Windows Media Center EPG Data issues - UPDATE 7/27

Re: Hauppauge WinTV 7.  What version of Vista do you have?

I haven't tried installing it or any other EPG yet because I don't have the computer knowledge and programming expertise that many who post on these forums do have, so I am reluctant to try any of the experimental "fixes" (including installing any other EPG) which might make my situation worse.  Most of the postings on all sites concern other Windows versions, not mine.  Did you buy the

I have read online about Win7TV, NextPVR, and TitanTV  and so far, only TitanTV seems it might work on my Vista Home Premium 32-bit.  I'm afraid to download anything at this point but presently, I use TitanTV website to find schedule and program information, and then use WMC manual settings to record (terrible way to record, no series recording, etc. after using WMC w/Zap2it for 9 years with no problems until this change to Rovi!)

My computer, model HP Pavilion Media Center TV PC (32-bit) came with factory installed Hauppage WinTV-HVR1600 NTSC/ATSC Combo tuner but I don't know if WinTV 7 EPG is compatible with that tuner.  I have no installation disks with it, since the tuner and the Vista OS Media Center package was a factory installed edition.  I bought it in January, 2007 and installed all updates ever sent by MS including SP2.  I believe my 2006 edition with WMC factory installed has some different coding which is not allowing any of the "fixes" to work on this model.  I read online that this earliest Vista version with built-in WMC was an "experimental" version which MS decided to make available as a download option on the next edition of Vista and then on Windows 7.

When I started having the "No data available" on WMC because of Zap2it being switched to Rovi, I called Hauppage.  They told me they had received many complaints about the issue but that it was not Hauppage problem.  They did provide a driver update for using my tuner with WMC, which I installed but that didn't change anything (and which they didn't expect it to either since the EPG is through WMC). They said it had to be a problem with MS coding about where the programming is being pulled from. 

What Hauppauge didn't tell me or recommend is about trying to use WinTV 7 with the tuner I already have.  But after reading online ( http://www.hauppauge.com/site/support/support_hvr1600.html ) that may be because the driver-only update really only applies to WMC EPG.  What the website is NOT clear on is how or if the combined driver/download of WinTV 7 will work on those Vistas with built-in WMC.  As posted by many other Vista users, all of us who have the factory WMC cannot uninstall it because it does not appear on our list of installed programs and not on the Features page to "turn off or turn on". 

So, if we buy the required CD from the Hauppauge webstore for $9.95 (if you don't already have a tuner CD, and I don't because it was factory installed), does that mean it will actually install and somehow overwrite the EPG guide for WMC?  Have you or anyone else been able to use WinTV 7 on those early Vista 32-bit TV PCs? 

FYI, I have been reading all MS forums and other sites on this subject to see what fixes might be available and even posted on the MS Connect site (horrible format) as suggested by both Barb and John but so far, I have not found answers from MS nor posts from anyone who has been able to get a true switch from Zap2it to Rovi for WMC running on Vista HP 32-bit.

Come on, Microsoft...surely your public image and customer relations have suffered enough over this issue.   What if the answer here for us Vista users is just finding a way to uninstall WMC and then re-install?  If it's that simple, why can't Microsoft just tell us?  Better yet, call one of those programmers from 2006-2007 back out of retirement or joblessness and let them fix this?

I was just wondering if this problem with the EPG for Window Media Center is why Windows 10 does not have Media Center.  As far as I am concerned that is one reason not to install Windows 10 if you want to watch and record TV on your computer.

I was just wondering if this problem with the EPG for Window Media Center is why Windows 10 does not have Media Center.  As far as I am concerned that is one reason not to install Windows 10 if you want to watch and record TV on your computer.

Here's my theory, after reading of all the issues and doing a clean install of Win7 to try to get the EPG to work (it didn't...download failure etc.).

