Windows Mobile Device Center will not launch (BIG PROBLEM)

Wow, I have a big problem. WMDC (Windows Mobile Device Center) will not even
open up for me. I double click the icon in the control panel and nothing!!!
I even tried to install the update and still nothing!!! Vista is crumbling
away at my feet. I am having multiple problems and they are ALL Vista
related not hardware, anti-virus related, or firewall related. I have a
t-mobile wing. It used to sync up fine. But one day WMDC stopped working.
I tried to restore back to a previous restore point and Vista won't let me go
back to ANY previous point. Windows Media Center won't let me play live TV
either. Help!!!! I have NO more days left on my Vista support. I consider
myself an advanced user and NOTHING I've tried has worked. ANY suggestions
other than reinstalling Vista OR going back to XP would be greatly
appreciated. Thanks in advance. Mike

I'm having the exact same problem and nothing is fixing it. This is pathetic.
Time for Microsoft to make software that works, please. My frustration is
through the roof.

bbacchus, I tried everything I knew to fix WMDC... I tried uninstalling it,
reinstalling it, uninstalling it then connect my device to see if Vista would
recognize it and install the software automatically, I looked in my device
manager to see if there were any conflicts...nothing, with so many problems I
decided to format my HDD and start over. So I am going on day 3 with the
freshly installed Vista OS and I am still having minor problems but they are
now a whole new set of problems. Go figure! The main problem is that my
system hangs from a restart and I have to put the Vista disk in and do a
repair EVERYTIME I HAVE TO RESTART!!! This OS doesn't make sense. It works
perfectly on my Dell notebook but not on my XPS 700. Microsoft should be
ashamed of this OS but they are not. THEY SHOULD GIVE UNLIMITED SUPPORT FOR
VISTA instead of just a year because the problems with it are ongoing and
they change from install to install. The release of Vista has probably been
the #1 reason so many people have switched to Mac. If I didn't have so much
invested in PC software I would have made the switch long ago. Funny
thing...Microsoft might be the death of themselves with this FLAWED OS.
Sorry this turned into a rant but I feel very frustrated and have wasted
enough time.

[Ching]

I did everything possible before I stumbled upon this:

1. Go to Start, type 'cmd.exe' in the Search box.

2. Right-click on 'cmd.exe' and choose 'Run as Administrator'.

3. Type 'net localgroup Administrators /add Local Service' and press Enter.

4. Now try opening WMDC. A reboot may be required before this but I guess it's not necessary. Mine worked without it.

I'm glad to hear that it worked for you too. If you face any other problems related to Windows Vista, please let me know, I'll try and help.

Just to confirm, did you try the solution I posted earlier in this thread? If that did not help, the cause of the problem could be something totally different and we may have go perform a different set of troubleshooting steps.

Can you post a copy of your system information to this thread or email me the same? To save your system information, please do the following:

1. Press the Win Logo + R on the keyboard.
2. Type Msinfo32 and press Enter
3. Click on File > Save As > type a name in the 'File Name' field and specify the location as, maybe, the Desktop.
4. Send the file over.

Let me take a look at that file and see if I can find something out in there.

I'm sorry I could not respond to your post earlier. I was away for a while.

[andrewck]

Ching - can't thank you enough - i was going nuts trying to get WMDC to work until I found your post - it worked like a charm

I am having same problem as ipaq frustration - did anyone find a fix for this?

Thank you, Ching. You are a life saver!!!

[Ipaq Frustration]

I hope you can help me.

I have just started using my Ipaq hw6915 with Vista (my old machine was XP).

As you know Activesync is replaced by WMDC in Vista. I have looked around and cannot find a similar problem to mine. When I try to download WMDC it seems all I get is an update. It shows in Control Panel but nowhere else and when I try to open it I get a very limited Connections box but the application itself doesn't open. I'm at my wits end here.

Any advice?

Thanks in advance.

