vinodh

Searching Google for your Pc's info reveals that it should have been released with Windows NT 4.0. This PC seems to have been made before XP was released. It could also mean that the version of XP Home that was loaded was not OEM, but a retail version.

To post, scroll all the way to the bottom of the page and click on the add reply button. A new area will appear at the bottom of te page that will allow you to type your comments. Just below this area, is the add reply button. Just clcik on that and your post will be added to the thread. It is safe to re-install XP: 1. Boot your PC from CD1 and let the installer start from there. You will eventually get to a screen that will allow you to delete your existing installaltion. Do this. Re-installing over the existing version is probably what compunded your problem. 2. The installer should then ask for cd2. 3. Remember, when you delete the old vesion of Windows you will lose ALL existing data. Make sure that you have backed up your important docs, music etc. Good luck!

Those files are not of much use to you now. There are ways to convert an existing XP installation to MCE 2005, but this can be fairly complicated for a beginner. I know that re-installing XP might be a pain, but it might end up being your only option. I suggest that you back up your important files and docs, and consider re-installing. Also, confirm that the COA sticker actually says Windows XP Media Center Edition. If it says XP Professional or XP Home Edition, then that would be the cause of your problem. The key for these 2 versions of windows will not make the Windows installer ask for cd2. Can you confirm that when you previously installed windows, that you used the same cd's and that Media Center was installed? This to verify if you system was supplied with MCE installed and the attached COA for XP Pro/Home. This can happen because some PC suppliers don't always conform to Microsofts software licensing rules. I saw a PC the other day that was installed with MCE, but licensed for XP Home.

MRMSD2_EN is cd2 of a 2cd set for MCE2005. When installing MCE 2005, you should start with cd1, and the installer will then prompt you to insert cd2, later inthe installation. However, this will only occur if you use a MCE cd key. If you use a regular xp key, only cd1 will be installed and you will end up with just XP Pro installed. When you re-installed Windows, what key did you use? The key that is printed on the Certificate of Authenticity, a sticker that should be on the side of your box, should be use for installing. If you used any other key, this could have resulted in MCE not being installed.

Try using the recovery disks. THose disks should restore your system to MCE.

Here's a link that claims to work for Vista as well as XP MCE: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/permalink...read.aspx#90784

From what i've read, the keys XP uses is not OEM dependant. As you mentioned, the key must be vesion specific, though. However, with Vista, I can't confirm if this is the case, and I have no info on how you add multiple keys in the required txt file. Thanks for your help, anyway. I'll keep searching...

Over 280 views and no reply! Oh well. I have been searching in between and found a link to a disk that does exactly what I want. Problem is, it's warez and a fairly huge download for good measure. This means that what i'm looking for can be done, it's just a pity that the makers of this disk didn't release any instructions on how they made it. Also, I would prefer making my own, since I would learn something that way.

Yes. Try that. It might work. This problem gave me a lot of hassle recently.

I noticed that the .Net Framework can effect the identifier of Windows. It seems that Media Center prefers .Net 1.1 with it's SP1. If you have ver 2, remove it first and install this version: http://download.ryanvm.net/files/dotnet11sp1.exe [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center] "Ident"="2.8" This key show the identifier that can cause problems with the reporting of MCE versions. After installing the .NET framework and Update Rollup 2, my system shows "4.0". If changing the framework version doesn't work, change that key to "4.0" and then try the Xbox install. Make sure you backup that regkey before you try this.

This might not work, since the entire app does not reside in the Program Files directory. Most apps have reg entries, dll files and other files lying all over the place. Since you will install an app in Vista, XP might have a problem finding the missing files, and the other way around. Games normally don't have this problem though. An option is to replace you apps with portable versions that have all the required files and reg entries self contained. There are tools that can be used to create your own portable apps as well. Good luck!

It's also possible that FFA is trying to build a multi-boot dvd, that has xp, server 2003, win98 etc all on one bootable DVD. This link is a guide for that: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=74862 The Multi-boot dvd sub-forum, also has additional info.

