I looked everywhere for a solution to getting the EPG Collector part of EPG Centre running as a Windows Scheduled Task and kept coming up blank. However, I finally found the solution that actually worked and here it is:
1. When you create your Parameters ini file using EPG Centre, name it "EPG Collector Parameters" (no quotes) and make sure it runs and collects your EPG data manually by clicking the Collect EPG button in EPG Centre.
2. When you try and run the EPG Collector exe file separately, you'll probably see it open the black command window and close within a second. This means it is failing to find your Parameters ini file and simply closes. This is where a Batch file is required.
3. Create a Batch file using Windows Notepad, type or copy/paste the following and save it as EPG Collector Task Scheduler Batch File.bat (Putting .bat at the end transforms it from a .txt file into a .bat file). If you can not see file extensions on your computer, you may want to turn them on so you can see. Do this by clicking Start button and typing "folder options" (without the quotes) and in dialogue box uncheck "Hide extensions for known file types". Click "OK". The icon for a Batch file (.bat) is 2 little cogs whereas for a Text file (.txt) it is a little lined note pad page.
TEXT FOR YOUR BATCH FILE:
cd \"C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPGCollector.exe" EPGCollector.exe /ini="C:\Users\(Name of your computer)\AppData\Local\Geekzone\EPG Collector\EPG Collector Parameters.ini"
4. Save or put the above Batch file in the same folder directory of your installed EPG Collector files. This should be the same place for anyone who installed EPG Collector using the default installation directory on a Windows 64 bit system. You do not need to add anything else to the Batch file's code as it will run EPG Collector and close it automatically when it is done.
5. Troubleshooting: The Batch file text code is written for a Windows 7 64 bit install. You will need to adjust C:\Program Files (x86)\Geekzone\ if you don't have Windows 7 64 bit, edit this part to reflect the place in which your installation resides. Make sure you type the name of your computer in place of (Name of your computer) do not include the brackets. You can find the name of your computer by clicking Start button , right-clicking Computer, and then clicking Properties. Under Computer name, domain, and workgroup settings, you can find your computer's name. If it ends in -PC, don't include -PC when you type it in the Batch file.
6. Set a Scheduled Task by clicking the Start button, type Task and then select Task Scheduler to open it. Create a new task and have it point to and run the above Batch file (click the Browse button to help Task Scheduler find the above .Bat file). After setting the time and frequency, your EPG will load automatically from now on.
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