In the hope it might help others, I have noticed that if one leaves the
Media Center program open with the "Scheduled Recordings" list displayed
then MCE2005 will invariably become 'confused' and fail to make recordings
and also lose the ability to access the EPG properly. Quitting and
relaunching usually revives it. This does not happen as soon as you access
the Scheduled recordings list, only if you leave it like that. I am not sure
if the problem occurs after a period of time, or if it occurs if a recording
tries to start when the scheduled list is showing.

Leaving MCE2005 with the recorded TV list showing does not cause this
problem.

This has happened several times to me but since I spotted the pattern and
made sure not to leave the scheduled list showing it has been much more
reliable (it made numerous unattended recordings successfully over the
Christmas period).

Note: I am using two DVB-T tuners.

PS. I usually leave MCE2005 running in Windowed mode, so I can easily
connect to the computer remotely over the Internet and if necessary add
additional recordings to the schedule. This is because Microsoft _STILL_ do
not provide MSN Remote Record for people outside the USA (grrrrr!!! :< ).
[Yes I am aware of WebGuide, yet another example of a third-party doing what
Microsoft are apparently incapable of.]

PPS. I am sure Vista does not have this problem (at least it better not
since alleged improved reliability is the ONLY justification for upgrading
to Vista as it has zero additional media center features for Europe). Sadly,
the next media center update for Vista (Fiji) appears to be slipping further
behind schedule. I am also worried that features will be sacrificed to 'get
it out the door' [like happened to Vista] making it yet another pointless
upgrade. At the rate Microsoft are [not] going, Analogue TV will be
completely turned off in the UK and Europe with Microsoft still completely
failing to support subtitles on DVB-T, this is just one of many major
failings.