The Windows Media Center, also called WMC, is an entertaining media player and a recorder. Using it, you can do multiple things to keep yourself entertained in many interesting ways. To learn more about WMC, you can go through the complete blog. You can explore the procedures to set it up, download it, open it, and reinstall it on Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.
It is possible that while you use the Media Center on Windows, it may stop working or not work properly. The troubleshooting measures for this problem can also be found here.
WMC or Windows Media Center can be defined as a digital video recorder. This recorder was developed by Microsoft. The use of WMC is that it helps in bringing digital media in one place. Digital media is inclusive of recorded television shows, music, movies, and photos.
If you wish to set up or download the Media Center on Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 10, then you can get help here. Following the steps given for these, you can setup/download and install it with ease.
The procedure for Windows Media Center setup on Windows 7 can be done by pressing start on your TV’s remote. Choose start and select All Programs. Then click on WMC. After pressing Continue, you will see Custom. After this, you can click-open Task Menu and enter the Settings.
For all the steps, you can read below.
1. On your TV’s remote, press “Start”, provided that the setup has been done on your TV.
2. Then select “Start”.
3. Tap “All Programs”.
4. Select “Windows Media Center”.
Note: If you’re setting up the WMC for the first time, a splash screen can be viewed. In case the setup is complete and the settings need to be changed, then go to “Tasks”. Here, tap “Settings”. Tap “General”. Then select “Windows Media Center Setup”. Select “Run Setup Again”.
5. Tap on “Continue”.
Note: On the “Get Started” screen, avoid selecting “Express Setup” for privacy protection.
6. Choose “Custom”. Then press “Next”.
7. The Windows Media Center Windows 7 will give you the option of joining “CEIP” or “Customer Experience Improvement Program”. Click on “No Thank You”. Then press “Next”.
8. Press “Yes” for connecting to your Internet. Then press “Next”.
9. Click on “I have Finished”. Then press “Next”.
10. Now, press “Finish”.
11. Visit the “Task Menu”.
12. Select “Settings”.
13. Click on “General”.
14. Then select “Privacy” and “Privacy Settings”.
15. Turn off “Use the Guide and Send Anonymous Information”.
16. Also, select “Turn off the Most Viewed Filter in the Guide”.
17. Then press “Save”.
Here is a step-by-step program guide for WMC download on Windows 8. These steps will guide you to first access the Search option to look for Add Features. Then you can move to the Settings and select Add Features to Windows 8 option. After providing the product key, you will be able to perform the steps to proceed.
1. On your Windows 8 computer, access the charms bar.
2. Press the “Search” option.
3. Write “Add Features”.
4. Select the “Settings” option.
5. Click on the option of “Add Features to Windows 8”.
6. Select “I already have a Product Key”.
Note: You can also open the “Run” dialog box on your Windows 8 computer. Then enter the command “WindowsAnytimeUpgradeui”. This will directly take you to the window of “Add Features to Windows 8”.
7. Use the “Product Key” given below.
“MBFBV-W3DP2-2MVKN-PJCQD-KKTF7”
8. Press “Next”.
9. Then choose “I Accept the License Terms”.
10. Now, press the button for “Add Features”.
11. Your Windows 8 computer will begin to download Windows Media Player Center. Once downloaded, you have to start your system again. When it restarts, you will see the “WMC” or “Media Center Tile”.
In this Windows Media Center Windows 10 downloading method, you will learn to get and extract the file. Then you can run the file as the administrator. This is accompanied by rebooting your computer. To know the further steps of this downloading method, you can walk through the following.
1. First, download Windows Media Center Windows 10 from the web.
2. After the WMC download is complete, extract the file “WindowsMediaCenter_10.0.10134.0.zip”.
3. Now, “_TestRights.cmd” needs to be right-clicked. Choose to run it as the administrator.
4. Reboot your Windows 10 computer.
5. When you see “Installer.cm”, right-click on it. Then select “Run as Administrator”.
6. Press any key on your keyboard for exiting the installer.
7. Once downloaded, you can search for “WMC” on your computer.
8. From the search results in the “Start Menu”, you can run the app.
The methods to open and run WMC on Windows 7 and Windows 10 have been outlined in this section. You can go through them one by one and start using WMC on your Windows system.
