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Just a short, simple blog for Bob to share his thoughts.

Exporting and Importing Windows Media Center Recording Schedules

29 October 2016 • by Bob • Windows Media Center

I ran into an interesting problem the other day which warranted some investigation: I was replacing the computer which my dad uses for Windows Media Center, (which he uses as his DVR and to watch movies), and he had an elaborate recording schedule set up for all of his favorite shows and wish lists. The problem for me - as his IT guy - was to figure out how to migrate his recording schedule from his old computer to his new computer, and as it turns out - there was already a command line solution from Microsoft which was pretty easy to use.

The tool in question is called loadmxf.exe, and you can find out more about that utility in the Windows Media Center Guide Listings Format article on MSDN.

That being said, here are the steps to export your recording schedules from one Windows Media Center computer and import them into a new Windows Media Center computer.

On Your Old WMC Computer:

  1. In Windows Explorer, navigate to the following folder:

    "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\eHome"

  2. Find the most recent "mcepgX-X" folder
  3. Find the "backup\recordings" folder
  4. Copy the latest "yyyymmdd_hhmmss" file to a share or flash drive

Note: The "yyyymmdd_hhmmss" file is an XML file which contains your recording schedule, and you can find detailed information about the data in the file in the Windows Media Center Guide Listings Format article which I mentioned earlier.

On Your New WMC Computer:

  1. Copy "yyyymmdd_hhmmss" file from earlier to the following folder:

    "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\eHome\mcepgX-X\backup\recordings"

  2. Open a command prompt and type:

    "%windir%\ehome\loadmxf.exe" -i "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\eHome\mcepgX-X\backup\recordings\yyyymmdd_hhmmss"

  3. Once completed, the tool will display the import status
  4. Open the Windows Media Center application
  5. All of your scheduled recordings should be displayed in Windows Media Center, however - they will not work until you open each scheduled recording and resave it without making any changes

Some Thoughts About My 20th Anniversary At Microsoft

18 December 2015 • by Bob • Microsoft, Random Thoughts, Windows, IIS

At the risk of gratuitous self-aggrandizement - today is my actual 20th anniversary. My 20th anniversary crystal arrived the other day, so I added to the collection on a bookcase in my office. (Although to be honest, they didn't hand out anniversary crystals when I reached my 5th and 10th anniversaries, so I had to buy those after the fact.)

20thAnniversaryCrystal

Things I'm Most-Proud Of...

Disclaimer: Yeah, I realize that I'm definitely bragging here; hence why I labeled this section "Things I'm Most-Proud Of."

Embarrassing Microsoft Moments...

Here is a collection of amusing stories with which I have been involved over the years:

Weird Microsoft Traditions...

We have done some silly things over the years at Microsoft; some of these traditions are still in practice, while others are long-gone. For example:

A Few of the Hardest Things for Me at 20 Years...

A Few Manager Anecdotes...

I worked with some great first-level managers at Microsoft - too many to recall - and I worked with some great skip-level managers, too. That being said, here is a list with some of my all-time favorite first-level managers (many of whom are no longer with the company): NancyL, SibhonO, MicheleP, JayV, StaceyC, TerryM, SharonM, BillS, Mai-lanB, EricD, ThomasD, AndrewL, TomW, WonY, and of course - WadeP.

Here are a few small managerial anecdotes - I don't have stories about everyone, so anyone left off the list is not meant as a slight:

Windows Versions during my Tenure...

I thought it would be fun to take a look back at all the version of Windows that have existed during my time at Microsoft, with a few of my thoughts about each version. (Note: you should also see Windows turns 30: a visual history, which is a pretty amusing look back at the history of Windows.)

That about wraps it up for me. So if anyone is still reading by now, here is my statement that I have always used to summarize how I feel about working at Microsoft: "To me, working for Microsoft is like working for Santa Claus; we make all the coolest toys, and we get to play with them before anyone else."

With that in mind, who wouldn't want to spend 20 years working for Microsoft?