February 12, 2021 Hot Fix for MediaShout 6 after Windows 10 updates

When using MediaShout 6, you are experiencing a crash when moving the cursor (mouse) between screens, or when using the Overlay feature.

  UPDATE as of February 25th:  

This issue can be fixed by installing the latest Update Preview for .NET Framework (KB4601554). The issue was caused by the previous .NET Framework updates, but Microsoft has corrected the root problem in a new update. You can do either of the following to get this update installed:

• Go to the Windows Update page on your computer and press the Check for updates button to see if this update will be installed automatically;

         OR...

1. Download the update manually from the Microsoft Update Catalog by going to this page.

2. Download and install the update that is appropriate for your version of Windows 10.  [If you accidentally select a file that is not compatible with your system, the update will not let you install it, so don't worry about that.  You simply need to download the file that is compatible with your system.]

3. Reboot your computer.

You can verify that the update is installed by doing the following:

  BELOW IS FOR REFERENCE ONLY.  YOU DO NOT NEED TO DO ANYTHING MORE UNLESS THE ABOVE DID NOT WORK:

This Hot Fix applies specifically to MediaShout 6 crashing issues when moving your cursor across (or between) the screens, or when using the Overlay mode after recent updates were installed to Windows 10. (Jan-Feb 2021)

For the 'What' and the 'Why' of this issue, see the descriptions at the bottom of this article.

NOTE: Proceed with this solution only if ALL of the following are TRUE for your situation (Otherwise, this fix is not needed):

1. You are using MediaShout 6
2. Your computer is running Windows 10
3. You find either of the following updates have been installed recently (see ♦ below for help with this):
   2021-01 Cumulative Update Preview for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 ...  (KB4598299)
   2021-02 Cumulative Update for .NET Framework 3.5 and 4.8 for Windows 10 ... (KB4601050)
4. When using MediaShout 6, you are experiencing a crash when moving the cursor (mouse) between screens, or when using the Overlay feature.

If you do NOT find either one of the two updates listed above, we recommend selecting Pause updates for 7 days to avoid the update which is causing this problem. If this is a large enough issue, Microsoft may produce an update which fixes this issue. If not, you will need the fix below whenever the update is installed to your computer.

If all of the items in the previous list are true, please download the file linked below and run it on your computer. It only takes a second or two, and the issue will be resolved!

The automatic fix installer above is designed to run on 64 bit versions of Windows 10 only (which is what most people are using). If you have a 32 bit version of Windows, or this fix installer does not work for you, you can download the file linked below and manually place it in the Program Files folder for MediaShout 6 using the following process (Windows will prompt you to approve changes made to items in this process, so admin permissions are required. Also, you will NEED to see the file extensions, so go to View and check the box for File name extensions if you do not normally have those shown.):

1. Download this file: MediaShout 6.exe.config (Do not try to open this file.)
2. Close MediaShout 6 (if it isn't already)
3. Open Windows Explorer on your computer and go to:
   • C:\Program Files\MediaComplete\MediaShout 6  (for 32 bit Windows) or...
   • C:\Program Files (x86)\MediaComplete\MediaShout 6  (for 64 bit Windows)
4. Find and delete the existing file MediaShout 6.exe.config 
   • Do NOT alter the MediaShout 6.exe file because that is the actual application file!
5. Move the file that you download in step 1 into this folder to replace the one you removed.
6. Relaunch MediaShout 6 and the problem specified here should be resolved!

If you experience a MediaShout 6 crash, but it is not related to the specific issue described here, please go through the normal troubleshooting for any MediaShout 6 crashing issues: https://support.mediashout.com/539990-Crashing-andor-Freezing-Issues-in-MediaShout-6

What is happening?

After recent updates to the .NET Framework are installed on your computer, some software may have problems. In the case of MediaShout 6, we have identified at least 2 specific actions which will cause an immediate crash:

1. If the MediaShout 6 screen is Maximized to fill the entire display, and you move the mouse across the border onto (or under) either the Main or Stage output on the adjacent display, v6 will almost immediately crash. Oddly, if the Control display is less than full screen so that the mouse doesn't move directly from Control to Main or Stage it does NOT crash. (Weird, I know!) People often confuse this with 'normal' mouse movement on the screen because if you even slightly touch the edge of the screen it will trigger this. The most common report is that it crashes when you click the 'Stop' button, but it's more likely that the mouse slipped just past the button onto the next display and triggered the crash.
2. Enable the Overlay feature (which is used for previewing the output over top of the Control display). This is not used very often, but it will crash instantly with these updates present. 

Why did this happen?

Beginning in late January, Microsoft released an update for the .NET Framework which contains some changes that alter the behavior of some applications which are based on those tools. .NET is a collection of tools that developers use to build applications, and many apps on your computer use the same core library of .NET files which Windows maintains. Sometimes, however, a change to those libraries has unexpected consequences or the changes were deemed necessary for security or feature expansion. In the case of the most recent updates, Microsoft listed a 'Known Issue' in the release notes, and MediaShout 6 is one of several applications which is affected by that issue. The files included in our Hot Fix utilize an official workaround that Microsoft included in the update documentation which bypasses certain problematic parts of the changes so that applications using the library will behave as they did when using the previous version. It is possible that in a future update to .NET Microsoft will make changes that avoid this known issue, but at this time we do not know if that will happen.