Convert encrypted MCE recordings to MPEG (1 Viewer)

[CodeMonkey]

Before anyone tweaks, MCE apparently encrypts recordings that are made for pay channels such as HBO. These steps describe how to convert them to MPG using Graphedit. Note that this has to be done on the MCE machine the programs were recorded on and this is *not* a guide on how to get any pay channels for free with MCE or MP.

I saw this info on another site and thought it may be of interest in case anyone has the bad luck to run MCE for a while before discovering MP

I'm assuming that MP does not encrypt these pay channels when recording, can someone confirm?

With that out of the way, here we go:

• 1) Open GraphEdit but don't load any filters or anything yet.
  
  2) Open MCE and begin playing the content you are interested in converting.
  
  3) In GraphEdit choose File | Connect to remote graph. This should show you a list of graphs currently running. The names are not intuitive but if MCE is the only thing running the only graph should be the one that MCE has constructed to play your content. Choose that one.
  
  4) GraphEdit will load the MCE graph which is going to have many filters. One will be the file and several will be the decoder filters WITH THE DECRYPTION KEYS ALREADY LOADED.
  
  5) Now in GraphEdit push play. Then push stop. This is important. Nothing will happen visually but at this point GraphEdit takes over the graph and MCE will stop playing the content.
  
  6) Now deconstruct the graph keeping ONLY the file and the audio and video decoder filters. You will have to note which is which. You can get rid of all the other filters including the line 21 decoder if its present.
  
  7) Now reconstruct the graph hooking the file back to the decoders and then the decoders to the Cyberlink MPEG multipexer and then the mux to the Cyberlink MPEG dump filter (find other related posts).
  
  8) Now push play. The content begins dumping to MPEG. The visuals at this point are not great. You won't see anything happening and my MCE computer gets real slow. I usally get an error of some sort at the end of the dump and the only way I know its done is the MPG output file stops getting bigger. It takes about 25 minutes for a 7GB 2+ hour dvr-ms file. The output file is virtually the same size as the input.
  
  9) MCE will have to be restarted at this point to continue - I assume its because you've jerked the graph out from under it. It complains that the original dvr-ms file has become corrupted but it really hasn't. Just restart MCE and all will be well.

Now you can do what you want with your recordings, including watching them with MP