Win7 Media Center Guide Magically Working Again!
Ok, so when MSFT switched data providers over 2 years ago, both my Win7 media center systems (7mc going forward) stopped getting guide data. I worked and worked and worked with every available solution. On the main 7mc system started working about a month later … after manually having to setup and schedule recordings for 2 weeks. Most of the recommended solutions had people changing their ZIP code … well, since 1 of the machines has been working with my correct ZIP, I knew that wasn’t the issue. Followed all the so-called solutions , most of which said to flush 7MC and reload using a different, nearby, ZIP. Did this multiple times for the first 6 months or so. Never worked.
- System A: Win7 Ultimate x32 running inside a KVM Virtual Machine. This VM has been moved to different KVM hosts 3 times. MSFT gave me this license for attending the Win7 launch (it was a work thing).
- System B: Win7 Home x64 running on a physical Dell Laptop (1st gen Core i5). This license came with the laptop.
Broken for 2 Years
The other machine (B) with 7mc didn’t work except in the manual mode all this time. So basically, it was relegated to recording by time-channel, not using any guide data. About every month, I would try to get guide data loaded, but it failed all-this-time – 2 + years. That is, until today. Today, it worked on the machine that hasn’t gotten any guide data updates in about 2 years, B.
Funny Thing Is …
So the funny thing is that I stopped installing any patches from MSFT last February ‘16 – that’s about 10 months ago – over MSFT’s changes to privacy and attempts to trick people into loading Win10. Win10 doesn’t include media center. The machine is only used for recording TV, not playback, and my network is mostly Linux at this point. Not sure I’ll ever patch any Win7 machines here again. The other machine, A, which has been getting guide updates most of the last few years has also been unpatched since Feb. We don’t really use Windows much anymore, just for recording TV, lite video editing and as a remote desktop client into a private cloud desktop. We have other remote desktop clients which work better than Windows, but it is nice to have options. Plus the “B” laptop is connected to some old dual 24inch 1200p monitors. Lots of screen real estate is nice for work/programming.
The last time I installed any programs on either machine was around Feb ’16 for the machine that has been getting schedule data – tax software. Basically, that has been the only software installed on either machine for the last 5 years.
Not Sure What to make of this. I didn’t change anything on this side the last 6+ months. Nothing. The machine has been rebooted about 4 times in that timeframe. I don’t really reboot often.
Question
So, Microsoft, what did you finally do on your side to make things work? I’m curious why it took 2 years and didn’t need any change on my side?
Or does disabling updates NOT really disable all updates?
