I own a HP MediaSmart Server EX485. As you might be aware, HP added several additional features on top of the base WHS functionality. Two of those, Media Collector and Video Convertor, I do not use. I already use the WHS share for all music storage and it is faster to copy videos over the network to my desktop, convert them, then copy back across the network. Additionally, on my server, I noticed that these two services were the source of many errors in the Windows Event Log.
Most of the information I find on Media Collector is outdated. I find very little information on Video Convertor. I also could not find any directions on how to elegentally disable these services. The common suggestion was to disable the HPMediaSmartService (HpmssService.exe) service, though this has the side affect of disabling resource monitoring, LED notifications and other routine maintenance tasks performed by the server. Through some trial and error, I believe I have developed a better method.
- Note that my server is running HP MediaSmart Server Software 3.3.1.35433 2/3/2010.
Using a RDP session on server:
1. Disable Transcoder and Media Collector Services.
In folder C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\HP MediaSmart Server, rename the following files by appending .bak to their names.
For Media Collector:
- MediaCollectorService.dll (e.g., becomes MediaCollectorService.dll.bak)
- MediaCollectorServiceProxy.dll
- MSSCommandQService.dll
For Video Convertor:
- Transcoder.dll
- TranscoderCommon.dll
- TranscoderInstaller.dll
2. Restart Windows Service HPMediaSmartService.
3. Optionally, stop and and set Startup Type to Disabled the "Message Queuing" and "Message Queuing Triggers" services. In a default state, only Media Collector uses them. If you disable these services, there is also a website component (under IIS, Web Sites > Default Web Site > MSMQ) that can be disabled following the directions similar to step 6 below.
4. Remove the Video Convertor and Media Collector tabs from the WHS Console.
In folder C:\Program Files\Hewlett-Packard\HP MediaSmart Server\HomeServerConsole\addins, remove the MediaCollectorAddin and TranscoderConsoleAddin folders. I just zipped each one, removed the folder and left the ZIP file.
5. Disable FTP site.
Using IIS Manager, expand FTP Sites node, then Default FTP Site. Right-click on Public, select All Tasks > Save Configuration to a File. Provide a description file name (e.g. MediaCollector FTP Share) and suitable path. Press OK. This will backup the configuration so you can undo this process. Then, right click on Public again and choose Delete.
6. Using IIS Manager, expand Web Sites node, then Default Web Site node. Right click on Media Collector node, select All Tasks > Save Configuration to a File.... Provide a descriptive name and choose a path, then press OK. Right click on Media Collector node again and select Delete.
7. Using IIS Manager, Expand Application Pools node, right click on HPAdminAppPool and select Recycle.
8. In Local Users and Groups, disable user IUSR_MCFTP.
9. Optionally, you can delete the mcftp_temp folder on D:\.
On each client:
1. Stop these services and change their startup type to disabled:
- MediaCollectorService
- HPMSSConnectorService
Re-enabling Media Collector and Video Converter would be the opposite of these steps, performed backwards.