Windows Media Center: “An error was encountered while configuring your computer for use with this extender”

I recently had an issue during an install of a Windows Media Center Extender. The install may have failed do to the install being interrupted by a power outage and it seems like some files may have been corrupted on the MC PC.

I was receiving the error:

An error was encountered while configuring your computer for use with this extender

when I entered the 1234-5678 type code in the PC to add the extender. In the Event Viewer there was event 523 with the details “Media Center Extender Setup failed at step 120.” The error was -2147467259.

I found a post that cleared up the problem by following the steps below:

Go to C:\windows\system32\grouppolicy and delete the contents of the folder (including the directories).
You will need to untick Hide Protected Operating System Files and select Show Hidden Files and Folders before you browse.

I have windows 7 pro and an Xbox 360.

Hope this helps, and use the advice at your own risk, but it just worked for me. I copied the files elsewhere just in case before I deleted them, but didn’t need to do anything with them, as they were regenerated when I added the extender.

 

Listing the Groups for a User or Users of a Group in a Windows Domain

Had to look this one up today, as I can’t remember the last time I needed this, but finding out what users are part of a Windows group, or what groups a user belongs to comes in pretty handy now and then. Here is the command prompt code:

 

To list of groups for which a user belongs:

        net user jsmith /domain

To list of members of a group:

        net group some-user-group /domain

 

No Internet connection… Weird Gateway of 0.0.0.0

So I rebooted tonight after a Windows Update and found that I no longer had an internet connection. I checked the usual suspects – cables, routers, switches, modems etc. – no luck. Took a look at my ipconfig and found a mysterious 0.0.0.0 gateway in addition to the usual 192.168.0.1 – something looked foul. I tried ipconfig release but nothing helped. Here is what I did to fix it:

1. Right-Clicked on the desktop, chose new->shortcut
2. Typed “C:WindowsSystem32cmd.exe” (no quotes) as the location
3. Right clicked on my new shortcut, chose “Run As Administrator”
4. At the command prompt I typed:

ipconfig

5. This gave my IP config like this:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :
Link-local IPv6 Address . . . . . : fc80::c559:6cf0:33c0:15c5%11
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.0.144
Subnet Mask . . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway . . . . . . . . . : 0.0.0.0
192.168.0.1

5. This gives you a list of your internet adapter info, one of which is your IPPv4 address. As you can see above, the weird gateway is listed before the normal one. Here is the command that I used:

netsh interface ipv4 delete address “Local Area Connection” addr=192.168.0.144 gateway=0.0.0.0

This removed the strange 0.0.0.0 gateway, and my internet connection ! If you have the same issue, make sure you change your ip in the command replacing the 144 address I had. Good Luck!

Command Completion at DOS Prompt

I always search for the trick to make your command prompt have auto completion when when you hit the tab key, so I am writing it down here for everyone to bask in the auto-complete glory…

1. Run regedit (start->run type regedit and hit enter)
2. Find HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftCommand Processor
3. Click the “Command Processor” item and in the right pane double click “CompletionChar”
4. In the value data textbox, enter 9 and press ok.
5. Close regedit and restart any command prompts you want to tab instead of type in.

Enjoy!