Vista - Unable to start Windows Media Centre

Hi,


I am running Window Vista Home Premium SP1 and have been unable to
start WMC using the remote control, shortcuts or by running the
ehshell.exe both normally and as administrator.


When I try to start WMC using any of the above it looks like the
programme trys to start (blue circle appears for a few seconds) then
nothing happens.



The last time I tried to open MCE I recieved the following error message: -
C:\WINDOWS\ehome\ehshell.exe
"Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may
not have the appropriate permissions to access the item."


Every few days after restarting the PC an icon appears on the system
tray informing me that WMC is downloading guide information from the
net for the TV channel listing. When I right click on the icon and
select open WMC I get the following error message: -
"Unable to start Windows Media Centre"


I have tried setting up a new shortcut, uninstalled and reinstalled
SP1 and have installed the latest driver for my video card NVIDIA
GeForce 7650 GS driver 7.15.11.7490 and have still been unable to
resolve the problem.



I have searched the net and Microsoft support and have been unable to
find a solution so any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Mirtna

Hi, mirtna, and welcome to the forums.

Have you run an "SFC /SCANNOW" to search for corrupted files?

Mirtna - I take it that you have been using WMC until fairly recently? Could you do a system restore? Or possibly temporarily fit a different graphics card?

Howya johngalt and AvatarOfTheShip,

Re your previous posts: -

Unfortunately I do not have a restore point prior to when the issue originated, I also do not have a different video card to test with.

When I try to start SFC/SCANNOW the command prompt flashes on screen for a second, disappears then nothing.
When running SFC as administrator I receive a prompt that asks me to confirm to run 'system integrity check and repair' when I confirm I receive no further prompts.
This seems like a similar issue I am experiencing with WMC.

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated as I am running out of options.

Cheers,

Mirtna

I'd check out your system for possible malware, and / or an aggressively overactive antimalware program....

Hi,

I checked for malware scanning with AVG free, Search & Destroy free and Ad-Adware free. I did not find any viruses and quarantined any spyware.

I then switched of AVG and Windows Defender and am experiencing the same problem.

Any further advice greatly appreciated.

Mirtna

Hmmm - this is getting interesting. Try Repair Install For Vista

Based upon Repair Install For Vista and the fact that you cannot finish SFC, you should follow Check Disk - chkdsk also.

Finally, if you don't have the OEM version of Vista and still don't have a Vista disc for the repair installation, see Create a Recovery Disc

HTH

Media Centre can be picky over drivers and codecs, as I know from bitter experience. "Make sure you have the latest graphics drivers" is the well-worn phrase, but this is not always the best advice; sometimes it can pay to step back a ways. Can you get hold of a different graphics card? Something quite humble would do, just for the test.

Hi Avatar / JohnGalt.

Apologies for not getting back to you sooner I had been tring the solutions you recommended when I got a chance.
Unfortunately, I am still experiencing the problem when launching media centre. I have outlined the solutions I tried and the results below.

Again any help is greatly appreciated and JohnGalt I am delighted you are finding it interesting. I am just finding it annoying (smiley).


Repair install:
I have a Windows Vista Home Premium Express Upgrade disc that was sent by my PC manufacturer when Vista was launched. The disc upgraded the OS from XP to Vista.
When I try to run the disc I receive the following error message
“Install Windows
The file ‘autorun.dll’ could not be loaded or is corrupt. Setup cannot continue. Error code is [0x4D3]”

Create recovery disc:
I have Vista SP1 installed and followed the instructions at the filepath below to try and create a recovery disc: -
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/141820-create-recovery-disc.html
Successfully took ownership of the exe using the cmd prompt see below: -
C:\Windows\system32>takeown/f c:\windows\system32\recdisc.exe
SUCCESS: The file (or folder): "c:\windows\system32\recdisc.exe" now owned by us
er "STIG\Stig".
C:\Windows\system32>icacls c:\windows\system32\recdisc.exe /grant stig:f
processed file: c:\windows\system32\recdisc.exe
Successfully processed 1 files; Failed processing 0 files
Replaced the recdisc.exe with the downloaded recdisc.exe and created a shortcut on the desktop.
When launching the recdisc.exe from the desktop I receive a windows prompt asking for permission to launch recdisc.exe on clicking OK nothing happens. This is a similar issue as launching Media Centre.

Check Disc
I ran chkdsk at start up and repaired error and bad sectors and am still experiencing the same problem.

Graphics Card Driver
I am unable to get my hands on another graphics card for test but have rolled back the graphics card drive and am still experiencing the same problem.

Other solutions I tried outside of the ones you recommended was to make a recovery disc using vlite-1.1.6.installer.exe with no success and downloading a Vista_Recovery_Disc.iso but was unable to burn the image using Nero 7 or ImgBurn.

This is certainly very odd -you shouldn't have to take possession of any files to run an installation/program- usually this is if you want to do something fancy, like say changing your boot logo. It looks like a backup of your files and a complete re-install of Vista from scratch is indicated. I am very conscious of the fact that this seems very defeatist, but given the steps you've taken and the advice you've received, all to no avail, I think it's your best option at this point