Windows Media Center Receiver Service has stopped working

I'm wondering if one of the Microsoft guys or some who has resolved the same
problem can help me out.

I'm getting that great message that "Windows Media Center Receiver Service
has stopped working".

Some back ground.

I've just formatted my whole machine with a clean install of Vista Ultimate.
All Microsoft updates are complete including hotfix 933049.
Microsoft Office Professional 2007 has been installed and updated.
Trial Version of Sony Vegas 7.0e has been installed.
Vista Codec pack 4.4.9 has been installed.
Lastest Beta Driver for my geforce 7950GT have been installed (163.??)

I've also set restore points around all of those events.

My Machine Quad Core E6600 2GB ram, 2x500 HD's Raid for 0(Stripping). 7950GT
Geforce Card.

When I check the event logs it seeems to log ehRecvr.exe Event ID 1000 as a
problem.

What more information will you need from me to trouble shot this issue?
Thanks for your help

Vista Codec Pack is the most likely culprit.

Even uninstalling it might not resolve the problem -- you will HAVE to do a
System Restore to a point before you installed the codec pack.

Codec Packs are pure EVIL --avoid them at all costs

Download a free program called GSpot to analyze any video you have problems with
and download the needed codec ONLY from the manufacturer of the codec.

I had the same problem (not caused by codec pack) but only a system restore
would solve the problem.

Good luck.

You might want to just uninstall the codec pack first to see if it will resolve
the problem before you do a System Restore.

Ok uninstalling the Vista Codec pack 4.4.9 worked fine. However when
stopping a Movie that is playing ( in this case Video from my HD Camera) in
Media center I get the receiver error again.

So I am now in the process of running a system restore. Which brings me to
my next question. How long should it take for a system restore to run? Once
I finally found the right settings in Norton to turn off (because everytime I
restored it failed) it seems to be work.... however working A LOT. as of
this post it has been running for 45 minutes and still going (I'm on my
wife's computer). Is this normal?

I'll update this when it is done. But I have a funny feeling I'll still
have the Receiver problem. If I still have the problem what information will
you need me to post to help solve this problem? Event Log information?
Anything else?

Thank You!

PS To anyone reading this for support, there are options if you have Norton
Antivirus that need to be turned off for a restore to work properly. In the
Configure of Auto-Protect > Misc > Turn off > Protect Symantec Products(or
something like that)

My system restores never finished. I stopped the one I was running because
it looked locked up. I restarted in safe mode, and left the restore over
night. It never finished.
Here is the dump from the last error I got.

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: ehRecvr.exe
Application Version: 6.0.6000.16386
Application Timestamp: 4549b54f
Fault Module Name: StackHash_526e
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 00000000
Exception Code: c0000096
Exception Offset: 01502a3b
OS Version: 6.0.6000.2.0.0.256.1
Locale ID: 4105
Additional Information 1: 526e
Additional Information 2: 68692b460e306383e1f28b5a98ab8ef1
Additional Information 3: 90c7
Additional Information 4: 3decd2d4e3d628fda1257be137f859e8

Files that help describe the problem
Version.txt
AppCompat.txt
memory.hdmp
minidump.mdmp


OK. It seems microsoft listens!!!

There has been a KB936229 article that seems to address this issue. I've
submitted an online request and I will let you know what the results are!!

I found your thread when searching for a solution to the same problem.
As it turns out there was something we had in common. We both had the
Trial version of Sony Vegas 7.0. When I saw that I thought that Vegas
might be the cause of problem so I uninstalled the 3 programs that
loaded with the Vegas 7.0 trial. Once they were uninstalled WMC began
working normally. I assume that there is an incompatability issue
between Sony Vegas 7.0 and WMC that causes WMC receiver service to stop
working.

The prob with Vegas 7 is the cineform codec - file: cfhd.dll - in the
system32 folder. The file has been changed for Vegas 8, & is now
installed to the program folder... Not that it necessarily works - with
Vegas 8.0b & DVDA5 it's again/still broken - but it doesn't cause the
r'cvr error.

Maybe that'll be helpful to others going nuts with this problem, and
hopefully save them the hassle of removing Vegas if installed.

Thank-you Mikiem, you have in fact saved me from going nuts.

I uninstalled Vegas about 7months ago because of this problem but have
just had another go and with your info have it working properly. What
would you suggest doing with the offending little item? I have simply
renamed it (well, re-extensioned it actually).

Do I take it that it's removal would only interfere with HD video?

