Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused decoder
error on the Media Center under Vista?

Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only temporary
change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
other solutions before the Vista finally available?

The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
and install a decoder.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm


"R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> decoder
> error on the Media Center under Vista?
>
> Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> temporary
> change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> other solutions before the Vista finally available?

Is this true? My Media Center comes up with the error:

"video decoder has either malfunctioned or is not installed"

when I try and watch live TV or play earlier recorded shows.

Also worked on 11/13, not on 11/14.

Tried rolling back to an earlier restore point (no luck)

If there is really an arbitary expiry date for the included codec, it would
be nice to have been informed with a more helpful error, or a notice on setup.

"Richard G. Harper" wrote:

> The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
> testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
> and install a decoder.
>
> --
> Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
> * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
> * HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
>
>
> "R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> > decoder
> > error on the Media Center under Vista?
> >
> > Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> > temporary
> > change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> > other solutions before the Vista finally available?
>
>
>

I agreed. If there was a warning during MCE setup or the error message is
telling me the codec is expired, I would not have to waste time reinstalling
the whole system.



"SDC" wrote:

> Is this true? My Media Center comes up with the error:
>
> "video decoder has either malfunctioned or is not installed"
>
> when I try and watch live TV or play earlier recorded shows.
>
> Also worked on 11/13, not on 11/14.
>
> Tried rolling back to an earlier restore point (no luck)
>
> If there is really an arbitary expiry date for the included codec, it would
> be nice to have been informed with a more helpful error, or a notice on setup.
>
> "Richard G. Harper" wrote:
>
> > The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
> > testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
> > and install a decoder.
> >
> > --
> > Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
> > * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> > * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> > * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
> > * HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> >
> >
> > "R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> > > decoder
> > > error on the Media Center under Vista?
> > >
> > > Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> > > temporary
> > > change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> > > other solutions before the Vista finally available?
> >
> >
> >

OK, thought I should report back...

I downloaded a nvidia decoder from:
http://www.nvidia.com/object/dvd_dec...223-trial.html (for the 30 day
trial)

As this didn't seem to get picked up by Vista Media Center, I found the
following blog post and utility:
http://mediacenterexpert.blogspot.co...r-utility.html

This needs to be run as administrator I think, but lets you choose the newly
installed decoder and make it default, and this worked fine for me.

I can now watch recorded and live TV once more, although DVDs in Media
Player don't work for me yet :-(

If it helps, I'm using Vista RC1, build 5600, ATI Theater 550 Tuner & Radeon
9800 Pro.

And Microsoft - if this is an enforced expiration of a decoder in a public
beta - well, I do think you could have told us about it! Would have saved a
lot of hassle... I nearly thought about getting a Mac :-)

SDC

"Richard G. Harper" wrote:

> The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
> testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
> and install a decoder.
>
> --
> Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
> * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
> * HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
>
>
> "R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> > decoder
> > error on the Media Center under Vista?
> >
> > Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> > temporary
> > change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> > other solutions before the Vista finally available?
>
>
>

I have a WinDVD decoder on my computer, and I can play DVDs with WinDVD. How
do I tell Windows Media Center to use the same decoder as WinDVD. It tries
to use the expired one, then fails.

David

"Richard G. Harper" wrote:

> The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
> testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
> and install a decoder.
>
> --
> Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
> * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
> * HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
>
>
> "R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> > decoder
> > error on the Media Center under Vista?
> >
> > Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> > temporary
> > change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> > other solutions before the Vista finally available?
>
>
>

Besides the expired decoder, I have working DVD coders installed on my
computer. For example, Intervideo WinDVD came with a decoder, and I can even
play DVDs with that application.

Unfortunately, there is no way to tell Windows Media Center to use that
decoder; or at least, I can't find a way. In case you're wondering, the
"Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility" does not work with Vista.

Any help would be appreciated.

"Richard G. Harper" wrote:

> The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
> testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
> and install a decoder.
>
> --
> Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
> * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
> * HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
>
>
> "R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> > decoder
> > error on the Media Center under Vista?
> >
> > Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> > temporary
> > change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> > other solutions before the Vista finally available?
>
>
>

David,

Note my previous posting - refer to:

http://mediacenterexpert.blogspot.co...r-utility.html

for the decoder utility for Vista that I referenced.

SDC

"David" wrote:

> Besides the expired decoder, I have working DVD coders installed on my
> computer. For example, Intervideo WinDVD came with a decoder, and I can even
> play DVDs with that application.
>
> Unfortunately, there is no way to tell Windows Media Center to use that
> decoder; or at least, I can't find a way. In case you're wondering, the
> "Windows XP Video Decoder Checkup Utility" does not work with Vista.
>
> Any help would be appreciated.
>
> "Richard G. Harper" wrote:
>
> > The decoder that was provided with Vista was provided as a courtesy for
> > testing, not as a permanent decoder. You'll need to download or purchase
> > and install a decoder.
> >
> > --
> > Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (E-Mail Removed)
> > * NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
> > * PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
> > * The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
> > * HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
> >
> >
> > "R K" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> > news:57A99285-DC4E-41DA-8ED5-(E-Mail Removed)...
> > > Does anyone know how to solve the decoder expiry thing which caused
> > > decoder
> > > error on the Media Center under Vista?
> > >
> > > Even a fresh reinstall won't solve the problem. So far I can only
> > > temporary
> > > change the date back before 11/13 in order for the TV and DVD to work. Any
> > > other solutions before the Vista finally available?
> >
> >
> >