Why does my MCE lock up all the time?

I bought a Windows Media Center two weeks ago and a new PC, Fujitsu Scaleo C, that is supposed to be adopted to MCE. However, ever since the first time I installed the MCE I am experiencing problems. The program locks up all the time, and I don't know why.

I have been in contact with the customer support for hours, they say something might be wrong with the drivers for the graphics card. Unfortunately the support people don't seem to have the solution to my problem. If anyone have any suggestions on how to solve the problem I would be extremely happy!

/Marie

[Tony H]

You are in the usual position of the seller blaming the software and so on.

What I would try first is Windows update to see if there is any updates. Microsoft are notorious for releasing products which are then tried and tested by the public, so any issues are then reported back and they then try to sort out the bugs with patches etc (XP has had a massive update with Service pack 2, virtually rewritten I believe and the other day I downloaded 32 updates since service pack 2!).

Also right click My Computer>properties>hardware>device manager and check everything looks ok in Device Manager. If it is, then my guess is that it is most likely the software ie, WMC. It is very hard to trouble shoot this sort of thing, short of ripping each component out and then trying others. As I say, try updates first and make sure you have just WMC and little else installed first if possible. If it has anti virus installed by default, also try disabling this for a short while to see if this is causing it.

Regards,

Tony H

PS: Once you have done all of the above, if it still does not work...in my opinion you have every right to take it back! However, dont go telling them too much like you tried updates etc or they might try and blame that!

[dobbin]

Sounds very like a driver problem.

What graphics card and TV card are you using?

Have you installed the latest (Win MCE) drivers from the web for both?

If you haven't then try this first. Drivers are a very common reason for MCE to lock up. When it happened to me I had to physically power the PC off coz it wouldn't respond to any key presses (including ctrl-alt-del).
On re-start windows asks if I want to send the problem to Microsoft. I said Yes and then IE loaded on a Microsoft page showing that my graphics driver needed upgrading.

Hope it works for you.

Dobbin

[Slinkoff]

sorry to bombard you with "it could be this, it could be that, try the other" but lockups are commonly caused by overheating. Check the ventilation on the PC and that all the fans are operational. If the unit is concealed out of the way or on carpet or something similar, try moving it onto a desk for a while as a test and see if you get the same lockups.

[HiZ]

As Slinkoff says, heat is likely to be the problem. As its a new machine check the fan on the CPU is spinning OK, maybe one of the cables inside is resting on the fan and stopping it from turning.

While the lid's off check the PCI cards (video, tv capture, sound etc) are pushed in securly. Also check the memory 'sticks' are secure too, they have clips at each end.

Also try running it with the lid off for a wee while.

[bigdic]

I would advise against removing the lid on a new machine, these sneaky manufacturers sometimes put a securty seal on them and if it's broken when you take it back then bye bye to the warranty.

If you can't sort it by software updates then take it back, you paid the money for a working machine so let them fix it.