WinTV v7: TV on your PC screen, in a window or full screen! WinTV v7 and v7.2 are Windows 10 and 8.1 32-bit and 64-bit compatible! (WinTV v7 2.7 or later).

Like one or 2 people on here, I've been looking for a suitable replacement for WMC on windows 7. SichbroPVR works with my KWorld DVT- PC160-2T (twin tuner) with the BDA drivers, unfortunately on only one tuner.

Big step down from Windows Media Center on Win 7 where I could record 3 different channels at once. (Third is a cheap USB stick with a Realtek 2832U chip). None of my other USB TV sticks or PCI cards work with Win 10, most date back from Vista and XP and updated drivers don't exist.

Looking for tuners/software that work on Win 10 at the moment without much luck. For Win10, looks like you will need the LAV filters. Hopefully, this will change with better developed video handling in Win10.

Since 10122 came down, video and audio work well. Do have the LAV filters installed, but they made no difference on the previous version of Win 10. There, I had to use Opera browser to run a Youtube video, then video would work in sichboPVR - otherwise, just a blank screen.

SichbroPVR picks up all my local channels, but refuses to respond to the USB stick, and uses only one tuner in the dual card - ie won't record one channel and allow me to swap to a different channel. So not a satisfactory replacement for Win 7 + WMC giving me 3 recordable tuners. Of course, with totalmedia installed, Sichbro now stutters and has lost audio! Considering I get nothing with Sichbro, I should give the Arcsoft program a go.

Edit: So much for being hopeful. ArcSoft TMT is useless as it's a payware program, which is no longer supported by ArcSoft. On first launch after rebooting after installing, you are presented with an enter license screen. Second edit: So much for being hopeful in any way. ArcSoft TMT has no ability to act as a viewer for my USB TV tuner.

Jenifur Charne. My thinking is when win 10 is released just about everything that works on 8 will work on 10.

MediaPortal is still being maintained so that's a plus and it has no trouble with my 2 dual tuner cards so it is currently first on my list. Which dual tuner cards do you have?

I've only got one USB stick that works with Windows 8 + WMC. Haven't gone into MediaPortal on Windows 8 at all. Good luck with 'everything that works on 8 will work on 10'.

Windows 10 is likely to have a video display model different to windows 8, as it needs to be able to display video on a much wider range of devices and screen sizes. Seeing MediaPortal is still being maintained, they should be able to get it running on Windows 10 once the final version is out.

No such hope for software written in the XP/Vista days though. Lol I will be waiting for tuners to come out that say 'Works with Windows 10' on the box some time in the future. Which dual tuner cards do you have? At work at the moment so cant get model numbers but one is an Avermedia (a188?) and the other is a Hauppauge (2200?). I also tried a no name usb tuner that came with BDA drivers on a disc.

It was picked up no problem but I didn't test that because it is usually attached to a Linux box. Good luck with 'everything that works on 8 will work on 10' I agree that is why I only considered WMC replacements that are still being maintained. I do expect Windows 8 BDA drivers to work under Windows 10, now that may be naive. I'll see if I can find a copy of 3.5 anywhere and see if that will install and work in my install of Win10 Downloaded a copy of from Shareware Junction. I had already installed the KLite Codec Pack, Mega version and the update to that, from when I had tried to get Sichbro working.

Installed TM v3.5.9.530 in build 10122, and went through the TV setup wizard. It detected and accessed my USB tuner without a single bug. All TV and digital radio stations found. Very happy with this older product.

Jenifur Charne. The version I'm running on Win 7 is 3.5.7.331, copyright 2002-2009. Lol If I remember rightly, 3.5 was a tuner non specific version, later versions were always tuned to one specific card, and needed a serial number. Ie it was sold as part of a package, tv card + software. What tuner is that with? Does it have FM and DAB and if so, do they both work? Got ALL TV channels, and does it record/playbacdk ok?

As for BDA drivers... I found the Win 7 and 8 ones slide onto the Win 10 system ok... But do they actually work, is another question. What tuner is that with? Does it have FM and DAB and if so, do they both work? Got ALL TV channels, and does it record/playbacdk ok?

I use a Pinnacle PCTV nanostick 73e It's a basic single tuner USB DVB-T stick. No dual tuner record one show and watch another at the same time. No analog radio capability at all, so no commercial FM radio, just DVB-T digital radio, which here in Brisbane means 3 SBS radio channels and 2 ABC radio channels.

ALL FTA TV channels found and working.:) Haven't tested its record/playback of TV yet, so I can't comment about how TotalMedia behaves. It's video playback is limited to certain filetypes..AVI and.MP4 depending on the file encoding. I have some.MP4s which crash the program, and I haven't yet looked to see how they are encoded, to trace the crash bug. It will not see or play.DIVX or.FLV edit: The remote with the 73e is useless for use with TM. The remote is specifically designed for use with the PCTV TV Centre software Jenifur Charne. It's video playback is limited to certain filetypes..AVI and.MP4 depending on the file encoding.

Never played with this aspect of the program, I usually go to GOM player as my default video player, seems to do just about everything! (On Win 7, haven't really played with it on Win 10 but it may be worth a look.) TotalMedia does FM and DAB too if it detects it. Works well (in Win 7) with for. Just tried TotalMedia with an older TinyTwin USB tuner.

Found 64 channels. That's normal.

Wouldn't let me use the second tuner, but, when I got to the recording section it realised I have a two of them and asked whether I wished to use it to record another channel while I watched something else. Haven't found how to exit Fullscreen mode yet, other than using Task Manager to kill TotalMedia and start all over. With an all black screen it's hard to see even the mouse cursor let alone any icons. Signal Strength meter is very erratic, high and low, with no steady signal at all. Maybe it wants some attenuation to kill off the extra strong, amplified, twin array, quad-shielded install. Sound is shocking. It stutters very badly indeed.

I do have a new USB dongle with DAB and FM and about 6 other micro-USB DTV dongles in my kit. Probably not too bad if it would work:(.

I do have a new USB dongle with DAB and FM and about 6 other micro-USB DTV dongles in my kit. I think most of us have a collection of these, dating back from the 'Oh, wow, you can watch TV on your computer?'

Days, ie XP and Vista. Pity interest in further developing the XP/Vista software for them – pretty shonky to start with – disappeared when later versions of MS Windows came out because you only needed the BDA drivers for it to work on WMC, but maybe when Windows 10 is officially released the absence of WMC may spur some company to step up and release something good? Fingers crossed! Never played with this aspect of the program, I usually go to GOM player as my default video player, seems to do just about everything! (On Win 7, haven't really played with it on Win 10 but it may be worth a look.) I use GOM as my go to video player as well. But since this seemed like a WMC replacement, I figured I'd use a USB stick I still had loaded with videos for copying them to another system, and throw them at TM. GOM is good and it works just fine in Win10.

Still, at least the major job I have for TM is a go, using it as a WMC replacement for TV viewing. It's VERY slow at getting the EPG, and I've yet to test it for recording.

Jenifur Charne. I think most of us have a collection of these, dating back from the 'Oh, wow, you can watch TV on your computer?' Days, ie XP and Vista.

I only have the one USB tuner, which I purchased as an impulse buy at JB HiFi, Chermside, back in October 2008. Till I tried it in Win10, it's worked flawless and I've never had a need to replace it.

The problem with Win10 is caused by MS. Their dumping of WMC.

But maybe when Windows 10 is officially released the absence of WMC may spur some company to step up and release something good? Fingers crossed! Like you say, I hope this spurs some other dev crews to make working WMC replacements. Jenifur Charne. Played around with Kodi last night on Win 7 but couldn't get the client front end to talk to the back end. Has potential for sure! I was hoping Kodi would be the one.

However, WMC = install BDA drivers, scan, watch! Need something simple like that, that 'just works' for Win 10!

It is mandatory. My Dad is the primary user of our HTPC, he is the least Computer Literate person I have ever known. I installed Kodi a while back on my Steam Box (My main Win10 machine) and while I did only use it for an hour or so, it did everything I tried, and seemed to do it well. I don't have a TV card / dongle to use for testing, so I was hoping someone here would report. This was not what I needed to hear.:(. I have one of those in my Windows 7 computer.

Not willing to swap over due to physical access imitations, nor wishing to image, install Windows 10 and restore the Windows 7 image later on though. How about you get a spare HD/SSD and do a swapsies before putting Win 10 on there?

