Windows Media Center Electronic Program Guide Alternatives

Anonymous
2019-10-02T00:29:35+00:00

I've recently received a popup on my Windows Media Center home screen stating that the Electronic Program Guide will not be available after January 2020.  I've long expected this day.  The popup gives you a click option for alternatives to the EPG, but the link it takes you to is a nothing link for generic guide troubleshooting (I got the same popup on my Windows Media Center Extender.  Clicking on it rebooted the extender).

Are any 3rd party EPG alternatives even in the works?  I am trying to figure what my next DVR setup will be and need to get on it.  Am thinking of getting an Amazon Recast box, but kind of want to see if they have a second generation (with larger HDDs) in the works.  Thinking about SiliconDust's HDHomeRun stuff, or perhaps rolling my own with Plex or something.  Again, having an EPG is paramount.  

For what it's worth - I've bought into WMC since the beginning - I was the lead factory escalation engineer for a vendor's line of Media Center products - it will be like saying goodbye to an old friend, and even though it was pretty much abandoned in place for the past ten plus years, there was someone there to make sure it still was working.  Just a thank you to the Windows Home team...

-Dale

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Music, photos, and video

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Anonymous
2019-10-28T00:53:58+00:00

Hi,

For what its worth I am also a long time WMC user and hate to see it go. However, in anticipation I've set up a Plex server and have been running it in parallel with WMC the last couple of months just to see how it would work as a DVR. You had to buy a one time DVR license from Plex which I think was around $80 (it's normally more than that but they were running a special over the summer). The one time fee was another reason that I decided to try Plex versus some of the other options that had recurring fees.  Anyway, I've been using Plex with my OTA antenna and an amazon firestick and it seems to be working fine without any EPG issues like the ones that always seemed to be popping up with WMC. As an added plus I can also stream from my server to my phone which comes in handy at the gym. 

Regards.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-01-18T05:09:30+00:00

    Dave

    First, I made sure my Windows 10 Pro system and Microsoft Store apps were fully updated and patched.  Configured and tested my Hauppauge and HDHomeRun tuners before starting.  Not sure if its necessary for WMC but I always make sure the MPEG-2 extensions from Microsoft are installed from the Windows Store on my Win10 systems.

    You can find the installer by googling "windows media center windows 10 france"  You can choose x86 or x64 versions, even which color you want for the UI (I chose blue).  Make sure you get the latest version, and "run as administrator" where it tells you.   You might need to translate the page in your browser.

    Mine is still working after this month's "Patch Tuesday" - that's a good sign.

    Not MS endorsed, and your mileage may vary.

    -Dale

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-01-18T03:59:35+00:00

    I tried to get WMC to install with windows 10 but it wouldn't.

    How did you get it to install?

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-01-18T03:23:20+00:00

    Well, my experiment has progressed enough.  I've cancelled the trial Plex Pass subscription and uninstalled it.   Now running WMC bolted onto Windows 10.   I replaced the Nvidia Geforce 730 card with a newer Geforce 1030 card which made all the difference in the world as far as performance with the new display (had switched to a 4K TV from previously using an XGA projector).  WMC on Win10 is stable, and for the moment, am still getting Guide updates from MS.  The minute it stops populating, I'm getting EPG123.  We'll see what I use long-term, but for now, this is working well, and the OS is supported and getting security updates.  

    That and my wife is happy as she likes the UI and it reliably records, where Plex was... meh on both counts.

    Still hoping for a next-gen Amazon Recast though...

    -Dale

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-01-12T22:54:14+00:00

    David,

    Before I retired, I was the escalation / factory support person for the HP Pavilion desktop systems - including the former Digital Entertainment Center PC, sort of the buck stop here (the person that packaged the SoftPaqs (SW updates), wrote the READMEs, etc).  Totally bought into WMC back in the XP/Vista days and used it up until now.   A few years ago I revamped my home theatre system to use an HP i5 SFF business desktop w 16GB, using an SSD boot drive and a 4TB NAS quality 3.5" drive in the chassis, low profile nVidia GT730 and Dual Channel Hauppauge Tuner.  As you can see from the string above, have been experimenting with the alternatives.  Plex, while so configurable, makes for a very crummy DVR compared to WMC.  I bolted WMC onto my Win10 Pro boot drive and while it works, I can't seem to get my Media Center Extender to configure to it - am guessing it's a firewall issue in Win10.  I'm also seeing lots of video frame drops, jerkyness, but it could be the fact that in the process of switching I went from an XGA projector to a 4K big screen, with much more work on the part of WMC and the older nVidia card.  WinTV works, but is made for a keyboard interface, not the 10' UI with a remote.   I'll probably put back in the Win7 boot drive and setup WMC using the EPG123 that GARyan here has put together / packaged/ championed.  I've purchased Norton for the firewall / antivirus (in case MS kills off the Defender updates) and will just use this as a local DVR.  I still want to test Emby though and am hoping that Amazon puts out a next-gen of their Recast TV box soon (the current one maxes out at 720p) - that would be a more logical platform, as we've got a couple of Fire TVs already.  A couple of my former coworkers using WMC have switched to EPG123 and have had good luck with it.  It's been an interesting experiment, and as I've already said a time or two, makes me appreciate the robustness and simplicity of usage of WMC all the more.

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