Windows Media Center - wont launch...due to Software Restriction Policy???
Current system:Windows Vista x64 Ultimate RETAIL installed onto clean system. UAC disabledUsing full administrator account w/ no restrictions Problem:Anytime I attempt to launch Windows Media Center or Media Center Extender I receive the following popup error and the program does not attempt to to even start: Error:[Windows Media Center"Windows cannot open this program because it has been prevented by a software restriction policy. For more information contact your system administrator." Summary:When I initialy installed the OS, this problem did not exist. I was able to launch WMC just fine. Only after a couple month of reinstalling necessary base applications do I now get this error. My family cannot even use it as an extender for the XBOX360 anymore. From what i can tell there are a lot of people with this issue and NO SOLUTION from MS as yet. I did see in one post that someone else had this error and was able to correct it by setting WMC as the default application in "Default Programs --> Set Program Access and Computer Defaults" This did not work for me at all. At this point I am at a complete loss. Any insight would be appreciated. -J
July 27th, 2007 12:25am

Hi Did you turn on Software Restriction in the Local Security Policy and set the default to Disallow? If so you may need to add the start menu folder to as an allowed path, because by default shortcuts in the start menu are not allowed to execute. Peter
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 27th, 2007 6:27pm

Hello Peter, Under Local secpol, If I select "Software Restriction Policies" it states that no policies are defined. I tried enabling the policies then making the following folders unrestricted: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu & C:\windows\ehome Still no dice...
July 27th, 2007 7:19pm

Hi, JMVL! Try changing your settings under ControlPanel/Programs/Program Acess & Comp Defaults and also under ControlPanel/Programs/Set your default programs. I had the same issue and when I changed the settings here Media Centre started working again. Good luck! Deon
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 28th, 2007 11:24am

Deon, This seems to be the common answer that I have see may have worked for others. For me, no matter what I change these settings to beit "Microsoft, Non-Micrisoft or Custom", still the same issue. I have tried disabling all of the non-MS and setting the defaults on WMC and making it the default app again etc.. The other media players installed on this system are iTunes, Winamp and Realplayer (as well as Media Center and Media Player). I am starting to wonder if there is som incompatibility with one of these. On your system that you fixed, what is installed? Thanks
July 28th, 2007 2:48pm

Hi there! I only have iTunes as an extra media player. Maybe you should look deeper into Winamp and Realplayer? Good luck! Deon
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 29th, 2007 12:02pm

Hi,I managed to get around this by going to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter in the registry. There was a DWORD in it called "MediaCenter" with a value of "1". Deleting that DWORD allowed Media Center to launch properly. Take note that this was done with Vista Home Premium though, and as a disclaimer, be careful with editing your registry. Hope that helps.Cheers
August 12th, 2007 7:28pm

Thank god for you Deon!! This was my issue. I had changed the Default Programs setting to custom and did not check the "Allow Access to Program" button for media center or player or IE. Hopefully now my 360 will connect to my PC again!At least my icons are all back in Vista.A nice big warning would have been nice Microsoft, hint hint.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
November 28th, 2007 5:23am

I had the same problem and error message about a "Software restriction policy" preventing to start Windows Media Center under Vista Home Premium.The following resolved the problem for me... Start > Default Programs > Set Program Access and Default Programs > Custom > OK Then under "Chose a default media player" put a tick behind "Windows Media Center" in front of "Enable access to this program" Hit OKHope this helps.Posted Dec 30, 2007
December 31st, 2007 4:47am

Don't know if you will read this but THANK YOU! Your solution worked for me and I have been without WMC for about 6 months now. Every now and again I would try and figure it out but gave up cause the solutions looked to complicated. Thanks again.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
July 30th, 2008 5:38am

This did not work for me. I have re-installed W7 and tried the tricks above, no success. My version is supposed to be the Windons Enterprise, it reads however WINDOWS 7 ULTIMATE, build 7000. Possibly related, I also get a constant and anoying message "This copy of Windows is not genuine". Ive tried to change the product key to the one I was provided with by MS, and I get the following error code: 0xc004e003
September 8th, 2009 2:19pm