[outlawcatcher]

I am having a similar problem as this. I have just replaced the HD on my laptop in a computer shop run by a friend of mine. He reinstalled Vista Home and now I cant sync with my orange spv 700. I delayed replacing the HD because I am very wary of syncing problems and I was right to do so. I consider myself to be adept at sync issues after doing it for ten years...but it syncing problems still annoy me and this one has got me stumped!!!

I have tried to connect by USB and blue tooth.
bluetooth: device shows up in my computer and I can view my docs etc but does not sync. My mobile shows that it is connected but there is a com port fault. I have changed my com port to every one of them and it is now on com 4 (which is usual). I can put the pass key in on the pc when it connects by bluetooth but after that the WMDC just wont open up like it normally does. If I double click on it the ''waiting for device to connect' box comes up and thats it?? So in a nutshell I have a bluetooth connection but the WMDC does not start up and it looks like the SPV/Pc are not talking to each other???

USB:Naffffiinnng at all! Which was the same as my old HD, the USB link does get 'glitched' sometimes with an unknown USB connection problem and I can never resolve it unless I do a hard reset...but I cant really be bothered to go reload all the applications back on my phone so I just resort to a bluetooth connection.

Soooo now I have a defective USB connection and a ruddy dicky blue tooth/WMDC problem...complete nusiance! Ching seems clued up so I wonder if he can help me??... either that or I am going to go for an iPhone as I am fed up with the unreliability of WMDC...take heed Windows, your loosing customers!

[Ching]

Hi David,

I'm sorry I couldn't reply sooner. Techarena usually sends me email alerts when I have a reply or a message from a member but it never happened this time. That's bad. Also, I've been kinda busy of late, building PC's for friends. I don't have the money to build new ones for myself so I find victims. LOL.

Anyway, sorry to hear about the syncing problem but I'm sure we can work it out together.

It could be a sync partnership issue. But, let me not get to any conclusions yet, so for now, I'd request you to please send me errors in the Event Viewer logged under Application Logs for 'RapiMgr'.

You probably know how to get it, but just in case you don't, to open Event Viewer, press the Windows logo key + R, type eventvwr and press enter.

Cheers!
Ching

[outlawcatcher]

Hi Ching,

Heck that's novel, you not having even used WMDC/synced a PDA before, amazing! Actually Ching, this is the first time I have used event viewer too so thanks for the instructions. I have had a development though. I did download WDMC again today from the windows website and hey presto I managed to get it to sync...eventually! It still played up though as it syncd and froze about 4-5 times, no windows error messages but I had to go to task manager to terminate the programme a couple of times. The error messsages in event viewer were all the same:

Log Name: Application
Source: RapiMgr
Date: 11/26/2009 5:41:39 PM
Event ID: 8
Task Category: None
Level: Error
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: mainuser-PC
Description:
Windows Mobile-based device failed to connect due to communication (0x80072745) failure (see data for failure code).
Event Xml:
<Event xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/win/2004/08/events/event">
<System>
<Provider Name="RapiMgr" />
<EventID Qualifiers="49152">8</EventID>
<Level>2</Level>
<Task>0</Task>
<Keywords>0x80000000000000</Keywords>
<TimeCreated SystemTime="2009-11-26T17:41:39.000Z" />
<EventRecordID>2394</EventRecordID>
<Channel>Application</Channel>
<Computer>mainuser-PC</Computer>
<Security />
</System>
<EventData>
<Data>communication (0x80072745)</Data>
</EventData>
</Event>

So in a nutshell, I have actually managed to sync outlook again but I will have to play with my third party applications. Even though I synced it today I am very wary of the reliability of WDMC though...so if you can shed some light from the error messages then please tell me.

Also will it help you if you email me direct at outlawcatcher@keme.co.uk ...by the way thanks for your kind email, it is very nice of you to help me out.

Regards

David

[Ching]

Hope the cold UK weather hasn't frozen up your M700. We need that piece of equipment working.

