Many users often encounter errors while operating the Windows Media Center. These errors could be related to the Media Center not opening, crashing, or Media Center decoder errors. Fortunately, there are multiple ways using which you can fix most of these errors.
1. Clean Boot the Computer
An effective way to diagnose Media Center errors is to Clean Boot your PC. This will effectively ensure that the error in question is not being caused by third-party software.
Clean Boot essentially boots your computer with all third-party software and services disabled. Unlike booting into Safe Mode, Windows doesn’t have an automatic feature that will restart your computer into Clean Boot mode.
You can do this manually by following these steps:
- Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type in msconfig and press Enter.
- In the System Configuration window, navigate to the Services tab.
- Check the Hide all Microsoft services checkbox.
- Now, click on Disable all and then click on Apply.
- Close the window.
- Open Task Manager using the CTRL + Shift + ESC shortcut.
- Go to the Startup tab and select each program from the list, then click on Disable. You’ll have to do this one by one.
- Click on Apply and close the Task Manager.
- Restart your computer.
Upon rebooting your computer, check to see if the Media Center error still persists. If it is resolved, then it is most likely being caused due to interference from a third-party program. In this case, you will have to enable each program one by one to find out the culprit.
2. Update Your Drivers
Outdated or malfunctioning drivers often result in Windows errors, including Media Center errors. Thus, it’s always best to ensure that you have the latest drivers on your system.
In the case of a Windows Media Center error, it may be worth updating the display driver to the latest version. Y
ou can do this using the Device Manager:
- Right-click on the Start button and click on Device Manager. Alternatively, you can simply search for the device manager using the Start menu search bar.
- Scroll down and expand the Display section.
- Right-click on the display driver and choose Update driver.
- Now, click on the Search automatically for drivers option.
- Wait for Windows to download and install the latest drivers, then reboot your computer.
Ideally, you should update all major drivers using the Device Manager when you encounter Windows Media Center errors. A lot of these major driver updates are automatically downloaded by Windows Update. If you don’t prefer using the Device Manager, you can also make use of these free driver updaters that will make your job much easier.
3. Ensure That Windows Is Updated
It’s always a good practice to keep your Windows OS up to date. Microsoft pushes out updates quite regularly, and it’s easy to get a backlog of updates, especially if you use a metered connection. However, you can manually check for updates and Windows will automatically download as well as install them.
Here is how you can check for Windows updates on your computer:
- In the Start menu search bar, type Windows Update and click on Windows Update Settings.
- Now, click on the Check for updates button.
- If there are any updates, schedule a time for Windows to restart and install them.
After updating Windows, check whether the Windows Media Center error is still there. Most likely, it will be resolved.
4. Run CHKDSK on Your Computer
The CHKDSK utility helps you find and fix hard drive-related problems on your computer. A malfunctioning hard disk drive (HDD) can also result in Windows Media Center errors. You can CHKDSK using the Command Prompt (CMD):
- Type cmd in the Windows Start menu search bar.
- Right-click on Command Prompt > Run as administrator.
- In the cmd console, type chkdsk /f X:, replacing X with the partition you want to scan. For example, if you want to scan the C: drive, you will type chkdsk /f C:.
- Wait for the scan to complete, then restart your computer.
The CHKDSK scan will automatically fix any error that it may find. It should fix the Windows Media Center error if it was due to an issue in the hard drive. If the error pops up again, move on to the next solutions listed below.
5. Rename the EpgListings Directory
Many users have fixed the Media Center error by renaming the EpgListings directory. To do this, simply use the steps listed below:
- Open Windows Explorer using Win + E.
- Navigate to C:ProgramDataMicrosofteHomePackages. You can simply copy the directory path and paste in the address bar of Windows Explorer.
- Now look for EpgListings and rename it.
- Open Windows Media Center to see if you still get the error.
6. Use System Restore
As a last resort, you can use System Restore to restore your computer to an earlier state. This will wipe out any data and applications that were added after the Restore Point was created. Therefore, back up all your important data before proceeding further.
Here is how you can use System Restore:
- In the Start menu search bar, type system restore.
- Select the Create a restore point option from the search results.
- Now, click on System Restore.
- In the System Restore wizard, click Next.
- Select a restore point from the list and click on Next.
- Double-check everything and click on Finish.
It may take a while for your computer to reboot and be restored to an earlier state. This should fix the error, provided you chose a restore point that was at a time before the Media Center error popped up. Although it is unlikely that you’ll run into a problem when using System Restore, here are a few tips and fixes in case System Restore doesn’t work.
As is evident, there are many fixes for the Windows Media Center error. While most of the fixes are simple enough to follow along for the average user, always read the steps carefully before executing them. Additionally, it’s important to be aware of some tips that will help you resolve this, and other common Windows errors in the future.
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