I've searched through the forums and other sites, as well as read 11 pages of the Vista OEM bios thread and have found insufficent help so far. I want to create a Vista DVD that will autodetect the correct OEM BIOS an a system and then install the correct certificate and key. This will pre-activate the system just like the original OEM disc that would have been supplied with that system. I have found info on doing this for a single OEM only. They did mention that multiple certifcates can be included in the relevant folder on the DVD, and the correct one will be installed according to the matching BIOS. However, no mention is made of adding multiple keys. I need the info on how to add the keys for all the OEMS, not just the certificates. Also, info on how to integrate the OEM logo's and other OEM info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!

Most people use 128kbps MP3, since it small, ok quality, and more devices support MP3 than WMA. I won't argue that WMA may be better than MP3, since WMA is a newer format anyway. However, if ultimate quality and not size is the objective, then ripping cd's to wav is the best option.

A quick way is to boot from a floppy, browse to the i386 directory on that cd from your friend, and execute 'winnt.exe'. This will start the xp installer. However, this will just re-install Media Center again. Why does your friend want that machine re-installed? It might be better to fix the problem that just wiping the system. You can get bootdisks from www.bootdisks.com. The win98 version works fine. Also, add smartdrv.exe to the bootdisk. Run this file before running winnt.exe. It will dramatically speed up the install time. Here's a link to smartdrv.exe: http://www.vetusware.com/output/wfaxukie/SMARTDRV.EXE

Thanks for that info. Various other sites mentioned the possibility of MCE updates in SP3, and I was hoping they were correct. Anyway, thanks again.

Maybe i'm wrong, but 800x600 is a 4:3 resolution, and your laptop has a widescreen. Therefore, you will have to use a widescreen resolution to fill the screen. I suggest you use 1280x800, since that is probably your screens native resolution anyway.

You get XP x64, which is 64bit and XP x86, which is 32bit. You do NOT get an 86bit operating system. XP 64bit will run both 32bit and 64bit apps. It requires a processor that supports x64 instructions. An AMD Athlon64 is an example, but Intel has similar CPU's as well. XP 32bit, will only 32bit apps, and will run on both x86 based cpu's, as well as the x64 type cpu's.

Acronis TrueImage, from www.acronis.com does exactly what you want. I've used it many times. Works excellently!

I've searched various places, and can't get confirmation if SP3 for XP contains any updates/hotfixes for MCE 2005. I did find something regarding a problem with MCE downloading updates if SP3 has been installed, but thats it. If update rollup 2, as well as one or two subsequent updates are included, it would really be a worthwhile service pack for Media Center

It is possible that a virus/malware may have infected your system and corrupted that file. Scan your system and ensure it is clean. If you do find a virus, clean it and then replace it with a clean version. If you are confident that your system is clean, do the following: Could you please navigate to “%windir%\system32\” and check whether these 2 files exist: riched20.dll and riched32.dll If they exist, please open a command prompt with administrator privilege and run the following command to re-register these 2 dll files: Regsrv32 %windir%\system32\riched20.dll /i Regsrv32 %windir%\system32\riched32.dll /i

Go here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/895678 This update fixes your specific problem. However, this update is supposed to be part of Update rollup2 for MCE 2005. You should install this rollup asap to ensure that you have most of the relevant updates.

From what I understand, you can use the regular method of slipstreaming. You don't HAVE to be in a x64 environment to slipstream a x64 service pack into an x64 source/disk. The MSFN unattended guide gives excellent directions to slipstream service packs.

I used to have a similar problem, and figured out, after lots of head scratching, that Norton was the problem. Moved to NOD32, and everything has been smooth, since then. I'm not sure why Norton caused that CPU usage problem, but when I was gaming, driving GP4 actually, many races/hotlaps were ruined because everything froze for a second or three, and got going again. Good luck!

Go here: http://www.mymovies.dk/ It's a plugin for both Vista Media Center as well as MCE2005 that will auto download all the info for each movie, as well as copy your movies to hard drive for easy access.