TotalMedia isn't exactly my favourite either. Not mine either. TotalMedia 3.5 is the only software that seems to work with just any tuner, and it is the only piece of software that gives me FM and DAB on my USB tuner. Tried Kodi, MediaPortal, Myth, Mythbuntu - none want to see my tuners. Thanks for the tip though. Not so much a tip as me saying that is the best I can do after a week of experimenting, using the hardware and software I have available. Heads up from the main Win10 thread: Build 10130 is available to users on the Fast Ring, so we're back to square 1 with testing our TV hardware and software.:( As if!

I'm no masochist! Swapped back to Win 7 yesterday, set WMC to record 3 movies on at the same time, went to bed - all 3 were there on my HD in the morning.

Beat that, Win 10!! Got the BDA drivers installed? BdaSup.sys and also ksthunk.sys Using 3.5 version of TotalMedia?

Using trial version. I've installed a number of DTV software programmes, tested them, then deleted them if they didn't work, but a few left a lot of drivers behind, so my setup may be using some of those stray drivers. Ie I may have fluked on a working combination. Still same problems: 1. Stuttering sound. Black screen with no picture.

Signal Strength varies from zero to about 3 bars, but I have excellent signal strength on Windows 7. It fluctuates too. Digital Cliff like. Found the usual 64 channels though. Pity, as it looks a fairly nice, but simplistic, interface:( It's the AF15BDA Chipset model so AF15BDA.sys is loaded too. Name them, if you've got a few for us to try.

Yes please, name them! I'm guessing the reason AF9015 + TotalMedia works for some and not others is video hardware dependent. My laptop has an Intel i3 CPU with integrated graphics and the AF9015 + TotalMedia 3.5 works flawlessly.

Haven't tried Win 10 10130 + TV tuner on my desktop which has an AMD APU but I'm guessing it won't work, sure didn't with an earlier build of Win 10. (Prove me wrong on that point please if it works on the current build!) I'm currently quite happy to wait for the final version of Win 10 to come out before I try TV on my desktop again. Doesn't anyone here know how to use Google? Have you actually used any of them to comment on if they're any good or not?

Or are you only using Google for your answers? I've tried NextPVR. It was buggy as hell. Google's easy. But you made the comment there was plenty of decent freeware out there. Yet it seems to me you haven't tried any of them to make an informed recommendation. If you have, make your recommendation.

Otherwise we all know how to use Google, so you're not really contributing anything useful. Yes I have, even though you seem to have decided that I haven't, but I don't have to justify myself to you. You put up a challenge and I answered it with several completely free programs. If you tried nextPVR and it didn't work for you try one of the others. There's plenty of them out there, my list is hardly all-encompassing. Just don't bitch and moan about it being a problem with the tuner device when anyone that has any clue about how DVB works would know that the audio muting with 'youtube' open has nothing at all to do with the tuner itself. Viewing and / or scheduled recording: prog dvb sichboPVR smartdvb nextpvr Doesn't anyone here know how to use Google?

Google = step 1. Step 2 = down load them. Step 3 = install.

Step 4 = test --->FAIL! Step 5 = return to step 1. Tried all the above, plus Myth, Mediaportal, Mythbuntu. Please don't suggest DTV software as 'decent' unless you have gone through the above steps! Obviously a piece of hardware that works well to put a DTV picture with sound on the screen in windows 7 is not at fault, the main cause of the problem in them not working in Windows 10 will be how the changed parameters of the new OS handles a DTV video transport stream.

Ie the problem lies in the interface between the software and the way Windows 10 handles things. As a 'savvy' computer user, that's how you need to interpret any comments like 'my DTV hardware doesn't work!' I like to think that now MS has finished playing with their video display model (?), they will put some effort in making it compatible with their earlier display models, so that that list of DTV software suddenly starts working properly again. (If they ever did.) If not, some makers of DTV hardware will need to rewrite the software supplied with their tuners so that their hardware works in windows 10.

(Provided they can be bothered - if not, stick with Windows 7!). Yes I have, even though you seem to have decided that I haven't, but I don't have to justify myself to you. I see nowhere where you have provided feedback on any of the programs you list. Tell me which on the list would you recommend? I'm after stability and usability.

There's no room for having to endlessly tweak, or for crashes or lock-ups. My HTPC is the main entertainment unit in my house. I will be killed if either of those stipulations are not met.

I've tried a number of solutions. And none of them come close to the stability and usability of WMC (and lets use that as a base for comparison). So please, which one?

I see nowhere where you have provided feedback on any of the programs you list. You didn't ask.

All you asked for and all I responded with was a non-all-inclusive list of free programs. So here's another one for you since you clearly can't be bothered to take a look around to find out the wide range of completely free software out there.

View and record: VLC. Yes, good old free 'does everything' VLC will let you watch and record digital TV.

In fact right now I have VLC playing ABC's Double-J right n ow. I think I've proven beyond any doubt that there's plenty of decent free DVB software out there, but only for those that can be bothered to have a look around for it. The search goes on. I use ArgusTV backend on Windows 7 laptop (HTPC), running XBMC (Now Kodi) 14.2. Kodi needs a backend like MediaPortal or ArgusTV, but takes care of the WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) and I have a good customized skin and have the harmony one customized to suit as well.

So at the press of the button I have Live TV, Movies, TV shows, Catchup TV, youtube etc. EPG is seven days and offers several modes and has series record, remote schedule, delete and record via webpage, I can also view stream live TV to my Android tablet or laptop, which works great. I moved from WMC and the many hacks to XBMC and ArgusTV a few years back, it's been rock solid ever since. I also use an automatically run comskip to mark commercials, so Kodi just skips the commercials on playback without any intervention. It takes a bit of effort to setup initially, but it runs with little effort once setup correctly. Just looked ar ArgusTV and gave up at the 'we need an SQL database installed' bit! Same problem with Myth, MediaPortal, etc.

Too difficult to set up! Those failed for me at the point where the back end server failed to recognise any of the DTV cards & USB sticks I have. Greets & admiration to anyone who can set those up and make them run reliably and have them pass the wife acceptance test! A simple setup can be done, witness Windows Media Center, TotalMedia 3.5!

In the past, I've tried dedicated PVR boxes, twice, neither passed the wife acceptance test and were junked after hardware glitches showed up. She really wants something that can record and playback with the simplicity of the old VHS tape analog recorders! (remember those?) When the current TV dies, I will be seriously investigating a smart TV with PVR functions. Hang a hard drive off the back, and off we go! Control the TV, record and playback with the one remote. 'we need an SQL database installed' bit!

To be fair, that was as easy as downloading MS's free SQL server and installing it. There's a bit of set-up with Argus TV, and I haven't read the manual yet so I'm just randomly giving it a go. But it does look promising (and I do like Kodi, so would love to get that running as my all-in-one front end). There certainly is some setup to it, but I think I may persevere. It's grabbing some EPG data for me already. So heck, if I actually read how to use it I might even get there!

I've had issues with Sichbo (under Win8 as well as on Win10) however not certain if its my TV card or not. But I can play all of the Channel 7, Channel 9 and SBS TV stations easily, but channels 10 and ABC just don't play.I get pixellated, jittery audio playback on these channels. I'm not sure if its because my TV card is out of date (Winfast PXDVR3200 h) – or some other reason, but I'm using the LAV filters across the app. It does the same thing on Win8.1 and when I swap in a HDD built on one of the Win10 releases. Otherwise, for watching a recording (where the channel is OK) – it just works fine! When the current TV dies, I will be seriously investigating a smart TV with PVR functions. Hang a hard drive off the back, and off we go!

Control the TV, record and playback with the one remote. Gaspar Noe Love Torrent Скачать. (In theory) But do any SmartTVs have more than 1 tuner?

My first & only PVR is a MagicTV (which are no longer brought into the country). Dual tuner but I now find I need at least 3 tuners to be able to record favorite programmes. Setup a Win8.1 HTPC with Hauppauge 2210 as an alternate source but too difficult setting them up to work in conjunction.

Interface of the Magic is intuitive, fantastic skip function which I can't do without. So I'm watching this thread with interest! Both on windows 10, or 7?

Nah, this is on 8.1 at this stage. The lappie over WiFi changes channels at least as fast as WMC itself.

But Kodi performance on the HTPC is horrible. It hangs for 30+ seconds just shutting Kodi down and returning to desktop. The lappie has an SSD, though.

