A good problem report comes with enough information so that someone can provide some guidance on what you can do to resolve the problem, or to work around an-issue.
What kind of information should you include? All problem reports minimally should include the following:
1. What version of My Movies are you running? Support is only provided for the latest version of MM.
2. What operating system are you running (VISTA, VISTA SP1, MCE 2004, MCE 2005 or something else)?
3. Are you on a X86 or X64 version of Windows, or is this a extender (if so which one)?
4. What versions of .NET Framework do you have installed (Just because you have 2.0 does not mean you do not need 1.1, they run side/by/side)?
5. What security software suite do you have installed (Zone Alarm, McAfee, Symantec, One Care, etc.)?
6. Is your machine fully up-to date with all Microsoft provided patches, specifically Media Center related ones?
7. What part of My Movies are you having problems with, Collection Manager or My Movies?
8. What are the EXACT steps you followed to re-produce the problem? For example did you start Media Center from the Start Menu or from within Media Center, and once in Media Center what EXACTLY did you select step by step and what did you see.
If your reporting a problem that sounds like a bug in My Movies, or a problem where you are seeing strange behaviors with background activities you will want to attach a log file; you do not want to post your entire log file, just the relevant parts to get this you do the following:
1. Open Collection Manager
2. Select Help/Debug/Enable
3. Select Help/Debug/Clear Log
4. Now re-produce your problem
5. Go back to Collection Manager
6. Select Help/Debug/Disable
7. Select Help/Debug/Open Log Directory
The log.txt in the log directory is what you will want to post with the problem report, DO NOT paste its entire contents into your post ATTACH it to the message, attaching files to a message is easy, just post your message go back to view your message in the forum list and select Attach, the rest will be self evident.
If the problem you are having causes the Collection Management program to not be able to open, you can create a log in the following alternative way:
1. Open the path "C:\ProgramData\My Movies" (Vista), or "C:\Documens and Settings\All Users\Application Data\My Movies" (XP). The path is hidden, which means it it the easiest to copy the path from this thread and type into the start menu's run area and press "Enter".
2. Delete the file "log.txt".
3. Now re-produce your problem.
4. Re-open the above mentioned path, and attach it to your message.
Other things to keep in mind if this is a playback related problem:
1. What kind of content are we talking about is it a WMV, MPG, VIDEO_TS, DVD, BD, or HD-DVD?
2. Are you using ISOs? If so what version of Daemon Tools are you using?
3. What codec packs (and what versions) have you installed (klite, etc)
4. What player software (and what versions) have you installed (TheaterTek, PowerDVD, etc.).
If you follow these basic steps your answers will be answered more quickly, unfortunately most problem reports just don't contain enough information to answer the associated questions.
And one last thing, don't forget the search option in the forums most questions are duplicates and with a little due dilegence you should be able to help yourself.
ryan_hurst attached the following image(s):
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