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[varian93]

I experienced this issue on Windows 10. It may be present on other versions of Windows as well. I only have Windows 10 to test with.

When one has "Enable shell integration" turned on some of the less used context menu based Windows Explorer functions cease to work.

This problem had also occurred in an earlier version of Media Center. I don't remember which one. It was around v24 or v25.

The exact issue this time for me is when trying to access a "pinned" shortcut to a location via the right-click context menu of the Windows File Explorer on the "task bar" (i.e. you right click on the explorer shortcut in the task bar & choose one of your pinned locations from the list that slides up). It accepts your choice, but does not follow through with the request.

The pinned locations are still accessible from Windows File Explorer once you have it open (i.e. the "Quick Access" section of the left most side bar in the explorer").

The last time the shell integration misbehaved with Windows Explorer, I believe it was the right-click context menu "Run As Administrator" function that broke.

I'm unsure if there is any other context menu functions that do not work when Media Center is integrated with the shell, this is the only one that I've noticed. The "Run As Administrator" context menu function seems to to work this time.

Varian

[JimH]

I don't think it's possible for MC to break Explorer.  Explorer is in control.  If it is a bug, it could be a Windows bug.

Did you try a reboot?

[varian93]

Yeah. I tried rebooting a few times.

Noticing that it was related to the context menu I went through and began disabling 3rd party shell extensions one by one. Rebooting between each disable/enable cycle. Nothing changed until I got to Media Center. After disabing it's shell extension everything began working properly again.

I even did a couple of enable/disable cycles with it in an attempt to be certain it was the culprit.

[RD James]

I don't think it's possible for MC to break Explorer.  Explorer is in control.  If it is a bug, it could be a Windows bug.

Did you try a reboot?

It's certainly possible.
Shell integration -not just with Media Center- causes problems with a lot of apps on Windows 10 in my experience.
If I recall correctly, it was another popular audio application's shell integration for easy tag editing that broke Explorer's display of PNG images on my system for example.
 
I haven't tested Media Center's integration, as I was already wary of it before switching to MC, but I recommend avoiding shell integration features as much as possible.

[BigSpider]

Pinning items to the quick access menu in windows explorer does not work for me with integration on or off. Windows 10 with latest update, JRiver 26.019.

[elderavelas]

MC Shell Integration has broken some links of WinX menu (Win+X or right clicking start menu).
Disabling MC Shell Integration fixed it. After checking whether the issue was fixed, I enabled shell integration again, but the issue did not return.
MC 26.0.107 on Windows 10 20H2.

Regards.

[RedJ]

Possible fix for those experiencing this problem:

• Open up Command Prompt as an Administrator
(you will need Administrator privileges for the second step so, if that's broken from the start menu or power user menu, the easiest way will be to launch directly from the Command Prompt executable. Click Win+R to bring up the Run dialog and type:

Code: [Select]

"C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe" and then CTRL+SHIFT+ENTER

• Enter

Code: [Select]

regsvr32.exe /u "%ProgramFiles%\J River\Media Center 27\JRShellExt.dll" or replace %ProgramFiles% with the correct install path for Media Center.
You should get a dialog acknowledging successful unregistering of the shell extension. If not, something went wrong with path or permissions.

• Next, enter

Code: [Select]

regsvr32.exe "%ProgramFiles%\J River\Media Center 27\JRShellExt.dll"
You should again see a dialog pop up that confirms the shell extension is successfully registered.

To get Win+X Power User commands or the Admin Command Prompt/PowerShell functional again from the Start Menu, it may be necessary to restart Windows Explorer. This can be done right from the same open Command Prompt:

Code: [Select]

taskkill /F /IM explorer.exe & start explorer

This procedure worked for me and I have created a simple batch script to quickly and easily run fix this on other PCs that have this problem or in the future should it recur.