So this might be helping with general Kodi smoothness. And of course it's not having to do both server duties & client. I might leave it for now. It does look hopeful (if not all that user friendly to initially set up). I was planning to get a SSD for the HTPC in the next month or so, so I'll try again when that happens.

Win 10 will have evolved again by then. Hopefully the software I'm using will have too.

So it looks like ArgusTV + Kodi will work in some set-ups. I'm not quite ready to nuke my HTPC install and experiment with 10 on it yet, though.

EDIT: And the quick steps for getting ArgusTV up and running are: Install ArgusTV and MS SQL Express server. (Using the recording console) Check your tuners are detected Scan for Services Map Services to Channels Enable EPG grabbing and displaying for each channel Done You can then check EPG is getting grabbed in the Scheduling console if you want.

Then just enable TV and ArgusTV client in Kodi. Now I know the steps it isn't really all that hard or long winded. I have an AverTV Capture HD card installed on my main Desktop 8.1 Pro system and quite often use it to watch TV on a second screen while I use my PC.

I use both WMC and Aver Medicenter 3D. Given WMC is being ditched, I need the Aver software to work on Windows 10 before I upgrade. I sent an email to Aver re Windows 10 support today and received a prompt response as follows: Sorry to inform you that windows 10 compatible driver releases for H727 is still under evaluation and consideration. Currently we don't have definite decision or date of driver released, please visit our website for information on latest updates.

I am not in a position to test it on a Windows 10 system at the moment as my Windows 10 test box is a microserver and the card wont fit in it. Given they havent even committed to updating the drivers yet, I have a showstopper at the moment. So I guess I will hold off for a few months and see what happens. It's the old story. A new OS comes out, and a lot of manufacturers produce hardware and software to take advantage of it.

Unfortunately, the 'new OS' is this case is XP, if you look at the dates on your drivers (CD that came with the Avermedia card) you will find they date back that far. Very few, if any, makers of DTV hardware updated their drivers for any newer OS. I guess the market just wasn't there for them to bother. In short, don't expect Avermedia to bring out any drivers for any of their cards that are updated for Windows 10.

Best you can do is try to run what you have in compatibility mode. Didn't look at the CD, but the latest driver download for H727 is dated 17th April, 2014 and specifically states support of 8.1 (64 bit from Dec 2013), so I remain hopeful. Great that Avermedia is making an effort to keep their drivers current! I have a H727 card somewhere, must dig it out. With most of the PCI/USB DTV devices I have, if I go to the makers' websites, they have either closed down, or pretend they never made the DTV devices at all! The top notch devices like Hauppage though (read: expensive) should be keeping their drivers and software up to date, hopefully.

Once Win 10 is out there officially, I will be looking for a dual or quad tuner card that is advertised as Win 10 compatible. Ever hopeful, I am!

Chin up guys, a lot of people are working on porting WMC into windows 10. In theory it should be possible to do. There is hope Yes, it looks like it will RUN, but by installing it, you will get activation errors in windows. TV works good in VLC, if you know your transponder frequencies.

I just tried a record of Channel 7, and no matter what channel on the CH7 transponder 177500Khz I am viewing, the record must be taken from the primary channel, which VLC thinks is the shopping channel (TV4ME). So even though I am on say 7TWO, it records TV4ME.:( Bugger Microsoft for saying WMC was not popular. [edit] okay, apparently VLC captures the ENTIRE Transport frequency, so it captures *ALL* the channels on the transponder in to the one stream. Settings can be told to get the current watched channel. So give me a hint.

What are the menu options to get to it? I cant find it anywhere in my VLC.

As said above. Media >Open Capture device >Capture mode (DVB-T). You will need to get the Transponder frequency for each network for your transmitter area.

Australia uses 7Mhz. Melbourne channel 7 for Mount Dandenong is on 177500Khz (177.500 Mhz). Then when you get a picture, in the Playback menu you will get a list of channels on the transponder. When VLC records, it will record the WHOLE transponder stream, meaning it will create one Video stream containing all channels in the stream, so for Channel 7, thats 7, 7Two, 7Mate, TV4ME (Shopping). You need to tell VLC to just record ONE channel you are watching. Unless you want all the streams in one video file, then use something like 'TSMuxer' to rip the stream you want. Down the bottom, Show Settings >All.

Input/Codec >Advanced (Near bottom) 'Prefer Native Stream Recording', Detick. TV works good in VLC, if you know your transponder frequencies. I just tried a record of Channel 7, and no matter what channel on the CH7 transponder 177500Khz Well blow me down! After playing with VLC for years, on and off, I never knew it could do the telly bit! Installed it on Win 7, used that frequency and I have a signal! Shouldn't be too hard to look up the frequencies for the other transport streams in Adelaide, but the question is, can I get VLC to scan for them, and change channels more easily than typing in the transponder frequency?

No, I vaguely remember having to setup batch files for each transponder (frequency) and that was about as automated and friendly as VLC is for TV. Well, it is still good stuff! Piece of paper and write down the frequencies, and I'm set! EDIT: Too easy, all here!

I will get the hang of it on win 7, then try the same on win 10. I wonder what happens if I record on one stream, like 9, then switch streams? Will I get one of my other tuners taking over the stream while the 9 stream still records? I wonder if VLC allows multiple instances so that I can have 3 running at once recording from 3 different streams? Time to experiment, I think!

Will I get one of my other tuners taking over the stream while the 9 stream still records? You will have to explicitly tell it what tuner to use. Pretty sure you'll find the tuner you're using is specified as part of the set-up. There's nothing automatic in VLC.

I wonder if VLC allows multiple instances so that I can have 3 running at once recording from 3 different streams? Daum Potplayer is another media player that can handle TV tuners. Same deal as VLC, though. You've got to baby it. I find VLC a clunky ugly piece of crud, though. And it's a terrible solution if you're looking to do this in a HTPC. You have to baby it at every step, tell it exactly what you want it to do.

I find VLC a clunky ugly piece of crud, though. And it's a terrible solution if you're looking to do this in a HTPC. You have to baby it at every step, tell it exactly what you want it to do. Too true, definitely not HTPC material. Currently I'm looking for what works to get TV onto the screen in windows 7 to try on windows 10, and VLC is one more on the list. EDIT: Interesting!

I have a twin tuner PCI card plus a USB single tuner on this computer, I can get signals from tuners 0,1,2 in turn in the one VLC window, but not when I try to run each tuner in a separate window. Definitely worth experimenting with though!

This is not just what I want, It is what I legitimately need. If what ever software you are using has no answer for the question 'what button on the remote do I press to do that?' Then it is unsuitable for my parents (and, if I'm honest, possibly me as well) to use.:( Stick with windows 7 in that case, keep Windows 10 for a computer not used for TV watching/recording. Consider a smart TV when the time comes to replace the parents' TV. Example: this morning it took the combined effort of all three of us almost half an hour to work out how to add a phone number to a mobile phone. I bought a wall phone, Telstra model, same deal – lots of reading of the manual to get a few phone numbers into the phone book!

Gave up after 2! I bought a wall phone, Telstra model, same deal – lots of reading of the manual to get a few phone numbers into the phone book! Gave up after 2! I bought a small cordless model for home use as the older Telstra Touchphones are getting hard to source. Same experience and sheer annoyance. I returned it to the vendor and he charged a 10% restocking fee which I gladly paid to be rid of it. Then found a guy selling much the old style phone I was after and married a few parts from two phones.

I'm happy with the outcome. Stick with windows 7 in that case Yep. Just hope I can still get windows 7 when their current PC dies.

I'm still keeping my fingers crossed a windows 10 alternative will surface (pun?) before that happens. Surely someone out there can see this is an opportunity. I must keep the faith.

Consider a smart TV when the time comes to replace the parents' TV. Ive also not seen a 'Smart TV' that can record up to four channels at the same time. If they do exist I'm not sure I want to see the price tag. I bought a wall phone, Telstra model, same deal – lots of reading of the manual to get a few phone numbers into the phone book! Gave up after 2!

I feel you mate. We had to do this because dad's Nokia 1100 finally kicked the bucket. That's right NOKIA 1100.

Anyway, the whole point is Windows Media Center was. Foolproof and bulletproof. It is also essential for my parents lifestyle as they are huge TV viewers. Kinda hate MS for killing it off, despite completely understanding their reasons for doing so (if the 'less than one percent' install base can be believed). Call me selfish, but I don't like seeing my parents upset.

