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Thread: Is Windows Media Centre Edition just XP?

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    Taz
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    Is Windows Media Centre Edition just XP?

    I'm building two PC's during the week for friends. One had specifically asked for Windows MCE. I've only ever installed XP Home and XP Pro on the PC's i've built so far over the last year.

    So, is Windows MCE just the same as installing XP from an installation point of view? Are there any other gotchas that I should look out for. By the way, the version of MCE that I ordered is the one that comes without the remote control hardware (i.e. the cheaper one!).

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    Treasure Hunter extraordinaire herulach's Avatar
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    Ive never done it, but i know its very very picky bout what hardware it likes, or at least it used to be.

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    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
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    it's basically XP Pro with a few more bits here & a bit less there ...

    MSI P55-GD80, i5 750
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    My HEXUS.trust abit forums

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    and apparently is highly unstable when not fed mce-specific drivers

  5. #5
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    the core OS is just XP Home with MCE running like a regular app on top.

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    Quote Originally Posted by directhex
    and apparently is highly unstable when not fed mce-specific drivers
    QFT, make certain you use the MCE specific drivers.

    You also need an MPEG decoder (I recommend nVidia PureVideo) if you want DVB-T/DVD playback and if your TV card doesn't have BDA drivers forget it, it flat out won't work.

    When you have it stable it's a very nice app though

  7. #7
    Taz
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    Do I need MCE drivers for al hardware components or just the graphics and TV card?

  8. #8
    Drop it like it's hot Howard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by BUFF
    it's basically XP home with a few more bits here & a bit less there ...
    Fixed
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    HTPC: | Core2Duo E6420 2.13GHz | 2GB DDR2 | 250GBx2 | Radeon X1300 | Terratec Aureon 7.1 | Windows MCE 2005
    Laptop: 1.5GHz Centrino | 512MB | 60GB | 15" Wide TFT | Wifi | DVDRW


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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    (it's based on pro, not home)

  10. #10
    lazy student nvening's Avatar
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    I have it and the only MCE specific driver i have is the GPU
    (\__/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

  11. #11
    Drop it like it's hot Howard's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by directhex
    (it's based on pro, not home)

    I didn't know that
    Home cinema: Toshiba 42XV555DB Full HD LCD | Onkyo TX-SR705 | NAD C352 | Monitor Audio Bronze B2 | Monitor Audio Bronze C | Monitor Audio Bronze BFX | Yamaha NSC120 | BK Monolith sub | Toshiba HD-EP35 HD-DVD | Samsung BD-P1400 BluRay Player | Pioneer DV-575 | Squeezebox3 | Virgin Media V+ Box
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  12. #12
    Taz
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    Thanks for all the replies. The friend i'm building this specific PC for wants a TV card in it and i've ordered one of those as well (the drivers for it are compatible with mce apparently). He also wants to play about hooking up his Xbox 360 to it but I have no idea what for!

  13. #13
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by directhex
    (it's based on pro, not home)
    So it is, my bad. But it is still lacking some of the Pro networking features unless you con it into enabling them while in setup.

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    Resident abit mourner BUFF's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Funkstar
    But it is still lacking some of the Pro networking features unless you con it into enabling them while in setup.
    basically domains but you don't have to con it as it asks on install.
    there is a way to enable it afterwards too.

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    Laird Of The Glen jimborae's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by directhex
    and apparently is highly unstable when not fed mce-specific drivers

    Sorry but that is a load of bull. I've used it on four of my systems including an old laptop & my main rig. None of them are using any mce specific drivers & none of them have any stability issues at all.

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    Comfortably Numb directhex's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jimborae
    Sorry but that is a load of bull. I've used it on four of my systems including an old laptop & my main rig. None of them are using any mce specific drivers & none of them have any stability issues at all.
    i have better things to do than run MCE, but this is based on reports from someone who does (lee @ scan, on the forums, if my memory serves me correctly)

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