OK, here's what we are going to do:

1. If available, let's try to reproduce the problem using a different computer. This is to eliminate device OS issues. If it shows the same problem on 2 or more PC's we could be looking at a bad device OS.
I borrowed an HTC phone from a friend and checked it out on 3 of my pc's. This phone had a fresh OS install. It worked fine. And fyi, this was the first time I ever used a real PDA to play around with sync issues; I've always used an emulator.

2. If we can't repro the issue on a different PC and it syncs fine repeatedly, let's look further ...

When sync fails,

a) Open Device Manager (Win Key + R > devmgmt.msc), expand Network Adapters and check if we have a "Windows mobile-based Device #<number>"
with a bang on it (a yellow exclamation mark usually).

b) Open Network Connections (WinKey + R > ncpa.cpl) and check if we have a "Windows mobile-based Device #<number>". If it is there with no visible issues, please open a command prompt, type ipconfig /all and send me the info specific to "Windows mobile-based Device #<number>".

We could be looking at what is called a socket reset which 0x80072745 translates to, although the code itself is pretty generic. When this happens, traffic over RNDIS (the network connection the device creates) is severed with a request from the device and this usually happens with faulty device OS. If you would want me to confirm this, please attach the following following files when you reply:

wcescomm.log
wceslog.log
wcesmgr.log

Just run a normal search on C:\ drive and you should find them. If not go to your Temp directory by pressing Winkey + R and typing %temp%. If you fancy, we could try capturing a trace of RNDIS traffic using a tool. That will tell us for sure, where and how is traffic getting disrupted.

And hey, if you are asking yourself, "Oh God! What have I gotten into?", please let me know. LOL. Not all people have the time to do what some prefer to call 'troubleshooting'. I like to call it 'being curious'.

Oh, btw, have you considered syncing over the air? I mean connecting to your Exchange Server with the device and syncing. My Sony Ericsson P990i seems to support that and it's kind of nice. I just discovered it!

Your issue is pretty similar in nature to David's except that the PDA in sync mode seems to be detected as some sort of a portable device like an MP3 player and I'm pretty sure, Media Player detects it that way. In 'internet sharing' mode, we are basically using the device as a modem. Now, to be honest I'm not familiar with the UI but I'm sure you should be able to set up to connect over RNDIS. I understand it's hard to find documentations now-a-days. Manufactures just take it for granted that users know everything and supply almost no documentation. I'll see if I can find something on this.

But if you have figured it out yourself, this is what I'd like you to do:

1. Download and install MS's Network Monitor 3.3 from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...6-3088333D062F and install it.

2. Connect the PDA in sync mode.

3. Start a new netmon capture. Be sure to select the interface the PDA has created.

4. Initiate a sync and let the capture run for about a minute past the sync failure.

5. Stop the capture and save it to file. You'll get a <filename>.cap file.

6. Zip it up and attach it to your next post. Let me take a look.

PS: David could do the same. If you're going to do it, name your capture david.cap and Manishie's would be manishie.cap. Don't wanna prescribe wrong medicines. HEHEHEH

Something's blocking our traffic. You never know, it could be a software firewall. And it's interesting because the same device works on other PC's which simply means that we have something different on the laptop.

A friend just got a Motorola Droid so I borrowed it from him and played with it last night. Quite a neat device except for the robotic voice saying "DROID!" LOL

David, if you are reading this: you are the guy who made me get really curious about syncing.

And Manishie, you sure you'll buy me beer if I come to LA? Actually LA is way too far. Send me a private message, I'll tell where I live. (All for the love of a beer. LOL)

Kemon achhen? (Learnt this from a Bengali colleague here at work.)

I'd say, at this point, let's consider the software firewall, if you have one. Try disabling it and let's see if that makes a difference.

Are you facing difficulties following the steps in my post? Please let me know which part you are having trouble with.