Step 1: switch to a lousy program guide, which skimps on details and often just gives a general idea of the program (example...the Today Show, old Zap2it version= "Matt discusses the election with Joe Smith, cooking suggestions for Thanksgiving, Dylan reports on snow in Alanta ".  New, Roki or whatever version= "The Today show, current news and features".

Thanks for the downgrade, it's always nice to know LESS about what you may want to watch or record.

Step 2: make it so the program guide only works for SOME of the users.  This is worse than it working for no one, because then it implies something's wrong with the machines having the problem.  (Hence my clean install of Win7, which yielded a failure to download a program guide on the first try ever, saying it was due to previous failed downloads.

Step 3: keep bugging the WIn7/8 users to upgrade to Win10 for FREE, which has no Windows media center.  problem solved.

I have several Win7 machines bought especially for use with Windows Media Center, as it's a great interface for cable card TV.  If I upgrade them to Win10, I have several computers that will lay around useless.  If Microsoft breaks Windows Media Center because they "just don't care", I won't pay another cent for any Windows version, ever.  They already pretty much abandoned WMC with the known bugs and no fixes (slideshows that just run through a few photos then repeat, etc.), but it's still been one of the best features of Windows ever developed.

Now they switch from a program guide that works well to one that doesn't, for what reason?  All I can conclude is they just don't care, and this is one way to force its users to quit using WMC.

Incidentally, several of the machines seem to update the guide OK, pitiful as the guide is, but a new clean install absolutely will not load ANY guide, just the no data available...on the same zip code that the older machines happily download the guide info.  Brilliant.

I suggested trying WinTV7 because you are suppose to be able to schedule recordings directly from the TitanTV listings.  When you run the setup cd you will choose whether to use WMC or WinTV7.  If you don't like WinTV7 and want to go back to using WMC just uninstall it run the setup cd again. Verify this with Hauppage before ordering the cd.  It's not really that hard so you shouldn't run into any problems.

Thanks, RobertRinehuls.  As you suggested, I'm going to contact Hauppauge before I do anything else, and ask them if they can give me assurance that their WinTV 7/driver CD package is compatible with my particular Vista setup.  I am assuming there is something in that CD programming which makes TitanTV act as the EPG and program scheduler, and is why I would need to download TitanTV (which is free) to be my EPG. (Am I understanding this right?)  If it works, $9.95 for the CD would be a small price to pay to fix such a big mess!

FYI, Hauppauge website http://www.hauppauge.com/site/products/data_hvr1600.html has some information about the WinTV-HVR-1600 tuner, which is the one I have (the one used by MS in those early versions of Vista HP 32-bit with built-in WMC.)

Here's a partial quote from that Hauppauge website:

Notes:

• For Analog TV reception, you need an analog cable TV connection. If you have a digital cable set top box or a satellite box, the WinTV-HVR-1600 can connect via either Composite or S-Video inputs. Channel changing will be done using the IR blaster.
• For ATSC over-the-air digital TV reception, a high gain antenna is recommended. To check the ATSC TV broadcasts in your area, go to TitanTV.com and enter your postal code.

Note: depending on the strength of your antenna, you might not be able to receive all broadcasts list at TitanTV.

• To use the WinTV-HVR-1600 for TV with the Windows Media Center application, a Media Center certified DVD or MPEG-2 software decoder should be standard in your Media Center PC. If you are building a Media Center PC, check Microsoft's web site for a list of Media Center certified DVD decoders. The Windows Media Center application is included with Windows XP Media Center, Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Home Premium editions only. Note: the enclosed remote control is not MCE certified and does not replace Media Center remote control.
• ATSC TV recordings are not 100% compatible with DVD, and therefore you cannot burn them directly to a DVD.
• For use with Vista, the WinTV-HVR-1600 is certified for use with Microsoft's Media Center application. Not all included applications on the enclosed installation CD are currently certified for use with Vista.
• Some original models (specifically models 74551 & 74031) do not support clear QAM.