In this section, we will tell you where is Windows Media Center in Windows 7 and how you can open it. On your Windows 7 system, WMC can be found in All Programs in the Start Menu. For opening it, you will only have to do 3 steps. You can run through these 3 steps as follows.
1. Press the “Start” button.
2. Then go to “All Programs”.
3. Click on “Windows Media Center” to open it.
Now, you will be able to run Windows Media Center on your computer.
After you have downloaded and installed the Microsoft Windows Media Center for Windows 10, you would like to open it for usage. To open WMC, the search box of the Start Menu will come in handy. You can use it for searching for the WMC and then run it. In case this does not seem clear to you, you can have a look at the procedure given here.
1. When your Windows 10 computer is on, go to the “Start Menu”.
2. Using the “Search Box”, look for the “Windows Media Center”.
3. From the search results, open the “Windows Media Center”.
4. You have to click on WMC to open it. Then you can use it and explore its features.
For some reasons, you may decide to reinstall the Media Center on your computer. Here, we have shown the method to do so on Windows 7. Let’s quickly read it.
The Windows 7 Media Center can be reinstalled by first removing or uninstalling it. Then you can install it again on your Windows 7 computer. For removing/uninstalling it, you can open the Control Panel and move to Programs. In Programs and Features, you can find the option to turn off the Windows Features. A popup will open. Here, you have to pick Media Features and Media Center and remove it. Then you can install or enable it again.
1. Go to the “Start Menu” on your Windows 7 computer.
2. Click on the “Control Panel” to open it.
3. In the “Control Panel”, select the option of “Programs”.
4. Below “Programs and Features”, you will see “Turn Windows Features on or off”. Click on this option.
5. In the popup, select “Media Features”.
6. As soon as you select “Media Features”, you will see “Windows Media Center”. Select it.
7. You will be asked to confirm your action. Press “Yes” to provide you with confirmation.
8. Then click on “Ok”.
In the Microsoft Windows popup, you can see the process running for uninstalling the Media Center from your computer. You can wait for the process to be over. In case you do not wish to uninstall or remove it, you can click on “Cancel”. To reinstall the WMC on your computer, you can install or enable it again.
The WMC may not be working properly on your Windows computer due to 3 possible reasons.
1. The WMC or Media Center may not be working on your computer if the data store has been damaged.
2. There may be certain files or programs on your computer which may not be properly functioning. Until they are replaced by the functional programs or files, the Media Center may not work as usual.
3 There can be an error in your system which may be interfering with the functioning of the WMC.
Based on the causes, WMC can be fixed on your computer. If you are a Windows 7 or Windows 10 user, then you can go through the various fixes shown below. These should help in solving your problem.
To fix the WMC problem on Windows 7, you can first repair the data store of this recorder. In case it is damaged, you can repair it to get WMC working again. Additionally, you can replace the non-functional copies on your system with the functional ones to resolve the error.
On the off chance that you receive a message stating that the Media Center has stopped working, you can suspect that the WMC data store may have become damaged. To mend the damages, you can hop on to the Start Menu and enter a required command in its search option. Then you will have to delete the mcepg1-5-0 file. After the deletion is over, you can restart WMC on your Windows 7 computer. It will then be configured from the beginning and afterwards, you can use it without facing any error.
The detailed steps of this method to repair Windows Media Center Windows 7 data store can be found as follows.
1. Start your Windows computer and go to the “Start Menu”.
2. In “Search”, enter the command shown as follows.
“%systemdrive%\programdata\microsoft\ehome”
3. In the third step, you have to hit the “Enter” key.
4. Search for the “mcepg1-5-0 File”.
Note: The “mcepg1-5-0 File” is a database file.
5. When the “mcepg1-5-0 File” has been located, open it by right-clicking on the file. Now, you have to delete this file.
6. In the sixth step, you are requested to start the “WMC” again.
Note: The “Media Center” on your Windows 7 PC will now be configured from the beginning.
