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Author Topic: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1  (Read 5966 times)

shortie

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MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« on: October 18, 2013, 12:39:49 pm »

TL;DR - If Win-X isn't working on your Windows 8.1 installation, in MC19's Tools->Options->General->Shell Options, uncheck "Enable shell integration" then check it. It worked for me!

Detail:

I broke one of my own rules and was an early upgrader to Windows 8.1 yesterday. Ever since the upgrade, my so-called "power menu" (accessed via Windows-X or by right clicking in the lower left corner of my display) has been non-functional. The menu will pop up but none of the menu items would work. This is the main way I access things like Control Panel, Admin Command Prompt and such things so you may imagine I've been somewhat frantically searching for a resolution. I found a kindred soul had posted something in http://forums.hexus.net/windows/296885-winkey-x-menu-shortcuts-not-working-win-8-1-a.html wherein he had, through trial and error, found that some non-Microsoft ShellExtentions had caused Win-X to break. He recommended installing ShellExView (free) from http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html, disabling each of the non-Microsoft extension and restarting Explorer to narrow it down. I had about 30 and it turns out that the ONE I had to disable to get things to work again is the Media Center 19 Context Menu extension.

Now, here's the screwy thing. I updated to the most current MC19 which didn't fix it (I re-enabled the extension, updated and it still broke Win-X) so I disabled the extension and went in to MC19's Tools->Options->General, disabled Shell Integration then re-enabled it, re-enabled the extension in ShellExView, restarted Explorer and everything's working now.
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Shortie

Matt

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #1 on: October 18, 2013, 12:43:07 pm »

To make sure, are you on MC 19.0.56 (or newer)?
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Matt Ashland, JRiver Media Center

shortie

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #2 on: October 18, 2013, 12:48:49 pm »

I was on 19.0.32. I upgraded to 19.0.54 which, according to Help -> Update Channels -> Check For Updates is the latest stable version.

But note that I said by DISabling shell integration then REenabling it, it all works again.
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Shortie

StFeder

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2013, 01:16:08 pm »

To make sure, are you on MC 19.0.56 (or newer)?
I'm using 19.0.56 and had the same thing! [WinKey]+[X] opened the menu all items clickable, but nothing happens. Disabling JRiver Shell Extension and then restarting MC didn't help. Reenabling JRiver Shell Extension and restarting MC did.
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leezer3

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2013, 01:23:34 pm »

Reproduces here too :)

You also appear to have a related & possibly critical bug in the MC17 subforum:
http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=84485.0

I don't know what you want to do with a superseded version, but having the potential to completely kill Explorer with no warning is not good....

-Leezer-
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MarkGrigsby

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2013, 04:00:11 pm »

Same here - took a lot of searching before I figured out MC19 was the culprit!  A simple disable / re-enable of shell extension also fixed it for me.  Using MC 19.0.54.
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SimonT

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2013, 04:48:29 am »

Version 19.0.32.0 of the shell extension (part of MC 19.0.32) does not have this problem, later versions do (if that helps to trace the root cause).
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RedJ

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Re: MC19 ShellExtension breaks Win+X menu in Windows 8.1
« Reply #7 on: June 05, 2021, 11:56:26 am »

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.
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