Fix NS_E_ARCHIVE_ABORT_DUE_TO_BCAST (0XC00D158E)

You're trying to record something, and you get hit with this cryptic error code

It's frustrating — you schedule a recording, come back, and find a 0-byte file. But I've seen this exact issue on maybe a dozen Windows Media Center systems over the years. The error basically says: "The archive plug-in aborted because the source was from broadcast." In plain English, your tuner thinks it's picking up a broadcast signal when your recording profile expected a cable signal (or vice versa).

The Real Fix: Match Your Tuner Source to What It's Actually Receiving

Skip the registry hackery for now — nine times out of ten this is a configuration mismatch. Here's the step-by-step:

1. Open Windows Media Center (or whatever WTV-based recorder you're using like Windows 7 Media Center, or a legacy Media Center Edition).
2. Go to Tasks > Settings > TV > TV Signal > Set Up TV Signal.
3. Run the TV signal setup wizard again. Pay close attention here: when it asks what type of signal you're using, select the one that matches your actual setup — not what you think you should have.
4. If you're using an antenna (over-the-air), choose Antenna. If you have cable with no box, choose Cable (Clear QAM). If you're using a cable box, choose Cable (Set-top box).
5. After the scan finishes, check your channel lineup. If you see duplicate channels (one with a broadcast flag, one without), remove the duplicates.

Last month I had a client whose HTPC had a dual-tuner card — one port connected to an antenna, the other to a cable drop. He accidentally set both tuners to "Cable" during setup. When the cable tuner grabbed a broadcast channel (like CBS from an antenna pass-through), the recording engine got confused and threw this error. Re-running the wizard and assigning the correct source to each tuner fixed it instantly.

Why This Error Happens

Windows Media Center's recording engine is picky about source consistency. When you configure a recording, it writes a profile that expects a specific signal type — broadcast or cable. If the actual signal coming in doesn't match, it aborts to avoid encoding garbage. The 0xC00D158E error is just its way of saying, "I got something I didn't expect."

Common triggers:

• You moved from cable to an antenna but didn't re-run the TV setup.
• Your cable provider changed some channels to digital-only, but your tuner still sees the analog broadcast version.
• You have a TV tuner card that picks up both over-the-air and clear QAM on the same input (some Hauppauge cards do this).
• You reinstalled Windows or moved the tuner to a different computer, and the old recording schedule references the wrong source.

Less Common Variations of the Same Issue

Sometimes the error pops up even when your source seems correct. Here's what else I've seen cause it:

1. Corrupted Channel Lineup

If re-running setup doesn't help, delete your entire channel lineup and let it rescan. In Media Center, go to Settings > TV > Guide > Delete All Channels. Then re-run TV setup from scratch. I had a guy who did this three times before it worked — turned out a single corrupted channel entry for a local PBS station was breaking the lineup.

2. Broadcast Flag on a Cable Channel

Rare, but some cable providers accidentally flag their clear QAM streams as "broadcast only." If you see the error only on specific channels (like ABC or NBC), try recording those channels using a different tuner source in setup. If you have two tuners, set one to Antenna and one to Cable — then assign recordings to the correct tuner.

3. WTV File Corruption from a Partial Recording

If the error fired mid-recording, the incomplete WTV file can cause issues with future recordings that use the same schedule. Delete any 0-byte or partial WTV files from your recorded TV folder. Then reboot and re-schedule.

Prevention: Keep Your Tuner Setup Clean

Here's the short version of what to do so this never comes back:

• Label your tuners physically. If you have a dual-tuner card, write on the card which port is for what — antenna, cable, whatever. It's stupid simple but saves hours.
• Re-run TV setup after any hardware change. New tuner card? New antenna? Moved? Run the wizard. It takes 5 minutes.
• Check for firmware updates on your tuner. Some older Hauppauge and AVerMedia tuners had bugs where they'd report wrong signal types. A firmware flash fixed it for a few of my clients.
• Don't mix DVR software. If you're using Windows Media Center alongside something like NextPVR or MediaPortal, their tuner drivers can conflict. Stick to one DVR app per tuner.

That's it. Nine times out of ten it's a source mismatch, and re-running TV setup with the right choice kills it. If you're still seeing the error after that, check your tuner firmware or try a clean channel scan. You'll be recording again in 10 minutes.