Kinda hate MS for killing it off, despite completely understanding their reasons for doing so (if the 'less than one percent' install base can be believed). That's just MS dumbing down the real reason. 'Nobody uses it, so for your own good we killed it' type of thing, ie put the reason back on the users and not MS! Imagine Win 10 having any kind of free to air TV viewing/ recording/ playback capability as part of the OS, then every one with Win 10 on a lesser machine like a tablet or phone, will go 'Why can't I have this on my device too?' Seeing MS wants a uniform experience across the platforms, WMC on the desktop gets dumped. I now have 2 cheap tuners plugged into the back of my secondary win7 desktop Hi Pavlov, Just got my K world tuner after reading your link, installed and ran cd drivers (then updated from storm), works like a charm-unlike my Tinytwin which i sent back, this one wasen't bad for $14 (the sent me the retail boxed one too) Win 7 ultimate 64. Sure beats buying the dearer ones and hoping for the best, only single tuner but fine for my use, the TVme media player picked up 46 channels while Total media 3.5 picked up 34, both work fine.

Funny you should post that, as I received 2 of those in the mail today, same price (X2 of course). Not in the official boxes though. I know they work on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 if you use TotalMedia 3.5 I bought 2 because I want to eventually set up windows 10 with dual recording capability. Two single tuners rather than a single stick that is a dual tuner on windows 10 seems to work better from what I can tell so far, but I'm leaving further experimenting until windows 10 comes out officially. Haven't actually tried the TiVme that came with them, must do that now.

EDIT: The version on their website: is said to work with any tuner, so worth trying on 7/8/10 no matter what you have. 2832U After my resounding success getting the kworld 395UR with the AF0015 chipset working on windows 7, 8.1 and 10 with TotalMedia 3.5, I thought I would give this troublesome chipset another go.

Attraction being the FM and DAB radio in it. Two of these very cheap TV tuners in the back of a desktop would give me dual TV recording as well as DAB and FM radio.

I have 3 laptops, all bought second hand, that are pretty much identical. One has Win 7, the second Win 8.1 and the third Win 10. Running through the same driver setup and install of TotalMedia 3.5 got it to work in Win 7 but not the others. The Windows 8.1 setup worked initially, but then the machine decided all by itself to 'update' one of the drivers to an earlier version which broke it. Anyhow, I copied the 4 files identified in Device Driver for that chipset from the Windows 7 install across to the Windows 8 and 10 machines, and they now work. The 4 files are located in c: Windows System32 drivers and are: BDASup.sys 16KB, 2/12/2009 Ksthunk.sys 21 KB, 7/14/2009 RTL2832UBDA.sys 223 KB 5/21/2012 RTL2832UUSB.sys 39 KB The last two are the important ones.

For some reason there are about 3 different versions of the third file, dated 2012, 2009, 2006. The working ones are found in the install disc in a.RAR file labelled for windows 8. (120822_RTL2832_36_40_10b_Release_Setup_Win8_WHQL.rar)) Anyway, if you want to experiment with a sub $10 DTV + FM + DAB USB device in windows 10, give this a go: If you experiment, don't let windows update the driver, as it will give you the non working 2009 version. The last 2 files are from Realtek and not digitally signed. MS doesn't know about these and will offer you an earlier file as an update. I haven't bothered with WMC in a few years.

I use ProgDTV, ffdshow & SVP (Smooth Video Player). With progdtv I can select ffdshow as my video codec. This allows me to use SVP, so it interpolates 25fps to 120fps as I have a 120hz monitor. Makes it video very smooth. I was using a Compro e750 dual tuner under 8.1, but for whatever reason, it hates w10. Picked up a cheap external Playstation 3 USB tuner box for $20 at harvey norman and that's been working a treat.

It seems to lock the signal much better than the compro card. If you're running a HTPC, there's probably no reason to upgrade to win 10 anyway, especially if your'e so used to WMC. I use ProgDTV, ffdshow & SVP (Smooth Video Player). With progdtv I can select ffdshow as my video codec.

This allows me to use SVP, so it interpolates 25fps to 120fps as I have a 120hz monitor. Makes it video very smooth. Sounds complicated!

Picked up a cheap external Playstation 3 USB tuner box for $20 at harvey norman and that's been working a treat. This is on Windows 10 or is it plugged into a Playstation? (Probably not!) I'm playing around with the DTV tuners and cards I already have, just for fun, to see what works on Windows 10. I now have 6 USB sticks that work on Win 10. Think I'm ok to set up a dual tuner arrangement on a couple of desktops when Win 10 gets here.

Must play around with Myth and Kodi to see if I can get them to work on Win 7 and later on Win 10. Long term plans, really. If you've ever walked into JB hifi and see store TV demos where the image displayed is very smooth, most notably in horizontal panning, that's what SVP does. It creates a smoothing effect, so juddering is mostly gone. My wife hates it as she thinks it makes stuff look like a video game. But i love it. The playstation 3 PlayTV device, is an external USB breakout box, the size of a packet of cigarettes.

It's actually made by pinnacle so with a hacked driver you can install it on Windows 7/8/10. The quality/reception of the PlayTV is fanastic, way better than my PCIe compro card. You plug the USB cable into the box, and the aerial. Pretty straightforward really. The playstation 3 PlayTV device, is an external USB breakout box, the size of a packet of cigarettes. It's actually made by pinnacle so with a hacked driver you can install it on Windows 7/8/10.

The quality/reception of the PlayTV is fanastic, way better than my PCIe compro card. Sounds like it is worth experimenting with. From what I read it is dual tuner. And for $20, worth a try.

Meanwhile, I have Kodi working with NextPVR as a front end on my Win 7 desktop using the 2832u device. Now to try it on Win 10... Anyway, if you want to experiment with a sub $10 DTV + FM + DAB USB device in windows 10, give this a go: Hmm. Thanks for all that info Pavlov. I actually did similar to get a NVidia Quadro FX3450/4000 SDI working with Windows 10. My grey matter should have dug a little deeper as I also often port Network drivers across to get on the Internet to download the other bloody drivers I couldn't get:( I also clobbered W8.1 iconcache.db the other day and had those damn white squares over my icons until I remembered it happening elsewhere and found I had documented it and even put it in the Start Menu on another computer.

The one with the video card problem as it turned out. So, I have a very similar tuner I bought 'USB 2.0 Digital DVB-T SDR+DAB+FM HDTV TV Tuner Receiver Stick RTL2832U+R820T2' sitting in one of about 10 plastic parts tubs here. Pull it out and try it then:) Just one thing. Any chance you can put up the link to upgrading to 96 hour days?

Stupid question. Can't run both on the same box as I guess one is a server arrangement? Next PVR scans the channels and EPG. Kodi takes that information and uses it, but once set up, NextPVR doesn't need to be running.

So basically NextPVR is the front end (server, does the tuner bit) and Kodi is the back end (client, does the display on the screen bit). In theory the client (the bit you watch) and the server don't need to be on the same machine, for example I could run NextPVR on my desktop and watch the output on a laptop or my Android tablet while snuggled up in my nice warm bed - but I haven't progressed that far yet. Surely you mean you have been working 8 hour days since you were 36? Retrenched after 18 years, responsible for all in-house computer gear, and there was heaps of it.

Also, later additionally working after 8:00pm to learn and program, so probably 12+ hour days back then. Got engaged at 36, copped glandular fever two weeks later, married, have a 27 yo daughter and a wife who has been through more hell than myself. Lots of part time jobs after married. Then thrown out by NSW State Labor 'WorkChoices' at age 48 from a shared job where I had three 14 hour days a week, 2 half-days and time off in lieu. Fought it through to arbitration and lost. Thrown on the scrapheap. Even applied for jobs down to Sheltered Workshop level.

You've got that around the wrong way. The sever (i.e NextPVR) is the back end and the client (Kodi) is the front. N00B mistake! I'm new to this way of thinking, taking some time to get to grips with this. All I need to say is that this combination works with Win 7, 8.1 and 10 on my desktop and laptops but it's not a straightforward thing like WMC in setting it up. After I have sussed out the add-ons, I may try to set up an auto populating EPG working and get the whole TV/HTPC/Kodi working with the one universal remote.

There may be a HTPC upgrade in the future! If I was to upgrade my main machine to windows 10 I would need to replace my old Leadtek WinFast DTV1000T PCI DVB-T tuner card. Still works perfectly fine in windows 7 just that Leadtek never released windows 7 drivers for it. Thus its currently running on older non signed windows drivers Most of the current crop of DTV hardware was designed and made at around the same time as the Leadtek DTV1000T PCI card so I'd hardly call it outdated.

