I recently wanted to try out a new High-Definition tuner for my computer, and CompUSA had one on sale. The Hauppauge WinTV-HRV-950 was pretty new, but had some good reviews. Basically, all I wanted to do was see how it looked on a computer, and how many Over The Air (OTA) channels I could get.
Ended up installing it on my laptop and both of my desktops, and wasn’t too impressed. Software was very 1999-ish, and the picture quality seemed OK. Most importantly, I didn’t pick up any extra TV channels, so I was finished with it. It’ll be listed on eBay pretty soon.
Anyway, I uninstalled all of the Hauppauge software that was in the Add/Remove Programs section of my control panel. On each of my computers, I still had an item in my System Tray (down by the clock) that said BDA TV Monitor.
Did some Google searches for BDA TV Monitor, but didn’t find anything about removing it from my system tray, and others wondered the same thing.
Turns out there is a program on the CD-ROM that came with the HVR-950 which will get rid of the BDA TV Monitor application. Drop the yellow CD into your computer, navigate to your CD-ROM drive, and look for the file that says “hcwclear.exe”. Double-click on that, and select OK at the next screen. Once the black box disappears, restart your computer, and the BDA TV Monitor software will be gone from your system tray, as well as any other Hauppauge software that didn’t get installed.
Why don’t software and hardware manufacturers allow uninstalls for all of their software using the Add/Remove Programs section of the Control Panel? Or at least copy that HCWCLEAR.EXE program to my computer and put it in the Programs section so I see it and try running it.
I don’t see myself recommending any Hauppauge hardware for quite a while…
1/3/07 EDIT: If you’re looking for the HCWCLEAR.EXE file, you can find it here:
http://hauppauge.lightpath.net/software/utils/hcwclear.exeI found the link here:
http://www.hauppauge.com/pages/faq/support_faq_pci.html
1/14/07 EDIT: Based on a recent post in the BeyondTV forums, where I linked to this hint, I just wanted to make it clear that this is only to remove the Hauppauge software and drivers, not any of the BeyondTV software. I thought it was clear in the original post, but if you’re like me and decided against the TV tuner addition to your computer, running the HWCLEAR.exe file will/should remove all traces of the Hauppauge software from your computer.
I got a problem With the BDA TV monitor. It came from this installation Cd named Plus TV. I try that one thing up there. It still doesnt work.
nvm i got it
As stated in a previous post, I am running VISTA home basic. As such there is no file caled C:\WINDOWS\emMON.
But I did go into REGIDIT and deleted the startup file HCWemMON.exe.
Now I have no more warnings about BDA MOnitor being blocked.
OK, so I’ve had a long day and I can’t spell.
I am a contractor in IRAQ, as you can imagine I have rather cramped quarters and bought this in an effort to save TV space.
I am running it on two machines Both Dells. One XP and the other VISTA. At my room I have a cable connection that requires a powered splitter since the TV signal has been split to the point it won’t work without the signal boost.
Anyway both laptops worked fine for awhile. However lately the vista machine refuses to save the drivers once loaded. every time I run the dang thing I get the message that the 950 is not there then I have to uninstall the drivers and the application, reinstall them and everything is fine as long as I dont’ shut down my laptop. Once I do that it is all over back to square one. This is the ONLY thing that this happens with.
it is NOT a virus because the vista machine has never been attached to a network. it is a stand alone machine only.
any ideas? Hauppage is off my list of recommended platforms as a result of this.
I unticked the emMON in startup in msconfig but when I rebooted I had a message which told me that msconfig would run again and I would have to change it back. Why?
I went into windows and changed emMon.exe to emMon.bak. When I rebooted I got a message which said it could not perform a tray item …
I rebooted again and everthing loaded up, except the BDA TV icon, with no complaints.
I still have emMON in startup though.
I downloaded the hcwclear software, but when I run it I get a number of choices, apparently degrees of program removal, and I don’t know which choice to make. Anyone know?
