[LastButNotLeast]

Can't miss it - it will be on the bottom left of the dialog box.

BTW, I've been using epg123 and had updates turned off, so I don't know how some have been lucky enough not to have to deal with the annoying pop-up (and I have a pop-up blocker).
Just glad it's gone now.
Michael

 

[Sammy2]

I just did it, all I have left to do is go uncheck the channels I don't get in WMC so it doesn't record on channels I don't have (I realize I could have done this during EPG123 setup I believe but I like having the guide data for other channels as I may decide to add them if I see anything interesting).


Somehow it seems like it transferred my recording schedule automatically as they are all still there after setting up EPG123, I thought it would require additional steps.


Thanks everyone for the help as this was a bit stressful for me as this is also my work PC (use LCD monitor to work and switch to 106" front projection to use as an HTPC) and I didn't want anything to go wrong.


Edit: I just realized only the most popular TV shows were transferred to the new recording schedule, or about 28 out of over 50, I knew it was too good to be true but at least most transferred flawlessly.

I did this three years ago without such luxury. epg123 has come a very long way, adding in the features of MyChannelLogos and GuideTool along the way.

 

[Nobr8ks]

My WMC 8.1, Acer laptop, epg updated for February. Maybe someone flipped it back on?

 

[roknrol]

Windows 8 is still under MS support, so that’s good they didn’t kill the guide for you. Guessing Windows 7 users aren’t getting Rovi guide data anymore.

 

[drh3b]

Windows 8 is still under MS support, so that’s good they didn’t kill the guide for you. Guessing Windows 7 users aren’t getting Rovi guide data anymore.

Weirdly enough, I've been getting the non premium channels, and Saturday morning, I got back the premium channels. Over the past few years, I would lose the premium channels, and would have to reinstall the tuners to get them back, or they would occasionally fix themselves on their own. I went back to TiVo a few years ago, because my HTPC is not 100% reliable, and the last few years, Media Center has been flaky on it's own, and the tuner wasn't 100% reliable. Too many things to go wrong. In any case, my point is that I'm still getting data and I'm on Windows 7 pro, although I'm probably going to go to 10, and see if that windows media center link provided above works, and if not, probably just drop it instead of going back to 7.

 

[Ken H]

Windows 8 is still under MS support, so that’s good they didn’t kill the guide for you. Guessing Windows 7 users aren’t getting Rovi guide data anymore.

Although they were sporadic, like they have been for a few years now since Rovi took over, both Windows 7 & 8 received WMC guide updates until the first week in April. Since then nothing for either. It was a suitably unpredictable ending in light of the fact Microsoft said the end was January 2020......

The best option now is EPG123, which is free, and a subscription to Schedules Direct for the data which costs $25 per year. Anyone that can set up and use WMC, can get EPG123 & Schedules Direct to work just fine. It's not an issue to continue to use Windows 7 or 8 for WMC indefinitely; when set up properly it's stable and secure as long as WMC is all you use the PC for. You can even turn off Windows Update.

EDIT 5/11/20 - As noted, its been figured out how to import WMC into Windows 10, but as 10 gets updated various problems can occur, in particular using a CableCard for DRM protected channels. For this type of WMC use, you have to use a very early version (Build 1511) of Windows 10. I have a dedicated Windows 7 PC running WMC with no problems, so I haven't closely followed using WMC with Windows 10, please check further into that for yourself. https://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=12776

Additionally, there are a few people that have been working on a free non-Rovi WMC guide using EPG123, zap2xml, and xmltv-to-mxf. For details see The Green Button. https://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewtopic.php?f=96&t=12391&start=420

 

[DavidinCT]

I figured out with a lot of trial and error how to get Zap2it and EPG collector to give guide data, images for each show/movie, and even all channel logos with My Channel logos. This is a free guide solution.

It can be used off air or cable. I personally am using cable. There are some bugs and quirks with this but, it does work very well. It also can be a processes to setup, it's not a 5 min job and if you have 300+ channels, you might hate it.

If there is enough interest, I will write up a step by step process for this.

 

[pixelation]

I'm still using WMC but it is becoming more like an advanced digital VCR that I need to schedule recording manually.



Surprisingly, I had the need to restore the Windows back to pre-cut-off time and found that WMC actually downloads the EPG. However, it is short lived and eventually went away.



I am wondering if there is a simple way to disable the pop-up?

 

[captain_video]

I still have Windows 7 running WMC using EPG123 on three different HTPCs (actually 4, but the last one is used with a monitor in front of my treadmill that is used mainly for streaming shows from my server while on the treadmill). I'm also using Channels DVR, which costs $80 per year. The recording engine resides on my Windows 10 HTPC that is used with JRiver Media Center for watching HD and 4k content on my server. The recording engine runs in the background and doesn't interfere with JRMC, unlike WMC. JRMC and WMC do not play well together on the same PC which is why I have one dedicated for that purpose. The Channels DVR app is used on my Nvidia Shields so I can watch anything that was recorded on the Win 10 PC with the DVR engine. You can download it from the app store and it resides in the menu just like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, or any other available app. Setup is quick and easy and it works great. It works better than any WMC extender and I can also schedule recordings from any of the Shields. The UI is simple and user friendly, unlike the disaster that SiliconDust calls a DVR app. The only caveat is that it doesn't record DRMed channels, but only WMC, Tivo, and your cable provider's DVRs can do that anyway. I still use my primary WMC HTPC for that purpose.