It is still available as 'new' stock. The drivers and software work ok under windows 7 if you use compatibility mode for XP service pack 3 (yes, the software is that old) and it would be worthwhile doing the same for Windows 8 and 10. I have a number of PCI cards, both single and double tuners, but I'm holding off testing those in a desktop until windows 10 arrives officially, so watch this space! If you want to experiment at this stage, I can recommend the $14 USB Kworld DVB-395UR off eBay. Playing around with NextPVR + Kodi on Windows 7 at the moment. Catch up programmes from ABC, 7,9, 10 & SBS over the internet works well in Kodi. Once set up, easier than doing it within a browser.

Took me a while to work out the recording folder needs to be set in NextPVR, not Kodi. Recording and playback are going without a hitch, dual tuners and all. Some more experimenting and I will setup Windows 10 the same way. I need to work on using a remote, to see if this combination is a viable HTPC proposition.

We really are at a crossroads with out media PC's aren't we boys? I have two HTPCs running in the house. They handle all my live TV/PVR and Rips using Media Browser. It works flawlessly, looks great and it easy to use. I am very reluctant to give it up for Win10. It really is amazing that there is nothing comparable available.

At the same time, I am looking for a way to possibly integrate things like Netflix/Stan into my HTPC. Sadly, there are no aps for MCE and likely never will be. So we really need a new program that can cover all of our bases. I do know Media Browser has a live TV section currently in beta, but have not tried it. Anyhow, going to go back and read through this thread now, as I just found it:). At the same time, I am looking for a way to possibly integrate things like Netflix/Stan into my HTPC.

A set top box like FetchTV bought(*) from your ISP will do that plus the usual free to air recording/playback. A smart TV should be able to do that as well. In both cases, ease of use - what happens in the interaction between the remote and the screen - is an unknown. I've looked at both options as alternatives to the HTPC and for this household, where the HTPC is strictly for recording & playback of free to air TV, the humble windows 7 box under the dumb telly is the cheapest option. My desktop though, will go Windows 10 + NextPVR + Kodi some time in the future. Just waiting for Windows 10 to arrive sometime after 29th of July.

(*)My ISP will hire me a FetchTV box for $10/month on a 24 month contract. Might be an attractive deal for some, but I will pass on that. In both cases, ease of use – what happens in the interaction between the remote and the screen – is an unknown.

In my experience with one-channel smart-ish TV's and their laggy USB recording, Topfield boxes with their unreadable remote keys, pricey subscription services and other random stuff, 7MC is just night-and-day better than any of them. Plus you get a whole internet enabled computer as well. I've looked at both options as alternatives to the HTPC and for this household, where the HTPC is strictly for recording & playback of free to air TV, the humble windows 7 box under the dumb telly is the cheapest option. The best non-MC solutions seem to me to be free things like DigitalWatch and the almost-free DNTVLive. There's a lot more setup at start, but they do work half decently, and you can customise the UI to be bearable. MS is completely nuts for abandoning MC, and users are nuts for not using it.

I did look briefly at MediaPortal, but found it impenetrable. Would be interested to hear about developments of course.

Don't forget many (most?) HTPC installations get used by family & kids, so they have to be safe, intuitive and simple. One-time setup is fine, as long as it really is one-time I've just tried to set up MediaPortal on Windows 7. It needs DirectX 9.0c. OK, downloaded and installed, reboot.

MediaPortal still insists it can't continue the installation until DirectX 9.0c in installed. Mmm, yeah, ok then, be like that! Gave up, will try again later.

EPG etc also works out of the box. As a WMC replacement, MePO is fantastic! Both MediaPortal and Kodi work well for me on a Windows 7 desktop. I know Kodi works well on a Windows 10 laptop too. My next task, in the search for a Win 7 + WMC HTPC update to Windows 10 + Kodi is to find a DTV card/USB stick that supports a remote properly. All the hardware I have currently fails dismally on that point. I'm currently controlling Win 7 + WMC on the HTPC with a wireless mouse and keyboard, and for a HTPC upgrade to windows 10, I'd need to solve the remote situation.

All in the cause of improving the Wife Acceptance Factor, of course! I switched to MP on my HTPC a few months ago from WMC. TV works great, Titan Extended works great.

If you install an old version of MP that comes with Titan Editor (then just update), you can edit the Titan theme with the Titan editor which lets you change all sorts of stuff. I changed all my menus and submenus too.

My home screen has 6 buttons: Recorded TV, Live TV, TV Schedule, Weather, Movies and TV Shows. From memory it took a bit of playing to get the EPG to populate fully, but it's working 100% for me now. I have used TV cards and USB TV sticks for over 15 yrs now (Mainly Compro products) and over the past 5 years I used a program I paid a one off price for with a lifetime of updates.

DVBviewer meets my needs. It options section and initial setup has a section where you can pick your filters etc. DVBviewer has worked on every version of windows.

If your keen into recording and saving edited video. VideoRedo is an excellent video editor and also the options to save the files in all the popular formats. I've been following this thread with keen interest, since W10 scrapped my MCE (for which, incidentally, I had paid TWICE when the upgrade from 7 Ultimate to 8,1 Pro 'forgot' that I already owned MCE).

I have used the S. Korean Fusion PCI tuner card in the past, very good and excellent support, but it croaked and I installed a Winfast 1300 (?) cheap single tuner card in the PC that's now running Windows 10 RC. Acting upon the tips dispensed here, I downloaded the SmartTV app and installed it - but I can't find a way to scan my local digital TV channels (midway between Newcastle and Coffs, the Middle Brother Mountain transmitters near Taree usually carry well enough to me, the ABC signal I get better from Newcastle. Then I tried VLC but ditched it almost immediately: it didn't seem to have a facility to scan for channels at all! I'll keep watching this thread. In the meantime my best wishes to Handed_the_baton! At the same time, I am looking for a way to possibly integrate things like Netflix/Stan into my HTPC.

Sadly, there are no aps for MCE and likely never will be. So we really need a new program that can cover all of our bases. I do know Media Browser has a live TV section currently in beta, but have not tried it. I was in this predicament myself and ended up getting an NVIDIA Shield.

The best Android TV experience IMO. It runs Kodi, Plex, live TV (if you get an HD HomeRun box) and Netflix with ease.

I mostly play 1080p 35GB-ish Blu-ray rips over gigabit ethernet from my home server. No DTS HD-MA or Dolby TrueHD, but support is supposedly coming. I was in this predicament myself and ended up getting an NVIDIA Shield. The best Android TV experience IMO. It runs Kodi, Plex, live TV (if you get an HD HomeRun box) and Netflix with ease.

Sounds expensive. I currently have a windows 7 with windows media center as a HTPC.

I'm planning to upgrade it to windows 10 with either Kodi or MediaPortal, using a wireless keyboard and mouse combo. If I'm sneaky and do it remotely using TeamViewer the wife won't even notice. Can't complain if she can't see me do it! A future project though, no rush now that I know it will work. Perhaps when the 3 year old HTPC develops a hardware problem might be the best time. I have no EPG yet, it wants XMLTV Which we don't have in Australia – not free anyway, or without lots of messing around. JRiver does not appear to be able to extract an EPG from the on-air signal, so it's not much use here.

And how about searching, setting record from the EPG and being able to record series? The prognosis is not good for a replacement for WMC unfortunately. If it were available in Windows 10, I reckon it would work as well as it has on previous versions of Windows. It seems to be some sort of ideological thing on behalf of Microsoft not to include it, which is quite iniquitous, as many people have paid for it. To my mind, the best candidate for WMC replacement has been, which is free and a very good interface. Unfortunately, in Windows 10 it is necessary to use the LAV filters, as the dxva2 filters do not show up as an option. This results in recording to some sort of rogue.ts file which makes File Explorer take ages to open any directory containing them and they have a tendency to crash VideoReDo for editing.

Sichbo PVR is still under active development, although the developer has taken down the Comments section on the site, as a whole host of people with a sense of entitlement were berating him for not ensuring the program would work with their tuner. He does list some 200 odd tuners which do work with it and remember, this is free software! I'm hoping, when he has time he will try it with Windows 10 and maybe sort out the problem.