After reading all these posts I was able to figure out that sony vegas was causing my media center to not play live tv. I uninstalled sony vegas and now windows media center is working correctly. The problem is, I really want to use sony vegas. I talked to sony support and they said to install the program in safe mode. I can't think that that would work. I would have to copy all of the vegas files to my hard drive and then install from there. Any ideas on this, or has anyone else experienced this problem?

As Mikiem has said (and I can verify) Vegas v7 has a file, probably in
the folder C:\Windows\System32 called: cfhd.dll which seems to play
havoc with Vista Media Center

After renaming the file to cfhd.dll.bak I had no more problems with the
Media Center live TV function.

This would mean that the CineForm HD codec would not be available to
use though (I assume that this is only needed for Hi-Def video). If you
need it then it might be better to move the naughty file into the Vegas
folder inside C:\Program Files\Sony - I'm not sure whether this would do
the trick though.

Why Sony cannot offer this advice is quite beyond me.

I can not beleive i have not seen this thread before. I have spent days literally days with microsoft, ATI, and Dell, on this issue. I have reloaded windows, a TON of things from other threads, and NOW simply changing ONE file, has allowed my WMC to function properly in windows VISTA...

To whoever found that out, THANK YOU!!

kenmeller wrote on 06-09-08

"Hi debbiesue1,
As Mikiem has said (and I can verify) Vegas v7 has a file, probably in
the folder C:\Windows\System32 called: cfhd.dll which seems to play
havoc with Vista Media Center

After renaming the file to cfhd.dll.bak I had no more problems with the
Media Center live TV function."

I wish someone would wave a majic wand and solve all MY problems.

I ordered a TV tuner with my Dell when I ordered it.
Angel USB TV tuner
Dell Label P/N: X9844

Dell Inspiron E1705
Laptop
Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 3
1.85 gigahertz Intel Core Due
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache

I didn't use the tuner for the first year or so that I had my laptop.
When I got it out it did work.
The quality could have been better, but was pretty good anyway

I have the most recent version of the driver for the tuner and this didn't happen at the same time as the HD converstion.

Some error messages I've gotten:

Component Registration Failure
Some of the files needed to play radio or video are missing or corrupt.
Media Center component registration may have failed.
OK

Critical Process Failure
A critical media center process has unexpectedly failed. If problems persist, please restart your machine and try again, or contact technical support.
Code: 3
OK
- - - - - -
Cannot Load Files
Some of the files needed to play radio or video are missing or corrupt. Try restarting the computer.
- - - - - -
Application Failure.
A critical media center process has failed.
Please restart the computer and try again.
If the problem persists, contact your hardware manufacturer for assistance.
- - - - - -
Tuner Not Found
The tuner hardware is either malfunctioning or not installed. Please ensure that both the tuner hardware and a valid tuner hardware driver are installed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
One suggestion that I got from a board/forum that worked EXTREMELY well for a short period of time was to power down, unplug your power cord, and I think also unhook your internet.
Because I have a laptop, at the same time I also removed my batter.
Then put everything back.
Over the course of a couple of weeks or months this started working less and less well, and then not at all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To get the specs, I found a tuner for sale on ebay.......

System Requirements:
5400 RPM or faster Disk Drive (Note: Disk DMA must be enabled for proper operation.)
Minimum 256MB RAM, 512MB Recommended
1.8GHz Processor, 400 MHz Front Side Bus
DirectX 9.1 or higher
One USB type A port for the Angel USB TV Tuner (must be USB 2.0)

This tuner is compatible with: Windows Media Center 2005 Edition, Windows Vista (32 and 64-bit), and Windows 7.

*The following applications may be used to gain functionality with Windows XP:
Monsoon Multimedia SnappySoft
Sonic MyDVD Studio v6.2
MediaPortal (free)
GB-PVR (free)

Latest Vendor Drivers and Programs (XP, Vista)
View Dell's User Guide.
Download Dell's Drivers.

Dell Part#: X9844, MJ438, HJ649
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
drm?

Delete or remove codecs?
MP3, WMA, RealVideo, RealAudio, DivX, XviD, .AVI ?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Is Monsoon Multimedia SnappySoft just for recording, or can I use it to watch my cable TV live?

One solution that I read involved going to
Administrative Tools
Services
and then, I think, disabling 1 or 2 or 3
services in this section
Media Center Extender Service
Media Center Receiver Service
Media Center Scheduler Service.

I think that's what I did.

I disabled 1 or 2 of them and all of a sudden I could get TV for a minute or 2 or 3 at at time.
Then out.
Then reboot and get it for a minute or so, etc.

"Replying to a 18+ month old thread ?
Do 'ya really think the OP is waiting that long !"

I do not think so, whatever OP is.
It was my way of trying to summarize work that has succeeded (sp?) before without summarizing it.