 

[hanly2]

Hopefully someone can help me out. I have a windows 7 set up with wmc that I use for live tv via a hauppauge 885 card. I just need to be able to set up recording for the football game. The guide will not let me move into tomorrow and set the record. I dont need info because I already know what channel and time I need to do it. I tried epg centre and it didnt find any channels, I tried emby live tv and it didnt find my card.

 

[Ken.F]

I just need to be able to set up recording for the football game. The guide will not let me move into tomorrow and set the record. I dont need info because I already know what channel and time I need to do it.

Go to recorded tv and at the top click on "add recording". You can schedule it by channel and time from there.

 

[hanly2]

Go to recorded tv and at the top click on "add recording". You can schedule it by channel and time from there.

yes, thank you so much.

 

[sxr71]

Wow i’m so happy to see people using this. I had a whole setup with windows home server for this. It worked great. I wonder if I should get back into this? Or just use my TV.

 

[Sammy2]

Wow i’m so happy to see people using this. I had a whole setup with windows home server for this. It worked great. I wonder if I should get back into this? Or just use my TV.

I switched to Emby a few years ago and couldn't be happier.. The LiveTV as is now is pretty good, especially in the beta server version but the LiveTV in current development will be superior in every way unless you have a lot of US CableCARD DRM in which case WMC is the better bet.

Don't get me wrong, I was one of the first to adopt epg123 and used it for a couple of years before jumping ship on WMC.

 

[Ken.F]

I'm out. This morning I was greeted with a message in the lower right corner of my Win7 HTPC desktop that said "This copy of Windows is not genuine." I've never had an issue with activation on that machine since I built it back in 2013 as a desktop PC for my mom. I even upgraded it to Win10 for her with the "digital entitlement" license. When she passed away in 2017 I got the computer back, put Win7 on it again (and activated it again) and it has been my HTPC ever since. If this Win7 OEM license isn't genuine it's a damn good fake. I don't remember where I bought it (Newegg maybe?) but it came with a very genuine looking Microsoft product key sticker. That does me no good though. When I click the "Activate Windows Now" link in the control panel it opens a window that says This copy of Windows is not genuine. The "go online and resolve now" button in that window just takes me to a web page recommending Windows 11. Ick. No thanks. The old HTPC was the last Windows PC in the house. After 31 years of using Microsoft operating systems they finally pushed me over the edge.

 

[DrDon]

@Ken.F

Don't throw in the towel just yet. I had this happen on a computer I didn't build. I did fix it, but can't remember how. This looks familiar:

[SOLVED] This Copy of Windows Is Not Genuine 7600/7601 - Best Fix (minitool.com)

 

[Ken.F]

@Ken.F

Don't throw in the towel just yet. I had this happen on a computer I didn't build. I did fix it, but can't remember how. This looks familiar:

[SOLVED] This Copy of Windows Is Not Genuine 7600/7601 - Best Fix (minitool.com)

Thanks, it worked!
I'm glad I stopped what I was doing so I could go cook dinner. I already had LibreELEC downloaded and written to a USB stick but I decided to wait until after dinner to blow away Windows. Win7/WMC lives another day because... Tacos!

 

[DrDon]

Glad it worked. Lightning got my home-built HTPC. This issue crept up on my office desktop, which took on the HTPC's duties. Its graphics card fried, so I retired it in favor of a Thinkpad X1 Extreme. A TiVo Bolt OTA handles all of the OTA recordings, though I would like to get WMC running under Windows 10 or in a VM. More as a backup. The TiVo actually performs better than I'd hoped.

My wife's computer is still Win7. I have one other mothballed PC that's Win 7. Nothing moved to Win 11, yet. I got all of my "work" video and audio suites working on the X1E, so I'm reluctant to change anything. I'm also kicking myself for not upgrading my work PC sooner. The X1E processes my projects in a fifth of the time.

 

[Sammy2]

While I realize that WMC was way ahead of its time and one of the best things MS ever did IMHO, I moved on to Emby several years ago. It is much more versatile than WMC, especially portability and selection of playback devices. Fortunately for me I have very few to no DRM channels and can watch content from my Primes almost anywhere. I'd suggest taking a gander at it now if you haven't in a while.

 

[Ken.F]

While I realize that WMC was way ahead of its time and one of the best things MS ever did IMHO, I moved on to Emby several years ago. It is much more versatile than WMC, especially portability and selection of playback devices. Fortunately for me I have very few to no DRM channels and can watch content from my Primes almost anywhere. I'd suggest taking a gander at it now if you haven't in a while.

There are a lot of options if you don't have DRM channels.
I looked at Jellyfin a few years ago. I should probably check it out again.