Troubleshooting Media Browser startup or crash issues

Sometimes Media Browser fails to start properly or crashes when performing a certain action. This topic will describe several common problems and various steps you can undertake to find the root cause of them.

Please remember these steps do not necessarily resolve your problem, but they do help in finding the cause so you know what to look for more specifically.

Media Browser does not start

There are a few things that might be causing this.

  • It’s possible that Media Browser got disabled. Have a look at the section down below.
  • If you're using Media Center Studio or MCS for short with custom start menu strips and icons, it might be possible that this somehow got corrupted.
  • There is a “Restore defaults” button on the Home ribbon in MCS. That will revert to the default start menu layout and can resolve the problem.
  • A problematic plugin might be the cause. Have a look at the section down below.
  • By enabling Media Browser logging you might be able to find the cause by looking at the logfiles that are created in the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Logs directory.
  • As a last resort, clear the Media Browser cache.

Problematic plugins

Sometimes a plugin can cause unexpected behaviour which might be difficult to detect at first. For troubleshooting purposes it’s often recommended to delete plugins and add them back in.

  • Open the Media Browser Configuration Wizard and remove plugins (in most cases each plugin’s settings will be retained). Start by removing the one you installed most recent and work your way back.
  • After removing the plugins that are most likely to cause the problem, perform the steps you would normally do that causes the problem (e.g start Media Browser, navigate around, play a movie or do whatever you do that causes a crash or hang).
  • If the problem persists, then continue removing plugins until you have uninstalled them all.
  • If the problem is no longer present, it is clear that a plugin is the cause.
  • Continue adding back your plugins until you find the plugin causing the issue.
  • Remove that plugin one more time to confirm you have the source of the problem.
  • By enabling Media Browser logging you might be able to find out why the plugin is causing issues by looking at the logfiles that are created in the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Logs directory.

Media Browser got disabled

Sometimes when Media Browser is working hard or for some reason stops responding, Windows Media Center may show a popup window asking if you want to disable it. If you accidentaly do this, Media Browser is no longer available in Windows Media Center.

To resolve this in Windows Vista:

  • Start Windows Media Center
  • Go to Tasks > Settings > General > Program Library Options > edit Program Library
  • Tick “media browser” and then choose “Save”.

To resolve this in Windows 7:

  • Start Windows Media Center
  • Go to Tasks > Settings > Start Menu and Extras > Extras Library
  • Tick “media browser” and then choose “Save”.

After you've enabled Media Browser again it should function properly. If it does not, then read through the other sections of this topic for troubleshooting steps.

Media Browser crashes when navigating

Navigating through Media Browser can mean any number of things and you can use various input devices like a keyboard, mouse or remote. Since there are too many navigation possibilities, we're going to look at the higher level of things. You should go in deeper until you find the problem.

  • First, confirm that the behaviour can be reproduced in the specific theme. This means that you must change to another theme and repeat the steps that cause the crash in the initial theme.

If so, then the problem is theme independent.

  • Search through the Tracker. It’s quite possible that the issue has been reported and a workaround of solution is available. The question and bug topics are of interest in this case.
  • Since the theme is not the issue, a problematic plugin could be the cause. Have a look at that section in this topic.
  • It’s also possible that something in the cache got corrupted. You could try clearing the Media Browser cache.

If not, the problem is theme specific.

  • You should continue with different view settings for that theme.
  • Try another view like poster, coverflow or thumbstrip or use different filters or sortorders. How do I change view / sort / filter settings for Media Colle...
  • By enabling Media Browser logging you might be able to find out why the theme is causing issues by looking at the logfiles that are created in the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser\Logs directory.
  • It’s still possible that a problematic plugin could be the cause with this specific theme. Have a look at that section in this topic.
  • It’s also possible that something in the cache got corrupted. You could try clearing the Media Browser cache.

When entering a media collection or folder, you see an unexpected screen

The most common cause for “different screens” then what you would expect are related to movie playlist settings.

  • The linked topic right above contains more detailed information about why this can cause issues.
  • Check for rogue files at the various folder levels in your Media Collection. For more details about the recommended folder structure, look here
  • Mixing movie files, and dvd / bluray folder structures are known to cause problems. Have a look at the recommended folder structure topic for more info on how to manage that.
  • Make sure there are at least 3 movies in a folder location, or play with the movie playlist options.

How to reset Media Browser to it’s default configuration

As a last effort to get a broken MB installation of MB going again, or simply to start over with fresh settings, it is possible to restore Media Browser to its installation defaults by following the procedure below:

  • Close Media Browser as well as MediaCenter, if open.
  • Using a file manager such as Windows Explorer, navigate to %programdata% (usually C:\programdata). [Needs improvement to mention Hidden folders]
  • Rename the MediaBrowser folder to MediaBrowser-original (or pick a name of your choosing). You may optionally delete the MediaBrowser folder, but it is recommended you keep this folder for easy access as reference to re-configuring MB.
  • Open Media Browser in Windows Media Center and complete the “first-run” setup. Click Continue when finished. This will exit Media Browser.
  • Exit Windows Media Center (Do not go back in to MB at this time).
  • Start the Media Browser Configuration Wizard. Doing so at this time properly sets the Media Browser required file permissions on the newly created %programdata%\MediaBrowser folder and sub-folders. It is very important to do this step.
  • Click YES to allow the wizard to modify the necessary file permissions.

You've now reset Media Browser to installation defaults. You can now go about adding back your customizations, most likely starting with Adding your Media.

There’s also a more specific topic about completely uninstalling Media Browser.

How to manually configure the correct permissions for the ProgramData\MediaBrowser folder

If for some reason the Media Browser Configuration Wizard cannot set the correct permissions on the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser folder, here are the steps to do it manually.

  • In Windows Explorer, navigate to `C:\ProgramData`.
  • Rightclick the MediaBrowser folder and choose “properties” from the context-menu.
  • Go to the security tab and click the “edit” button to unlock the window so you can set permissions. (You might receive an UAC warning when doing this)
  • Highlight the “Users” group in the top part of the unlocked permissions window.
  • Put a checkmark next to “Full control” in the allow column. This will automatically put a checkmark in the allow column for every other permission.
  • Click “Apply”, then “Ok”, then “Ok” again in the previous window.

All done. The “Users” group now has full control over the C:\ProgramData\MediaBrowser folder.

Additional information

If none of these troubleshooting steps help you in finding the cause and resolving the issue, then do a search on the tracker for a similar topic. If that does not give any results, post a question topic with details about your situation and the steps you performed to troubleshoot it. The more information, the better.

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