I clicked on
"news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsof....vista.general"

My ZoneAlarm said:
"Outlook Express is trying to access the trusted zone.
Allow.
Deny."
I am access-shy due to my recent malware episode.
This is OK?

I don't us Outlook Express regularly, or at all.

Outlook Express Window:
“Would you like to subscribe to microsoft.public.windows.vista.general?”

Good you are learning. Outlook Express is your default News Client and via NNTP TCP port
119 it will communicate to the Microsoft News Server directly; MSNews.Microsoft.Com where
you will hav direct access to the whole Microsoft hierarchy. When you have learned about
that you can learn about the 10's of thousands of public Usenet groups and the many
private NNTP servers that give you the wealth of information at your fingertips.
Bypassing leeches such as techarena.in which fake the fact they don't have their own
forums but use a Usenet gateway and leech of Usenet.

OK Dave-
This is on my to do list. I will look for a tutorial or something.

I see. I can read up at wiki. OK.

In the mean time, I wouldn't mind responding to a thread that is less than 18 months old. I was hoping that by adding to this thread, someone could direct me to a solution thread that I missed in my searching.

So......


kenmeller wrote on 06-09-08

"Hi debbiesue1,
As Mikiem has said (and I can verify) Vegas v7 has a file, probably in the folder C:\Windows\System32 called: cfhd.dll which seems to play havoc with Vista Media Center

After renaming the file to cfhd.dll.bak I had no more problems with the Media Center live TV function."

I wish someone would wave a majic wand and solve all MY problems.

I ordered a TV tuner with my Dell when I ordered it.
Angel USB TV tuner
Dell Label P/N: X9844

Dell Inspiron E1705
Laptop
Bottom of laptop says:
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
(But I think Belarc or some other program told me: Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Version 2002 Service Pack 3)
1.85 gigahertz Intel Core Due
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
2048 kilobyte secondary memory cache

I didn't use the tuner for the first year or so that I had my laptop.
When I got it out it did work.
The quality could have been better, but was pretty good anyway

I have the most recent version of the driver for the tuner and this didn't happen at the same time as the HD converstion.

Some error messages I've gotten:

Component Registration Failure
Some of the files needed to play radio or video are missing or corrupt.
Media Center component registration may have failed.
OK

Critical Process Failure
A critical media center process has unexpectedly failed. If problems persist, please restart your machine and try again, or contact technical support.
Code: 3
OK
- - - - - -
Cannot Load Files
Some of the files needed to play radio or video are missing or corrupt. Try restarting the computer.
- - - - - -
Application Failure.
A critical media center process has failed.
Please restart the computer and try again.
If the problem persists, contact your hardware manufacturer for assistance.
- - - - - -
Tuner Not Found
The tuner hardware is either malfunctioning or not installed. Please ensure that both the tuner hardware and a valid tuner hardware driver are installed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
One suggestion that I got from a board/forum that worked EXTREMELY well for a short period of time was to power down, unplug your power cord, and I think also unhook your internet.
Because I have a laptop, at the same time I also removed my batter.
Then put everything back.
Over the course of a couple of weeks or months this started working less and less well, and then not at all.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

To get the specs, I found a tuner for sale on ebay.......

System Requirements:
5400 RPM or faster Disk Drive (Note: Disk DMA must be enabled for proper operation.)
Minimum 256MB RAM, 512MB Recommended
1.8GHz Processor, 400 MHz Front Side Bus
DirectX 9.1 or higher
One USB type A port for the Angel USB TV Tuner (must be USB 2.0)

This tuner is compatible with: Windows Media Center 2005 Edition, Windows Vista (32 and 64-bit), and Windows 7.

*The following applications may be used to gain functionality with Windows XP:
Monsoon Multimedia SnappySoft
Sonic MyDVD Studio v6.2
MediaPortal (free)
GB-PVR (free)

Latest Vendor Drivers and Programs (XP, Vista)
View Dell's User Guide.
Download Dell's Drivers.

Dell Part#: X9844, MJ438, HJ649
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
drm?

Delete or remove codecs?
MP3, WMA, RealVideo, RealAudio, DivX, XviD, .AVI ?
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Is Monsoon Multimedia SnappySoft just for recording, or can I use it to watch my cable TV live?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

One solution that I read involved going to
Administrative Tools
Services
and then, I think, disabling 1 or 2 or 3
services in this section
Media Center Extender Service
Media Center Receiver Service
Media Center Scheduler Service.

I think that's what I did.

I disabled 1 or 2 of them and all of a sudden I could get TV for a minute or 2 or 3 at at time.
Then out.
Then reboot and get it for a minute or so, etc.