Dolby passthrough working in WMP, but not in WMC - HELP PLEASE

Ok, I've been working on this for a few days and googled endlessly. I need help, or ill be forced to pay for cable... desperate.

I have a basic Toshiba Laptop (3gb RAM) using VGA out to my TV and Turtle Beach Micro II usb sound card to output digital audio to my B&K AVR running a 5.1 full size speaker system. I just installed Windows7 Enterprise (previously had Vista). Current setup as follows:

-Playback Device: Digital Out/SPDIF
-Turtle Beach Driver software: SPDIF selected
-Allow applications to take exclusive control: Checked Yes
-Give exclusive mode applications priority: Checked Yes
-Dolby and DTS Formats: Checked Yes
-Formats accepted 44.1/48 both selected
-I have disabled all enhancements on my built-in speakers (as directed by Shark 007)
-I have the newest 32 bit Shark 007 codec pack installed, and updated FFDSHOW and AC3 filter to passthrough. Swap in Shark007 is still set to default to Microsoft codecs.

When i play an xvid or mkv file with AC3/DTS in WMP - everythign works great. The video is seamless and the audio clear.

MY PROBLEM STARTS WHEN I TRY TO USE WINDOWS MEDIA CENTER for live OR recorded TV. The dolby audio goes in and out, which is endless frustrating. I have tried to tweak the Shark007 codec settings to swap to FFDSHOW, but that didn't help. When i resize the WMC away from full screen the dolby passes better (though not perfect). It's clearly a software issue. I have tried to setup WMC speaker configuration in 5.1 via toslink, as well as 7.1 via toslink. Neither worked. When i test my speakers in WMC I don't hear much, sometimes one or two speakers will pass the test, but never all 5. If i test WMC out of full screen mode, the test gets better (which is the same phenomenom i have when playing video in a smaller window). Does anyone have any final suggestions or fixes before i go ahead and pay the cable company?

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

CHeers,
JK

WMC will pass PCM through optical if i disable the SPDIF/Digital out in Playback devices and select a standard speaker setup.

Also, live/recorded TV does seem more apt to freeze when trying to utlilize dolby audio.

I don't have a 64 bit setup... i don't think... how would i determine this? This could be my issue... but I previously had Vista Home Premium and everything worked fine (until Vista crashed completely), which is why this is so frustrating.

I have tried the two channel setting in the Playback devices (in sound control panel) and 5.1 on speaker setup in WMC, but it didn't work. So frustrating... ill give it another shot, but I can't figure out why the passthrough works fine in WMP and not WMC.

JK

Yeah, i don't have 64 bit Windows... just 32.

At one point i uninstalled Shark and tried to use the standalone FFDShow codecs... but i wiped those after it didn't work either. I will try to start from scratch and follow your directions. Should i leave my Playback device as digital out? Or should i set it to the 2-channel speakers and setup speakers as 5.1 in WMC (i think this switches the playback device to SPDIF anyway). I will try every possible solution to avoid paying the crooks at TWC ... and i appreciate your help.

Jeff

Also, do i need to "SWAP" out (in Shark) the default Windows Codec?

Ok, do i need to "SWAP" out (in Shark) the default Windows Codecs?

Ok thanks - so ill test with defaults when i get home today - WMP plays my mkv and other files fine now, so im not so worries about that. It's just a WMC issue.

Nothing seems to fix it - the receiver continues to flash in and out of DD5.1 when WMC is in full screen. If i minimize the screen it passes better. It has to be a software issue with WMC - not sure why others haven't had this issue. When i run the tests on the toslink they work perfect, and so does playback in WMP. It's such a mystery... any other advice would be amazing. Right now i still feel like im stuck. I'm going to uninstall and reinstall WMC as a next step.

One thing i've noticed... is that WMC no longer takes sole possession of the audio... it used to do that when i was using the Vista version. This might be associated with the problem. I DO have the Exclusive Mode boxes check ... so perhaps it's not working properly.

Final Answer... I'm going back to Vista Home Premium, which worked prior to crashing... anything to avoid cable. I'll, advise if this fixes the issue.

Jeff

i did a full install the first time - not sure this would help.