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Thread: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

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    Senior Member Mithrandir's Avatar
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    MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    I read that the Media Centre version of Win XP is literally XP pro with the media stuff as an add on.
    Does this mean I can use it as XP pro without the Media centre stuff or will it install automatically?
    Also in terms of updating will there be complications (such as limitations in MCE as in XP64)

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    HEXUS.social member Agent's Avatar
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Its pro with the MCE app bolted on. The only thing you loose IIRC is Active Directory ability, although there was/is? a hack for that.

    The MCE stuff will automatically install and I don't belive you can remove it. Although the only thing you need to do to make it into XP pro so to speak is to stop the 2 or 3 services that run on startup related to it.

    The default theme is also slightly different (better IMO) than XP.
    All drivers etc. work the same as on normal XP.
    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    And by trying to force me to like small pants, they've alienated me.

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    Lovely chap dangel's Avatar
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    MCE is the same OS as XP - it's not like XP64 which is Windows Server 2003 underneath. I believe it installs the lot automatically but you could possibly nlite it down if that's an issue - or just not use the MC part of it.

    Agent: yup I agree on the theme - it's really rather nice
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Thanks.

    I think I'll get MCE rather than XP home then.
    I found XP64 was good and stable but lack of 3rd party support on some stuff like DVB cards and some games were annoying.

    I think MCE would go well with my x1800aiw rig
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Against my better judgement, I've been messing about with XP64 lately and I've been pleasantly surprised. I'd imagine its still horrid for anything non mainstream/essential though, but its been brilliantly behaved so far
    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    And by trying to force me to like small pants, they've alienated me.

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Ahh...

    Did you know you can get the MCE theme for standard windows XP though?

    I'm not kidding either as you can find it on the download centre from Microsoft
    Last edited by Lee H; 04-04-2008 at 05:00 PM.

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Yup I did - In fact, I use it on all my XP partitions

    It's cleaner, and far more professional looking IMHO.

    You can also get it from: Download Royale Theme for WinXP - Official - A new theme, potentially destined for Windows XP. Freeware - Softpedia

    It's signed too (being from MS) so you don't even need a patch uxtheme.dll to use it
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    On the subject of xp themes the MS zune theme is rather nice

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Quote Originally Posted by digit View Post
    On the subject of xp themes the MS zune theme is rather nice
    I did try it - people like it for the eee - but i'm still hooked on royale.

    Microsoft Zune Theme - Download
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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    ... does it matter?

    which Pro features do you want, exactly?

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Quote Originally Posted by directhex View Post
    ... does it matter?

    which Pro features do you want, exactly?
    That's what i was thinking. Though it ought to go well with your AiW card, provided they still support them...

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Quote Originally Posted by directhex View Post
    ... does it matter?

    which Pro features do you want, exactly?
    Mainly thought the Media centre functions for the aiw card would be good but was worried about MCE support in comparison to XP home/pro.

    Still not sure if I shouldpay the extra £15 for the features or go with the home version instead.
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    Senior Member da.Guvna's Avatar
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    I would personally pay the extra, as I like the added networking and profile management features of XP pro, but if you're not going to use those it's probably not worth it.

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Quote Originally Posted by Mithrandir View Post
    Mainly thought the Media centre functions for the aiw card would be good but was worried about MCE support in comparison to XP home/pro.

    Still not sure if I shouldpay the extra £15 for the features or go with the home version instead.
    They'll only be of any use if you're going to use the machine to watch TV on and you don't even need MCE for that. You can get desktop apps to decode and display TV signals. If you want to have full MCE functionality there's other packages you can get for free, try MediaPortal.
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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    MCE is good for what it does though. It runs our main TV in the front room for all the family.

    Apart from the occasional "Why do I have to reboot the tele" comment, its been very well behaved.

    If my parents can use it, its doing something right
    Last edited by Agent; 07-04-2008 at 08:11 PM.
    Quote Originally Posted by Saracen View Post
    And by trying to force me to like small pants, they've alienated me.

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    Re: MS XP MCE: is this XP pro?

    Quote Originally Posted by dangel View Post
    Yup I did - In fact, I use it on all my XP partitions

    It's cleaner, and far more professional looking IMHO.

    You can also get it from: Download Royale Theme for WinXP - Official - A new theme, potentially destined for Windows XP. Freeware - Softpedia

    It's signed too (being from MS) so you don't even need a patch uxtheme.dll to use it
    Thanks for the pointer to the theme, i rather like it!

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