In the meantime thge icon is gone from the tray.
Thanks, Mark.
I have the same icon in my tray. I did a search and found this link: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/TVtech.mspx I think XP add the software when you view HD programing, even online. I watch programs on the CBS website, some of which are HD. I downloaded a program that monitors all TSR, better then Microsoft’s. It has an icon in it’s toolbar, if you drag it to an active window, it highlights all the process’ that are connected with the program. The program is called Process Explorer. You can get it @ http://www.sysinternals.com It’s freeware. It’s a good tool for trouble shooting problems.
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Hi there – what a civilised dialogue / forum !!
I encountered the dreaded BDA TV Monitor a few days ago. I’m using a fresh XP Pro installation in a PC with no hardware add-ons, and basic internet software: Zone Alarm, AVG Free, Skype, a selection of malware detectors, Firefox and Google Chrome browers in addition to IE7. Little else installed other than a few old, tried and trusted programmes which have never previously given problems.
The only action I can remember which might have led to this icon insinuating itself is accessing a live video stream from a recognised UK TV channel (probably BBC News 24). I also regularly use BBC iPlayer which is evolving all the time. When next re-booted the PC decided to install a new USB driver which appeared to have something to do with TV although as far as I can remember no new USB devices were connected – that was a bit strange – then the icon appeared, perhaps after a re-boot.
I have just got around to sorting it out.
After searching quite a few forums this was the first place I found any reference to the
Microsoft “Broadcast Driver Architecture” – BDA !!
Well done sailcaptain!
This is the cause of dozens of entries in the registry if you search for “BDA” – apparently harmless in themsleves but typical MS bloat cluttering up the registry.
I always keep a close eye on programmes and system tray applications which start on booting. So the first place to look:-
Run “MSCONFIG” and check [Startup]. This lists emMON.exe with a registry key as its source. This can be un-ticked but it’ll go-away after the next step. If you make changes, ignore the dire warning that MSCONFIG gives next time you boot up, just tick the box “Don’t show this message . . .” If you want to, and know how to safely, you can also remove the registry key, but it’ll probably return. Best to remove it, if at all, after the next step:-
Use [Start]->[Search]->[for Files and Folders] and enter “emMON” – not forgetting to tick [Advanced Options] and the three items [Search System Folders], [Search hidden files and folders] and [Search Subfolders] – thanks Microsoft for making those three essentials an easily forgotten option for the absent-minded!!
This should bring up TWO entries:
C:\Windows\emMON.exe
and
C:\Windows\Prefetch\emMON******.pf
where “*****” = a hex string I can’t remember
Delete both these files. If you want to you can now delete the registry key as well, but leaving it shouldn’t cause any problems.
This solved my problem completely.
Hope this is useful for those reluctant to download and mess about with extra software.
Thanks to all those who’ve already done their bit on this one!
The BDA Monitor application is not required to view TV. It is a helper application to resolve streaming issues that might occur after using standby or hibernate with Empia based TV tuners.
I am not sure if this was the source, but a week ago I installed V-Stream PVR Plus on my Dell laptop. Windows XP. Only today the BDA TV Monitor icon appeared in the tray. Is it neccessary to delete this to speed up start up time or should I leave it alone? Curious as to why it only appeared today and not immeadiatly after intalling the V-Stream software.
Hurray!
I’ve been wanting to get rid of that splotch in my tray for over a year now. Thanks!
i don’t have a tv out card, i never got this program.
but i got the bda tv monitor in the system tray?
it is on this lenovo computer could they have added it some how? i’ve been told several times by my wireless to kill the other network before logging online with it. but i can’t see any other network open and it does not show in the networking monitor so if this bda tv thing is a connection like i read in one of the older posts then it is a bad bug and needs smashed.
i believe i did have a program made by them on another computer it was called dvd+ not sure if it was them or not but i don’t have that on this computer.
TV on my laptop, what was I thinking… lol