[manishie]

i hope you don't mind me inserting myself into this thread. i'm having a similar problem and it's been driving me crazy for a month! perhaps my problem and david's problem might have similar resolutions.

here are my details:

1. i'm using windows 7 on my laptop. i had no sync problems with this hardware and xp, but i cannot sync with windows 7.
2. my htc touch diamond can sync fine with my carpc running windows 7, but not on my laptop.
3. on my laptop, my phone can connect as a disk drive, and doing internet sharing on the phone (so my laptop uses the phone's internet connection). it just won't work for activesync.
4. i have disabled the setting for "enable faster data synchronization".
5. i get the same error in event viewer if i try to connect via bluetooth or usb:

   Windows Mobile-based device failed to connect due to communication (0x80072745) failure (see data for failure code)

   .
6. i am currently running a custom rom on my phone, with windows mobile 6.5. however, i have had the same problem with the stock rom running the older version of windows mobile (6.0 or 6.1 or whatever it was).
7. none of those wces*.log files exist anywhere on my computer.
8. when connected for internet sharing, my device will show up in device manager under network adapters as "remote ndis based internet sharing device. when i try and connect for activesync, it does not appear under network adapters, but it does appear under "mobile devices" as "pocket pc usb sync". in neither situation does an error/exclamation mark appear in device manager.
9. i have uninstalled wmdc multiple times with no luck

this is driving me crazy! so if anyone has any suggestions, i'll buy you a beer next time you're in los angeles! thanks in advance...

thanks for your detailed and quick help! (pm to follow so we can coordinate on that beer. perhaps an e-beer will have to do if you live on the other side of the planet!)

so i installed network monitor (you have to make sure to run it as administrator in win 7 otherwise you won't see anything).

problem is that it doesn't return anything at all for the sync connection. if i change to internet sharing, then all sorts of stuff appears. but not for syncing. i checked off all possible networks just to make sure.

also, i've confirmed that on my other machine with which i can sync just fine, my phone appears the same exact way in device manager - under "mobile devices" as "pocket pc usb sync". so on a device level, the phone seems to connect fine to my laptop. syncing just won't work.

clarification on my last post - i tried disabling the firewall, but that did not work.

[outlawcatcher]

Hi Ching, sorry for the late reply but I have been busy working. I have'nt had the time to try out what you said and I think I will leave it for the time being as my phone is syncing now...well most of it in anyway. Some of my installed programmes are not but at a guess if I reinstall them they might well do so...the thing is I don't have the time to do this so will just have to put up with it. This is frustrating though as it used to sync very well...I think I will look into getting an iphone seeing as my contract is up with my present provider. I will see how it all works for the time being. To be honest the process you outlined is also a bit beyond my capability but I am sorely impressed with your effort to help and your knowledge on the problem. Thank you for trying...I will see how it all works out over the next few weeks...David

[karenskehel]

I am brand new to this forum and not technical. Suddenly like you others my windows mobile device centre won't open. I saw Ching's reply but don't know exactly what to do. Can anyone help? Thanks

[karenskehel]

I rebooted and all is now well.

I hope the problem is now sorted it, but if not, it is really good to know you are there.

Thanks

[RamBilas]

Hi,

I am trying to Install Windows Mobile Device Center 6.1 on my Windows 7 Enterprise 64 Bit Laptop.

The installation process says completed successfully.
But when I connect my WindowsMobile, nothing happens.
As mentioned in this thread, I tried to locate various processes in the task manager, but couldnt locate any. Even I tried manually start wmdc.exe in "Run as administrator" mode. I am unable to figure out the issue.

I remember almost 10 months back when I had installed WMDC on this laptop first time it used to run fine. As soon as I connected the Mobile I used to see the Windows Device icon in the Explorer. Now, nothing is happening. Even it is not creating any network adapter in the "Network Connections" except the "Generic RNDIS" in device manager.

I am using the system in a corporate network.

Any help to rectify this will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Ram.