With a dual tuner card, I can only suppose that WMC is using the spare tuner to hoover up EPG data for other channels during the first seconds of watching TV. But that's not rocket science. I could test the theory, if I could be bothered, by disabling one of the tuners. No, I dont think WMC uses 'The other Tuner' as such, I have seen WMC updating the EPG while both tuners are in use. I think it gets it on the fly. (Edit: as in it will pull the EPG data from the stream for the channel that tuner is viewing). Maybe EPG uses the old Teletext channels?

That would be the way. Be a guinea pig??:). Here is my experience with my TV card and moving to Windows 10. I have a Hauppauge Nova TD 500 DVB-T TV card and have been using WMC with Windows 8.1 on my desktop PC without issue. I only use the tuner for watching TV now and then (like the cricket atm) and rarely use it to record. When I heard that Win 10 would not include WMC I searched around and ended up buying Hauppauge WinTV v8 on CD for about $15 delivered (don’t know why they didn’t have a download version available). It installed fine and the only problem that I have is that the tuner didn’t pick up SBS whereas WMC had no problem picking up all channels.

I assume it’s my crappy aerial that’s the problem. I like the WinTV software because it gives me an option for boarderless viewing and also picture within picture (nice for watching cricket and footy at the same time, like tomorrow night).

Anyway, I installed Windows 10 tonight and everything is working well. The only thing that is a bit different is the top of the screen has a very thin white line whereas all the others are boarderless. Why can't Microsoft offer media center in the App Store for those who want it? They could & I think should but on the other hand, MS disbanded the WMC development team back in 2009 so the demise of WMC has been coming for a while. In fact just read an article written back in 2012 (before the release of Win8) that said Win8 would be the last version of Windows that would include WMC, even if you had to pay extra for it.

It's all to do about the almighty '$'. The same reason that WMP didn't include the option of playing DVD's on Win8.

No need to pay a licence fee for every copy of Win8. It finds both tuners in my lan connected Avermedia F200 but doesn't find any services. Had a similar problem. I found that after setting my area as Australia, then State as NSW then in our instance Newcastle as suburb then I selected All Australia for scanning, then a pop up window came in and said there are 89 frequencies scan or ignore. Choose scan and it will take a while but should pick up all the channels available in your suburb/area.

Did this for both sections of our dual tuner and works really well. Mont Blanc Pen Serial Number Location. Try and see how you go. It is a trainwreck in that regard Agreed, its configuration is 100% implementation driven rather than user orientated. For example it has separate options as to which channels have their EPG stored (on for all by default) and which have it downloaded (off for all by default). I can't imagine who thought I'd want to store but not download, or download but not store, an EPG. (not to mention a question why it's an option at all, and off by default) I eventually got it to work (googling solutions one after another all along) but uninstalled it because even if it does work, it still had four desktop icons (some of which produce UAC prompt) and an sql server.

That is not what I am after in a desktop app. So far, SichboPVR seems to be the winner for me -- it's faster than WMC and solves some issues WMC had. Only EPG navigation is weird (going right does not push it forward into future, there are separate buttons for that). I eventually got it to work (googling solutions one after another all along) but uninstalled it because even if it does work, it still had four desktop icons (some of which produce UAC prompt) and an sql server. That is not what I am after in a desktop app Its almost as if someone got bored coding for Linux, and turned their attention to Windows. Needlessly complicated for an app that is basically to drive an appliance.

So far, SichboPVR seems to be the winner for me Doesn't support my card unfortunately:(. As I said above, I'm going to need some new hardware, Good luck there. I'd love to see tuner/software combinations come out that work well with Windows 10. I've been an insider with Windows 10 on a laptop for a while, and have MediaPortal, NextPVR, Kodi and TotalMedia working well on there, but my desktop with the official release of Windows 10 won't play nice. Looks like MediaPortal locks the DTV USB stick at bootup so the others don't work.

Needs some more playing around with, methinks. EDIT: Checked back with that laptop, same deal. Looks like I will have to delete all other DTV programs and just have MediaPortal (or NextPVR + Kodi) on the machines. NextPVR was mildly successful, but there were some significant issues: 1.

One channel was missing from the list of channels in Sydney (TVS). Channel numbers are incorrectly mapped from the scan.

You have to change them manually. Kodi was useless, didn't see that NextPVR was installed on my system. Recorded TV show didn't appear in TV Recordings. After inspecting the folder, I've noticed it was locked by the program. Having problems with switching between SD and HD channels. Obviously NextPVR wasn't build to be used for live TV. As it looks at the moment, I will not upgrade my laptop that runs Win 7 and WMC until a better option is found as a replacement for WMC.

Much easier to deal with than Mediaportal if all you want is TV and none of the other abilities Mediaportal brings. When you have MediaPortal or Kodi working properly, and explore the other features they have, you realise WMC is old hat and you wouldn't go back even if you could on Win 10. Kodi + NextPVR on Windows 10 is working fine for me, I'm currently recording a series of 4 movies one after the other off 7Mate, going without problems.

(Using GOM player to watch each movie as it is being recorded, works well.) Having multiple desktops available is great on Win 10, one for Kodi, another one for GOM playback, a third for surfing the web. There is an option to either pause or lock the tuner in the TV server config. It is set to lock as default.

Try setting it to pause and see what happens. The option was added in v 1.12. I saw that and wondered what it did.

I will look at that once I get bored with Kodi. I've removed MediaPortal off my Win 10 desktop for the moment and experimenting with Kodi add ons.

Oxygen and Phoenix are worth exploring. EDIT: Phoenix WAS worth looking at, unfortunately all the illegal content has now gone. WMC's simplicity God I love WMC. Does MS not realise that people use it for TV or are they just blind?

I read somewhere recently, a quote from an MS rep, long winded too, explaining how WMC's DVD playback functionality will be available in a metro app called DVD Player or something. I almost yelled at the screen 'WHAT ABOUT TV?!?!'

To which there was no reply. Reading back on this thread I think there have been some alternatives mentioned, which I'll definitely check out. As for Video playback Handed_The_Baton, use either VLC or MPC-HC. There can be no question.

It is a 'Windows Component' not a standalone program Once they started asking for money for it, it should have become a standalone program. It's a cheeky move to 'revoke' a license that has been paid for. What was the recording quirk that pichboPVR SichboPVR has? It writes rogue.ts (mpeg) files to the recording directory, which result in File Explorer taking ages to display the directory containing them. It looks as if they may be headerless files, as they play perfectly within Sichbo itself but they can cause editing software such as VideoReDo to crash. It looks as if File Explorer is having to scan each of the files in its entirety, gathering information that would be contained in the header in order to display the file. It's quite weird and is not confined to Windows 10.

The same thing happens in 8.1. Problems so far are video breaking up, only SD and no HD when I get any of the alternatives to [nearly] work and generally all crap compared to WMC's simplicity, which is all I really need. Possibly need some filters like LAV filters installed? Try to get to grips with the extra complexity.

There is nothing that matches WMC for simplicity. TotalMedia 3.5 is about as simple as it gets, provided you can find the version that is not tied down to one specific tuner card/usb stick.

Pavlov, can you list the software you've had the most success with please? I've settled on LAV filters + Next PVR + Kodi on Win 10, totally reliable for recording and playback. MediaPortal 1.12 works well too. Has any body really tried to port media center over to 10 anybody know what file is run on add media features in windows 7 looking at windows 10 Registry Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Multimedia TV] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Multimedia TV Persist Tune Xml] [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Multimedia TV Persist Tune Xml Namespaces] 's.microsoft.com/2006/eHome/M ediaCenter/Tuning.xsd'='tune ' 'LSchema'='xsd' '3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance'='xsi' [the exported Registry for Multimedia TV is 114 k. Is there some additional action I have to do that I'm missing?

Unlike WMC which continues running in the background, you need to leave Sichbo running. In settings, you need to tick 'minimise to system tray', 'start with Windows', 'start minimised'. EDIT2: Then minimise it, don't close it.

I will be interested to see you report back on the files it generates when recording. They should play perfectly in SichboPVR itself, but play havoc in File Explorer when you go to the directory in which they are recorded. You can, of course, test recording manually by hitting the white circle on the transport bar. EDIT: By leaving it running, you will also have the advantage of it updating the EPG periodically. You will see the tray icon turn from blue to green when it is updating.

You can set the frequency of the update in settings (advanced). I am trying to use one. Maybe pull the Winfast DTV1000 S out of this computer and swap them over.

