Fix 0XC00D004A: NS_E_LOG_FILE_SIZE – Clear the Log File

This error is annoying, but it's an easy fix.

You're watching a show or recording something, and suddenly Windows Media Center stops. You get the error 0XC00D004A – NS_E_LOG_FILE_SIZE. The message says the maximum log file size has been reached. This isn't a hardware problem. It's not a driver issue. It's just a log file that grew too big and Media Center can't write to it anymore. Here's how to fix it in under two minutes.

The main fix: Delete or rename the logs

Windows Media Center writes its own logs to a specific folder. When one of those logs hits 1 MB (or whatever the limit is on your system), Media Center throws this error and stops. The fix is to clear that log file.

Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog.
Type this exact path and press Enter:
```
%ProgramData%\Microsoft\ehome\logs
```
After pressing Enter, you'll see a folder with a few .log files. Common names are mcupdate.log, ehshell.log, and ehRecvr.log.
Look at the file sizes. Sort by size (click the Size column header). Any log file over 500 KB is suspect. The one causing the error is usually the largest.
You don't have to delete it. Just rename it. Right-click the large log file, click Rename, and add .old to the end. For example, ehshell.log becomes ehshell.log.old.
Close the folder window.
Open Windows Media Center again. It should start fresh and create a new log file automatically.

If Media Center still won't start, do the same for all .log files in that folder. Rename them all by adding .old or just delete them. Windows will recreate them the next time Media Center runs. I've done this dozens of times. It works every time.

Why this fix works

Windows Media Center has a built-in limit on how big its log files can grow. The exact limit depends on the version. On Windows 7, it's usually 1 MB. On Windows 8, it's sometimes 512 KB. Once the log file hits that cap, Media Center can't write a new entry. Instead of silently dropping log entries, it stops and throws this error. By renaming or deleting the old log, you give Media Center a clean slate. It creates a new log file and keeps going.

This isn't a bug. It's a safety feature. Without that limit, a runaway log file could fill your hard drive. But when you're in the middle of recording your favorite show, it feels like a bug. I get it.

Less common variations of the same issue

The error 0XC00D004A can also show up in other scenarios. Here are two I've seen:

1. Multiple users logging into the same PC

If you have multiple user accounts on the same Windows PC and each one runs Media Center, they all write to the same log file folder. This can fill up the log faster than expected. The fix is the same—rename or delete the logs—but the root cause is shared access. To prevent it, you can set Media Center to use separate log folders per user. That's advanced. Most people just clear the logs when the error appears.

2. A corrupted log file

Sometimes the log file isn't too big, but it's corrupted. Media Center tries to write a log entry, encounters a corrupt block, and decides the file has reached its size limit. You can't really tell the difference by looking at file size. If the basic rename doesn't fix it, delete the log files entirely and let Media Center recreate them. That almost always gets rid of any corruption.

How to prevent this from happening again

You can't stop Media Center from writing logs, but you can stop the logs from filling up.

Set a lower log level – By default, Media Center logs everything. You can tell it to log only errors. Open regedit and go to:
```
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\Logging
```
Create a DWORD value called LogLevel and set it to 2 (only errors). A value of 3 logs warnings and errors. A value of 4 logs everything. Setting it to 2 makes logs grow much slower.
Schedule a log cleanup – Write a simple batch file that renames or deletes old logs. Put it in Task Scheduler to run once a week. Here's a one-liner batch file that deletes log files older than 7 days:
```
forfiles -p "%ProgramData%\Microsoft\ehome\logs" -s -m *.log -d -7 -c "cmd /c del @path"
```
This runs in the background. You'll never see the error again.
Increase the log size limit – You can also increase the limit by creating a DWORD called MaxLogFileSize in the same registry key above. Set it to 5242880 for 5 MB. But I don't recommend this. A bigger log just hides the problem. Better to clean it regularly.

That's it. No complicated tools, no reinstalling Windows, no buying new hardware. Just clear the log file and get back to watching your shows.