7. After some time, you can open the “Media Center” and check that it is working now on your Windows 7 PC.
In the second fix for mending the problem of Media Center or WMC not working, we will assist you in creating a new copy. This will be done via the Control Panel. Here, you can open the Settings first and then you can move to Programs and Features. Then you have to click on WMC and tap the button to repair it. When the repairing process gets finished, you can access the Media Center again. This time, it will smoothly work on your Windows 7 computer.
1. Click on “Start”.
2. Go to the “Control Panel”.
3. Click on the “Settings”.
4. Launch the utility which is used by Windows for installation, removal, or repairing of software. It will be labelled as “Programs and Features”.
5. From the window, tap on “Windows Media Center”.
6. Press the “Repair” button. Now, the Media Center’s new copy will be installed. This will be installed over the present one.
Note: While the new copy gets installed over the present one, your settings will not be changed. Also, your personal files on the computer will not be affected. However, the program files which are damaged will get replaced by the new copies that are properly functioning.
7. Wait for the repairing process to come to an end.
8. In the final step, you have to run “Windows Media Center” again. Then see to it that you are not encountering any difficulty while running it now.
To troubleshoot the problem of WMC not working on Windows 10, you can do a clean boot, rename the EpgListings directory, scan your system via the chkdsk command, and install a compatible DVD player. Learn these fixes in detail below.
When certain users of Windows 10 reported that the Media Center was not working properly, installing a DVD player seemed to be a likely alternative. You can also go for downloading the DVD player. Prior to downloading it, we will suggest you to check that it is completely compatible with your Windows 10 computer. Also, see to it that the DVD player you are installing can run the encrypted DVDs as well as unencrypted DVDs.
The Windows Media Center Windows 10 not working error can be fixed by doing a clean boot on your computer. You can type msconfig in search to access System Configuration. After running it as the administrator, go to Services and choose to hide all the Microsoft services. Then click on the Disable All button. Then you can open the Task Manager and carry out the steps to progress ahead.
For complete information, this procedure will be helpful.
1. In the taskbar, tap the “Search Box”.
2. Write “msconfig” in the “Search Box”.
3. “System Configuration” has to be right-clicked now. Select “Run as Administrator”.
4. Click on “Services”.
5. Select “Hide all Microsoft Services”. This can be found at the bottom-left.
6. Choose “Disable All” now.
7. Next, move to the “Startup” option.
8. You will see the option “Open Task Manager”. Click on it.
9. Move to the “Startup” tab.
10. Now, click on “Disable”.
11. Go to the “Startup” tab again and select every item from the list and then press “Disable”.
12. Exit the “Task Manager”.
13. In “System Configuration”, moving to the “Startup” tab again, you have to press “Ok”.
14. Then start your computer again.
Sometimes problems can arise with the EpgListings Directory on your Windows 10 computer. Changing its name can benefit you in doing away with the Windows Media Center Windows 10 not working error. The location where you can find this directory has been provided in the following set of steps. Let’s go through them right away.
1. Run the “File Explorer” on Windows 10.
2. Go to the following location.
“C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\Packages”
3. Find “EpgListings” in the above location.
4. Click on EpgListings” and choose to rename it.
When the Microsoft Windows Media Center for Windows 10 shows an error while working, you can run the chkdsk command. For this, you can go to the Command Prompt on your Windows computer. Place the command in it and run it. Then restart your system during the next reboot.
We have also explained this fix in detail below. You can have a look at it here.
1. In the “Search Box” of the taskbar, write “Command Prompt”.
2. Run the “Command Prompt” as the administrator by right-clicking on it.
3. Write “chkdsk /f” in the “Command Prompt”.
Note: In the command shown above, “f” stands for the letter representing the system drive.
4. Next, hit the “Enter” key on the keyboard.
5. You may wish to schedule the restarting process when you run the next reboot. Press “Y” for doing so.
6. Lastly, start your computer again.
From learning what WMC is to using it, this post worked as a complete Windows Media Center guide. You got to know different methods to install it, open it, and reinstall it. In addition to these methods, we also gave you an idea of the fixes you can implement when WMC stops working on your system. Let us know how we did in this blog by reaching us through the comment section.