that source reliable? (We know how WMC's TV guide is not!)

Ken H

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#14

Post by Ken H » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:18 am

choliscott wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 10:25 pm MS is no longer going to be offering guide service come January

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/window ... age-center
You're late. See post #6.

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#15

Post by Ken H » Thu Sep 26, 2019 2:26 am

wifiwanderer wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:47 pm Tentatively, will keep my 10-year-old Win7 PC connected to my TV to view old WMC recordings. Planning to add a new Win10 PC and install a new Hauppauge TV tuner card http://www.hauppage.com/pages/products/ ... uners.html with their current WinTV software. Tried WinTV some years ago, nowhere near as convenient as WMC, but it worked. Using WinTV was kinda like scheduling an old VHS recorder. Trusting the 2020 version of WinTV will be improved, not that there will be a viable alternative.
You can still continue to use Windows 7 and WMC, and use EPG123 for the guide. Why stop using one of the best programs Microsoft ever developed?

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#16

Post by Windom » Fri Sep 27, 2019 4:48 pm

I just did some Windows updates and restarted. When I started Media Center up, I got the message about switching to the new guide provider. I'm already using EPG123 so I'm assuming this doesn't affect me.

BUT somehow my custom background that I was using in Media Center for years was gone. It was just the boring blue background. I'm guessing that whatever update MS made to give us this message replaced whatever had the custom background. I think it was eshell.dll that I had modified with my custom background using Media Center Studio possibly. I don't know if I can still do the same thing to get my custom background back.

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#17

Post by jachin99 » Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:50 pm

If you have file history turned on the maybe you can restore a previous version. Check and see

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#18

Post by Alan G » Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:40 pm

garyan2 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:14 am
Ken H wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:38 am I just received a message in WMC that says:

"SWITCH TO AN ALTERNATIVE TV PROGRAM GUIDE PROVIDER

Starting in January 2020, Microsoft is retiring its Electronic Program Guide Service.
To continue receiving TV Program Guide information on your Windows Media Center, you may configure an alternative TV listing provider."
Wow, I actually wasn't expecting that. I guess I'm going to have to step up my game and get serious about adding additional languages.

Does MS suggest any alternative TV listing providers to configure?
I delay security updates for three weeks until bugs have been quashed. I just updated today and got the above message. No alternatives are suggested. I plan on using my Win7 WMC for as long as EPG and my hardware keep working. I'm still on one of the older versions of EPG (maybe 1.17) and since it works fine for me, I've seen no need to update. I only use the PC for WMC and streaming Amazon, Netflix, ESPN+, and B/R Live. No other Internet use is done. I'm running MSFT Security Essentials which I assume won't be supported any longer and don't know if I will run an A/V program since I don't routinely do websurfing.

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#19

Post by SENIORA » Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:10 am

garyan2 wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 5:14 am
Ken H wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2019 4:38 am I just received a message in WMC that says:

"SWITCH TO AN ALTERNATIVE TV PROGRAM GUIDE PROVIDER

Starting in January 2020, Microsoft is retiring its Electronic Program Guide Service.
To continue receiving TV Program Guide information on your Windows Media Center, you may configure an alternative TV listing provider."
Wow, I actually wasn't expecting that. I guess I'm going to have to step up my game and get serious about adding additional languages.

Does MS suggest any alternative TV listing providers to configure?
What other issues exist that could 100% kill the ability of Windows Media Center to continue to be used with cablecard tuners and copy protected channels?

Ken H

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#20

Post by Ken H » Sun Oct 20, 2019 6:26 pm

SENIORA wrote: Sat Oct 19, 2019 10:10 am What other issues exist that could 100% kill the ability of Windows Media Center to continue to be used with cablecard tuners and copy protected channels?
No one really knows for sure.

Most knowledgeable observers, and myself, believe if all you use a Windows 7 PC for is Windows Media Center, it should continue to work fine.

This of course assumes you will switch to EPG123 and use Schedules Direct (or other unknown at this time guide info provider if available) if you want the guide to still work.

Beyond that we'll have to wait until the Windows 7 end of support date January 20, 2020 and see what happens.

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