diff --git a/alvr/server/cpp/alvr_server/OvrHMD.cpp b/alvr/server/cpp/alvr_server/OvrHMD.cpp
index f3f4d2b61d..ba331f3e9b 100644
--- a/alvr/server/cpp/alvr_server/OvrHMD.cpp
+++ b/alvr/server/cpp/alvr_server/OvrHMD.cpp
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ OvrHmd::~OvrHmd() {
 
     if (m_encoder) {
         Debug("OvrHmd::~OvrHmd(): Stopping encoder...\n");
-        m_encoder->Stop();
         m_encoder.reset();
     }
 
@@ -382,6 +381,15 @@ void OvrHmd::StartStreaming() {
 
 void OvrHmd::StopStreaming() {
     vr::VRDriverInput()->UpdateBooleanComponent(m_proximity, false, 0.0);
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    if (m_directModeComponent) {
+        m_directModeComponent->ResetEncoder();
+    }
+#endif
+    if (m_encoder) {
+        m_encoder.reset();
+    }
+    m_streamComponentsInitialized = false;
 }
 
 void OvrHmd::SetViewsConfig(FfiViewsConfig config) {
diff --git a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.cpp b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.cpp
index 6bb269cec6..8c66b0eadb 100644
--- a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.cpp
+++ b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 		
 			CEncoder::~CEncoder()
 		{
+			Stop();
 			if (m_videoEncoder)
 			{
 				m_videoEncoder->Shutdown();
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@
 			if (Settings::Instance().m_force_sw_encoding) {
 				try {
 					Debug("Try to use VideoEncoderSW.\n");
-					m_videoEncoder = std::make_shared<VideoEncoderSW>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
+					m_videoEncoder = std::make_unique<VideoEncoderSW>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
 					m_videoEncoder->Initialize();
 					return;
 				}
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@
 			
 			try {
 				Debug("Try to use VideoEncoderVCE.\n");
-				m_videoEncoder = std::make_shared<VideoEncoderVCE>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
+				m_videoEncoder = std::make_unique<VideoEncoderVCE>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
 				m_videoEncoder->Initialize();
 				return;
 			}
@@ -52,7 +53,7 @@
 			}
 			try {
 				Debug("Try to use VideoEncoderNVENC.\n");
-				m_videoEncoder = std::make_shared<VideoEncoderNVENC>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
+				m_videoEncoder = std::make_unique<VideoEncoderNVENC>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
 				m_videoEncoder->Initialize();
 				return;
 			}
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@
 #ifdef ALVR_GPL
 			try {
 				Debug("Try to use VideoEncoderSW.\n");
-				m_videoEncoder = std::make_shared<VideoEncoderSW>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
+				m_videoEncoder = std::make_unique<VideoEncoderSW>(d3dRender, encoderWidth, encoderHeight);
 				m_videoEncoder->Initialize();
 				return;
 			}
@@ -80,8 +81,6 @@
 		{
 			m_presentationTime = presentationTime;
 			m_targetTimestampNs = targetTimestampNs;
-			m_FrameRender->Startup();
-
 			m_FrameRender->RenderFrame(pTexture, bounds, layerCount, recentering, message, debugText);
 			return true;
 		}
diff --git a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.h b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.h
index 7a83498f5e..c2969d1816 100644
--- a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.h
+++ b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/CEncoder.h
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@
 
 	private:
 		CThreadEvent m_newFrameReady, m_encodeFinished;
-		std::shared_ptr<VideoEncoder> m_videoEncoder;
+		std::unique_ptr<VideoEncoder> m_videoEncoder;
 		bool m_bExiting;
 		uint64_t m_presentationTime;
 		uint64_t m_targetTimestampNs;
diff --git a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.cpp b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.cpp
index 20ed92e547..72adee4018 100644
--- a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.cpp
+++ b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,10 @@ void OvrDirectModeComponent::SetEncoder(std::shared_ptr<CEncoder> pEncoder) {
 	m_pEncoder = pEncoder;
 }
 
+void OvrDirectModeComponent::ResetEncoder() {
+	m_pEncoder.reset();
+}
+
 /** Specific to Oculus compositor support, textures supplied must be created using this method. */
 void OvrDirectModeComponent::CreateSwapTextureSet(uint32_t unPid, const SwapTextureSetDesc_t *pSwapTextureSetDesc, SwapTextureSet_t *pOutSwapTextureSet)
 {
diff --git a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.h b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.h
index bfe67553ec..c3aa7a2d40 100644
--- a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.h
+++ b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/OvrDirectModeComponent.h
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ class OvrDirectModeComponent : public vr::IVRDriverDirectModeComponent
 	OvrDirectModeComponent(std::shared_ptr<CD3DRender> pD3DRender, std::shared_ptr<PoseHistory> poseHistory);
 
 	void SetEncoder(std::shared_ptr<CEncoder> pEncoder);
+	void ResetEncoder();
 
 	/** Specific to Oculus compositor support, textures supplied must be created using this method. */
 	virtual void CreateSwapTextureSet( uint32_t unPid, const SwapTextureSetDesc_t *pSwapTextureSetDesc, SwapTextureSet_t *pOutSwapTextureSet );
diff --git a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/VideoEncoderVCE.cpp b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/VideoEncoderVCE.cpp
index b7baa6e02d..9922a24828 100644
--- a/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/VideoEncoderVCE.cpp
+++ b/alvr/server/cpp/platform/win32/VideoEncoderVCE.cpp
@@ -14,11 +14,7 @@ AMFPipe::AMFPipe(amf::AMFComponentPtr src, AMFDataReceiver receiver)
 	, m_receiver(receiver) 
 {}
 
-AMFPipe::~AMFPipe() 
-{
-	Debug("AMFPipe::~AMFPipe()  m_amfComponentSrc->Drain\n");
-	m_amfComponentSrc->Drain();
-}
+AMFPipe::~AMFPipe() {}
 
 void AMFPipe::doPassthrough(bool hasQueryTimeout, uint32_t timerResolution) 
 {
@@ -366,8 +362,7 @@ void VideoEncoderVCE::Shutdown()
 	delete m_pipeline;
 
 	for (auto &component : m_amfComponents) {
-		component->Release();
-		delete component;
+		component->Terminate();
 	}
 
 	m_amfContext->Terminate();