I posted in another thread that I really need to tidy up the cable rats nest beneath the desk and also start on clearing out this room so that I can reach the cupboard. Well, I started today. Plastic tubs without and within.

Cables for nearly any patch job, about 8 remote controls and I found the WinFast box and, I think, the low profile bracket which means I can swap the tuners over and place the WinFast card in the SFF test computer devoted to Windows 10 and trialling alternatives to WMC. Bloody exhausted so a task for another day. Thanks Pavlov for your answers to my list of questions. Also have another 3 computers to upgrade to Windows 10 and then image and downgrade to Windows 7 for WMC use for now:(. Rediscover Digital Television.

Watch, timeshift and record high quality DVB-T television with pleasure. Easy navigation and fast channel zapping. Rediscover standard television with high quality and power saving image post-processing technologies. This features is not available in PRO nad PRO EX version. Splash Lite functionality is limited, full functionality will be available in Splash TV.

It looks like Splash FREE, has limited WATCH capability but recording was to be incorporated in to Splash TV, which looks like its been a dead product (Unreleased) for like 3 years. I may have found the solution it appears that my old faithful drivers from digitaltv 3.4 build 0212 work on my tinytwin V1. The 9641 installed but I could not get any app to scan for channels with them. Yes I am currently watching tv on windows 10. I'm a genius. How I did it.

Uninstalled all other drivers e.g. 9641 and used usb device from microsoft. Then simply installed the digitaltv version and voila. Able to use DNTV LIve happily seeing both tuners. Watching 2 channels simultaneous as a test atm. Also working with SichboPVR. Unlike WMC which continues running in the background, you need to leave Sichbo running.

In settings, you need to tick 'minimise to system tray', 'start with Windows', 'start minimised'. EDIT2: Then minimise it, don't close it. But ouch, that's pretty poor:( I just tried and it comes with drawbacks: - starting the program doesn't un-minimise the existing instance, but complains instead, so I can't just click on desktop/start/pinned icon to start watching - after activating 'minimise to system tray', if I watch live TV and minimise, it just stops and deletes timeshift buffer. I usually pause a lot when watching live TV so losing the buffer is pretty bad. (WMC would kill the buffer when spacebar was pressed so that was quite ridiculous too; but at least pressing spacebar is not my usual routine when I juggle windows around) Bah, now I'm disappointed:/ I will be interested to see you report back on the files it generates when recording Tomorrow's Simpsons, then. Unless I accidentally close the program lol.

DVR recording announced for Xbox One. That'll replace WMC for us for the little amount of TV we would record these days. Includes streaming to iOS, Android, Windows. And download to Windows 10 (and phone) for offline playback.

Result as expected, from what I figured from Ed Bott's article on ZDnet, back in May. For playback of TV programming on big screens, the Xbox One is the best modern alternative for Media Center refugees. The Sling TV service, available as an Xbox One app, offers a diverse array of content, live and on-demand. There's also a new live-TV option for the Xbox One, using a Hauppauge tuner to deliver over-the-air programming via the Xbox. It looks very much that MS wants to force people to buy an XBOne, and use that instead of a HTPC using Windows and WMC. So there are only 2 ways to show MS, they are wrong. Refuse to downgrade to Win10, and keep using WMC in Win7 or 8.

Refuse to buy an Xbone. Jenifur Charne. So there are only 2 ways to show MS, they are wrong. If you believe they are wrong. I personally don't.

I'm a long time user of Media Center (early beta program, still have several early TV Tuners Microsoft sent to me during that period). It has always been fairly fragile to keep running correctly, although that has improved greatly since Vista/7 onwards. I've had in the past 3 Xbox 360s as the front end to our Media PC and that's worked great most of the time. I personally agree with their current direction, supporting a single set of known hardware must greatly simplify development and support. Our viewing patterns have changed greatly, especially in the last couple of years. We watch much less live TV or recorded TV and instead use iView, iPlayer, Netflix etc.

We hadn't recorded any live TV for the last 3 months, so last week I upgraded our Media PC (a microserver) to Windows 10 with no remorse. However we already have an Xbox One, and that's our primary media viewing (and live TV watching) platform. I would love to see a smaller dedicated media Xbox though (no gaming).

So having had a Media PC (XP Media Center, Windows Media Center) since 2002 (or about then?) we have now moved on. You aren't trying very hard, obviously! Obviously lol. However, please note I said 'TV recording and watching program', not 'WMC replacement program'. MediaPortal, KODI and WMC are all about turning a PC into a HTPC. What I'm looking for is a program that allows me to watch and record live TV on my *desktop PC*.

No remote, rare fullscreen, no playback of local video files, etc etc. WMC was 'kinda' acceptable in that role (as long as you didn't turn it fullscreen at all, because it would prevent you from using your second monitor. I did say 'kinda'). MediaPortal is even less so.

Haven't tried Kodi recently but from memory it wasn't very good as a desktop app either. They require some intelligence in setting up That's a nice way of putting it. A possible alternative way is that they set you up for failure any way they can, and laugh at you for being a noob when they succeed.* Anyway, MediaPortal is a program which, upon startup, has a big 'TV' button. You press is with your mouse and it expands with 'Live TV' on the right.

If you move your mouse now (towards the 'Live TV' label), it un-expands. I have never found a way to start live TV using a mouse alone. There is only this much user-unfriendlyness I can accept before I say it's not a nice program lol. * oh your cat is dead? Did you try disabling options ->stars and moon ->advanced ->baguette ->do not eat my cat option? Then it's your fault!

How can that option be any clearer. Not running a Hauppage tuner? This might be the go.

I don't think so, Wyrm. From the page you linked to: Watch, pause, record and playback TV from Hauppauge TV tuners No mention I can see on that page about it playing nicely with non-Hauppage tuners. And there's worse: Installation notes: A valid WinTV v7 application CD-ROM or a WinTV v7 installation code will be needed to install this WinTV v8 version. If you do not have your original WinTV CD-ROM but would like to update to WinTV v8, you can This can then be used to activate WinTV v8.

It's NOT a stand-alone installer. It's an upgrade app, and you need the physical media from the old version. Jenifur Charne. What I'm looking for is a program that allows me to watch and record live TV on my *desktop PC*. No remote, rare fullscreen, no playback of local video files, etc etc.

Windows 10 has multiple desktops. Control-Windows key + d give you a new desktop. Run Kodi or MediaPortal on one, then do whatever on a new desktop. Control-Windows key + left or right arrow to jump to other desktops. Works for me anyway. Do whatever during ad breaks or boring bits.

But I prefer to record and watch later, so I can skip through ads. You need the physical media from the old version.

I've been looking at two ways of getting this app: 1 is to buy the USB stick, PCTV Systems 292e tripleStick HD TV Tuner. For around 75 euros at the maker's U.K. This comes with the v7 CD which you can then upgrade.

This would be the way for me, because I don't have any Happauge gear. Just buy the software for 12 euros at that web store – I believe that it is a version compatible with 10. Else you download the upgrade. I do, but didn't get the software disks needed with the tuner. For some reason, they don't ship it with the tuner.

Would be nice if they dragged themselves out of the dark ages and let you buy the app online. Currently waiting for my disk to arrive.

Like sysKin, I just want something basic to watch TV while I do other stuff on the desktop. Having a big screen, the TV window ends up being fairly small so I can do more than one thing at a time. Hopeful someone works out a hack to install WMC in 10. Until there is a 'just works' alternative to WMC, my dad's PC will continue to run Win7. He presses the 'dad button' (windows button) on the remote. Everything he needs a computer for can be done from there.

+Browse the Schedule, set a show, or a series to be recorded. +Watch back his shows. +Delete the show after he has watched it. It has never, and will never, be used for anything else. WMC is the only reason he has a PC.

Didn't even consider an XBOX One as a potential future option. You just plug in USB tuners (Would need a minimum of 4 tuners) and it 'just works'? Damn, I have some Googling to do! Thanks for bringing that up. Stupid question, with Kodi how do you add tv tuners Not a stupid question at all, though it's a stupid answer. I've forgotten the exact details since I tried it months ago but it seems Kodi does not natively interface with TV tuners.

