cutie_pyie

Hi Guys & other Gals, I have a Dell E310 PC that came with MCE 2005 installed, but it has NO TV card, it has integrated audio and video, only a CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive, (hence, I can't burn DVDs!). It will NOT be used for any other Media Center stuff as I have remove/gotten rid of the dancing girl, and all the Sonic pgms. I plan to install Nero pgm for burning CDs. I only surf the web, email, download P2P music, and do word processing, plus the occassional spread sheet, etc. I have noticed that MCE2005 takes up almost twice the HDD space as a regular install of Win XP Pro SP2. My system as it stands now has installed in addition to MCE2005: 1.) Update Rollup 2 (900325), which add/remove Pgms says is removable; 2.) KB908250, is an Update Rollup that resolves issues with Update Rollup 2 900325, which add/remove Pgms says can NOT be removed; 3.) KB908246, which add/remove Pgms says is removable; I have read the info on 900325 & 908250 and they contain nothing that I believe I need on my system. I question the one item in 900325 that states "Media Center now includes a configurable optimization option to make sure that your Media Center computer continues to run smoothly." Since this is rather ambiguous, and I don't know where or how to set the "configurable optimization", I feel I really don't need 900325. My questions: 1.) Should I remove 900325 and if I do will it have any negative impact on my system? 2.) If I remove 900325, I just have to leave 908250 on my system? 3.) Does anyone know what 908246 does? MS site states it is not available! Shud I just remove it and again if I do will it have any negative impact on my system? Thanks for you help in this! Sincerely, CP

Hi Guys (and other Gals), I went to compress OLD files only on my (Media Center Edition 2005) PC and when it was done it told me that some operating system files were replaced with older versions, did I really want to do this? It asked me to insert the Windows CD, of course being a Dell PC - I didn't have an OS CD, so I finally accepted the option to accept the replacement of the files. I don't know why this error message came up!! The PC was NOT connected to the internet and only thing ON the PC is the OS! I rebooted the system & all seems ok so far. Has anyone else ever had an error like this while compressing files?? And should I really be concerned about whatever files got replaced? Anyway, just to undo the compression, in case that had something to do with the error message, I tried the following from a command prompt: 1.) compact /u /s:c:\windows worked -- but only for files in main Windows directory! 2.) compact /u /s: c:\windows\*.* I got the following err message ---- C:\Windows\*.*: file name, directory name or vol label is incorrect. 3.) compact /u /s: c:\windows *.* Left out the backslash before *.* worked -- but only for files in Windows directory! 4.) compact /u /s Only worked for directory I was in! How do I format the "compact" command to UN-compact all folders, subfolders, and files on "C" without having to do each & every directory and subdirectory individually?? I have looked up and read about the "compact" command and its' parameters but can not get it to work on anything other than 1 directory at a time. What am I missing in using the command??? Or does it NOT work that way, which I find hard to believe? Thanks as always! CP

Hi all, I have a isssue that I need help with please. I am a single mom with 2 kids and only one computer, a Dell P4 with 1.3GhZ CPU and 256KB RDRAM, running Window XP Pro SP2. The Hard drive is partitioned into 5 different partitions: C:==for the OS only; D:==for application programs, MS Office, Nero, etc.; E:==for temp files & TIF's; F:==for my documents, music, pictures, etc.; G:==for future use, unused at this time. It was done this way by a friend to make it easy for me to backup my data & such and to make whole system backup easy. I use Acronis True Image to make backup images of each partition as necessary. I do not have a problem with my kids using the computer but lately they have been doing stuff that seems to mess it up - they use Kazza and Emule to do P2P file sharing and such with their friends and others. I have been told that those applications can really mess up a system and infect it with all kinds of stuff. I want to know which of the following scenarios would be better for me (and keep me from killing the kids). 1.) Install a second copy of Windows XP Pro to the unused partition "G", so they can do what they want (mostly surfing and these P2P programs), and I don't have to worry about it infecting the other Operating system. I would be interested in knowing how to keep this second OS from writing anything to the other partitions if I do not want it to though?? Some type of file sharing?? *** Please comment as necessary. *** After I install this 2nd OS and update it with all hotfixes, etc., I would make an image of it and save it to CD/DVD's so if they really mess it up I could just reinstall from the image (which is pretty fast), and they would be back to where it started from. 2.) Use the above scenario but with the addition of MS Virtual PC and have the 2nd copy of XP Pro running inside VPC? But remember, this PC only has 256KB of memory and it is really too expensive for me to upgrade it as my friend says RDRAM is costly. 3.) Use as is (with only one instance of Windows XP Pro) but install a program called "SANDBOXIE", $20.00 shareware, http://www.sandboxie.com/faq.php and have the kids run their P2P programs and do their surfing from within this program? Not certain if this program is a finished product or a work in progress? The cost of the 2nd copy of Windows XP Pro is not an issue as I already have an extra copy, and I also already have a paid copy of MS VPC, I hear it is now free from Microsoft. Thank you for you time and I anxiously await all comments and suggestions. Sincerely, Sue