Hi, I managed to get around this by going to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter in the registry. There was a DWORD in it called "MediaCenter" with a value of "1". Deleting that DWORD allowed Media Center to launch properly. Take note that this was done with Vista Home Premium though, and as a disclaimer, be careful with editing your registry. Hope that helps. Cheers Hi, thanks a lot Requiem. It just worked for me as well. However, mine was under LocalMachine instead of CurrentUser. I have been searching for days now and just managed to sort it out with this fix. Hope it will not affect my system stability. Cheers
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
January 2nd, 2010 4:24pm

I have seen many people with Windows 7 having this issue but the fix is actually simple.Click on START,CONTROL PANEL,PROGRAMS,DEFAULT PROGRAMS,SET PROGRAM ACCESS & COMPUTER DEFAULTS then select MICROSOFT WINDOWS.Reloading the driver message should appear in the right side bottom corner of your screen.Problem should be resolved.
January 22nd, 2010 8:23pm

Just wanted to let you know that this worked for me. Thank you.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
April 27th, 2010 2:35am

thank you so much!
July 13th, 2010 1:39am

This worked for me. I have w7 ultimate edition. The others wouldn't work 4 me. Got it from another forum. Must thank that guy. Hope it helps!!! ..... (you, having Home Premium, have no GPEdit), you can still check the Registry keys that are affected by the mentioned policies. (GPEdit is but a nice frontend to various Registry settings, anyways.) Take a look at the following keys: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter\MediaCenter HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter\MediaCenter A ValueData of 0 = MC can run; 1= MC is disabled. Standard warning: incorrect editing of the Windows Registry can have far-reaching consequences, and may result in your system becoming unbootable (possibly requiring reinstalling the operating system.) Be careful!!!!! Don't change anything in there yet. Just open regedit, and take a look for those two keys. If they're there, post the ValueData displayed. If they're not there, post that they aren't there.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
September 9th, 2010 8:42pm

This worked for me. I have w7 ultimate edition. The others wouldn't work 4 me. Got it from another forum. Must thank that guy. Hope it helps!!! ..... (you, having Home Premium, have no GPEdit), you can still check the Registry keys that are affected by the mentioned policies. (GPEdit is but a nice frontend to various Registry settings, anyways.) Take a look at the following keys: HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter\MediaCenter HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter\MediaCenter A ValueData of 0 = MC can run; 1= MC is disabled. Standard warning: incorrect editing of the Windows Registry can have far-reaching consequences, and may result in your system becoming unbootable (possibly requiring reinstalling the operating system.) Be careful!!!!! Don't change anything in there yet. Just open regedit, and take a look for those two keys. If they're there, post the ValueData displayed. If they're not there, post that they aren't there. This worked but at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/POLICIES/MICROSOFT/WindowsMediaCenter/ change the MediaCenter key from 1 to 0. Good luck,
September 16th, 2010 8:08pm

Nash007 - Your resolution worked for me with one exception. I am running “Windows 7 Enterprise 64-Bit.” I didn't have this in the registry, "HKCUSoftware\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter\MediaCenter." I did have this one "HKLM\Software\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter\MediaCenter" and I changed the value from 1 to 0 and it worked. Thank you.
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
October 31st, 2010 10:38am

Thanks - this worked like a charm for me, where other suggestions did not.
December 8th, 2010 10:11pm

Hi all i'm running vista and it did'nt work for me tryed alsorts just wont work....Help please
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
December 9th, 2010 5:17am

OMG I freakin LOVE YOU! This worked for me I was going crazy for months trying to figure this crap out. THANK YOU~!
April 6th, 2011 12:30am

Hey, this worked great using vista home prem thanks so much. I did not delete the entry but changed it's value from 1 to 0 and it worked
Free Windows Admin Tool Kit Click here and download it now
April 27th, 2011 10:39pm

This topic is archived. No further replies will be accepted.

Other recent topics Other recent topics