You have to install another TV tuner program such as NextPVR as a 'Back end' or some such. I tried getting it to work with a couple of them and never had any success but I read more recently that there are detailed instructions on how to get it going on its wiki. I have eliminated Kodi and Media Portal from my enquiries re a replacement for Windows Media Center. Tried Arcsoft TotalMedia and my old Videomate U-100 on my new Windows 10 with mixed results: It found all the channels and radio streams! BUT I haved failed to get any sound on 7Mate and a few others like ishoptv etc ABC, SBS, WIN are all there with sound Capital is OK but ONE has no sound... All worked fine in WMC on Win7... Also, I have noticed my Realtek Sound config seems slightly askew: The panel shows inputs and sliders I don't use (just using simple 2channel front speakers) Yes, I have selected Stereo in config.

Could this explain the no sound issue? All other sounds and playback work correctly. I just upgraded my main PC to Windows 10. Has media portal 1.12 and 4 playtv tuners running. Had to reinstall the eyetv drivers for the tuners but it's working fine.

2 windows 10 clients connected and had 5 recordings running last night. Just goes to show what perseverance brings as a reward. (But 5 recordings?

Hope that was just a test, I can't imagine free to air TV having 5 programs worth recording on the one night, it's been going downhill quality of programming wise, for years.) Good thing about MediaPortal 1.12 is that the TV tuner can be on one machine, while you watch the output on any other machine connected to your LAN by ethernet or wireless. Haven't quite gotten to setting up server/clients on different machines myself, so a question: can it do live streaming, and if so, can you change channels from the client, or do you have to wander over to the server machine? But 5 recordings? Hope that was just a test, I can't imagine free to air TV having 5 programs worth recording on the one night, it's been going downhill I agree. I don't really watch much FTA but.SWMBO has a thing for cooking shows, Reno shows, home and away, neighbours, bold and the beautiful.

The list of horrors goes on. It's not usually 5 shows recording but start and end of recordings overlapping. I have found 8 tuners to be a bit of overkill but with 4 or five recording, 1 or 2 clients connected and EPG grabbing it can add up. The best thing about MP is that it can record all channels on a MUX using only one tuner so for example I can record 9, GEM and GO and it only uses one tuner. Can you change channels from the client, or do you have to wander over to the server machine No, the client does all the channel changes. It grabs a tuner from the server. MP has really devolved into a genuine contender in the last year or so.

It is worth persevering with if you want to move away from windows 7. WMC can record off 4 tuners maximum, I think. I can't confirm this now, but this was the limit I remember years ago when I went looking. It is important to mention that I do not believe WMC can record all the channels from the same stream at the same time on the same tuna.

Newer HTPC software can do this. Example: 7, 7TWO, 7Mate. There is something on these three at the same time you wish to record.

With newer software, this would use only one tuna. With WMC, this requires 3 separate tuna. Recording something from say ABC and SBS2, will always require two tuna, regardless of software. I'd like that too, if I could make it work. Have had no luck so far (bog standard Windows 7 machines running MS defender, windows firewall, option accepted to let MP through firewall as prompted) Essentially, you need 2 machines on the same network both with MediaPortal 1.12 installed.

The one with the tuner and aerial needs setting up as the server (use the server config program) while the other is setup as the client using the MediaPortal config. You then point the client at the server stream on the network, and it should work, in theory. I haven't gone through this process myself, so I bet it isn't that simple!

I bet there is a detailed Wiki page about this though, worth a search maybe? Yes, the AF 9015 drivers work well on Windows 10. Had fun yesterday, lost channel 2 stations, then channel 10. Aerial checked, some weather damage so connector on cable replaced - no change. Cable from wall socket to DTV card replaced - no change.

Hooked up my laptop with 395UR DTV USB tuner with same cable - works! Pulled out the dual DTV PCI card, hooked up the 395UR - nope, crashed with a kernel security failure. Swapped the USB 395UR from a USB 3 socket to a USB 2 socket, all sweet now.

But I'm now down to single channel recording. (Failed card is a KW-PC160-2T, PCI dual tuner - worked well for decades, going to miss it!

) Whole process took hours of annoyance. Asking myself why I don't just buy a small smart TV, bolt it to the wall, and hook up a hard drive for PVR function? From what I've been reading, they aren't so smart. I imagine they have their own problems. I better stick to what I know best. Tried the Digitalnow TinyTwin USB tuner on a spare W8.1 computer yesterday but the pixilation was absolutely terrible.

LAV filters installed? Usually if the signal is strong enough to get a picture, it's problems with the drivers/filters that cause pixillation.

Also check CPU usage, I have TotalMedia running ABC24 on a second monitor and it is only using 2% on the CPU. Much higher is an indication there is a problem.

From what I've been reading, they aren't so smart. Oh and smart TV's are a shocker. That's been my experience too. Generally they seem to be poor at anything other than watching tv. My HTPC (Leadtek DTV2000DS) will be staying on Win7 for the time being as there seems to be no Win10 support, unless I can get my Mac Mini with Elgato usb tuner set up to my satisfaction, but that means I will also have to fork out for a BD drive and software for it too. For the desktop PC with tv tuner not sure what I am going to do ATM.

I currently have an Avermedia H727 capture tuner and they don't appear to have win10 drivers and software yet. Suppose I could go back to the Hauppauge HVR-2210 as Wintv8 is supposed to work on Windows 10. Did the upgrade to Win 10 a week or so ago and quite like it. I have a Compro E750 dual tuner card that has worked well for a few years now.

Didn't need to upgrade drivers for it, it just worked. I'm using NextPvr and XBMC (Kodi??) with LAV and the system works well. Bit fiddly trying to tune channels in NextPVR, requires much patience. What I like is being able to individually record all the channels in a stream, although, as Pavlov said, is there that much worth recording. I record mostly stuff the missus wants and use VideoReDo to edit out commercials.

Haven't had any joy yet working out EPG but wonder is it worth it. After about 7 at night most programs start to slide backwards because of all the extra ads they are shoving in and by about 10 they can be anything from 15 to 30 minutes later than scheduled. Its really bad after 'reality' shows.

Does the EPG cope with that? Have tried most of the alternatives already mentioned but find NextPVR and XBMC work best for me. I stuck my Leadtek Winfast 130 in my old Windows 7 Ultimate machine this afternoon, since it didn't work with MCE on the new Windows 10 machine/s.

Windows 7 reports 'No drivers installed' and 'Can't find driver'. So I downloaded Leadtek driver for the card which, when I tried to install it, got 'cleaned' as a damaging bug by both Avast AND Windows Defender (whcih wasn't supposed to be running). I put in the original Leadtek CD, wouldn't get past the new hurdles! I downloaded the latest Leadtek PVR package for the card – same hassles.

What am I doing wrong? BTW, the insidious Windows 10 'Is ready and waiting to be installed' raised its ugly head on THAT machine, too – without ever having been invited! I'll have to get rid of it before it downloads a new release every five minutes in the background! DigitalTV 3.4 seems to give a clear picture and sound on Windows 10, but can't utilise the second tuner in my TinyTwin USB dongle. The LAV filters are installed. Have plenty of spare single tuner USB dongles to try. Now, how to align channels with the correct channel numbers and will it record?

The EPG menu is working, but the main menu is microscopic. Oh, and the remote control works, as does the keyboard, when selecting channels. At least Help works and is complete with pictures. PIP and POP is great too.

Signal Strength and Picture Quality too from memory. Well 66 TV stations and 12 Radio stations found using the TinyTwin USB dongle. DigitalTV might have been written in 2006, and only uses one of the 2 tuners, but the pictures are very clear. Tried a few of the other USB dongles and they wouldn't even scan. Now to test recording, find a way to reassign the channel numbers and I think I might have found my answer to the lack of WMC on Windows 10.

Looks like updates may be clobbering the LAV filters or something else. I reinstalled the LAV filters and rescanned to get DigitalTV working again:(. I've stopped looking for the perfect WMC replacement for Windows 10. (No, haven't given up, settled on Kodi.) My conclusions so far: (1) TotalMedia 3.5 is the closest to a WMC replacement, but you need to find the version that is NOT locked to a particular DTV card/stick, and comes with a serial number. (It's no longer available commercially, so hunt around) (2) My KWorld DVT- PC160-2T (twin tuner) card is fubar'd as it no longer picks up 2 or 10 channels - I had been blaming everything else - antenna, Windows 10, DTV software, motherboard, etc. (3) Any USB stick with a Realtek 2832U chip isn't worth having at the moment as it won't work until some Windows 10 drivers show up, if ever.

AF 9015 based single tuner USB sticks are ok. (eg kworld 395UR) (4) NextPVR + Kodi and Mediaportal work w.