Upgrade from xp pro to media center edition

[Guest]

Hi, Im currently running win xp pro and have ordered a brand new sealed mce
with remote, which i havn't installed yet.

I have read some comments about upgrading, from xp pro to mce and im getting
kinda worried.

I have a pretty powerful pc:

P3 3.2GHz 64bit processor
2 gig ram
512mb graphics card
500gig HD

But i heard that you have to have specific hardware to run mce.
Could someone please tell me if it will work, even if it means me having to
wipe my hard drive clean.

Thanks

 

[MoonDog]

XP pro is better then MCE and everything that you can do on mce ? You can
also get from I think would be better ( third party softwares ) on xp pro

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

XP pro is better then MCE

No, not true. The two are nearly identical. MCE is XP Professional with its
extra media features, and minus the ability to join a domain. If you need or
want the media features, MCE is better. If you need to join a domain, XP
Professional is better. If you need or want neither, they are equal and
neither is better.

and everything that you can do on mce ? You
can also get from I think would be better ( third party softwares )
on xp pro

There is hardly any software that will run on XP Professional that will not
also run on MCE.Almost the only thing of which that would be true would be
something domain-related.

 

[Guest]

If i were to install mce on a formatted hardrive, would my hardware recognise
mce?

I just dont wanna have to buy new hardware.

thanks

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

If i were to install mce on a formatted hardrive, would my hardware
recognise mce?

I have no idea what hardware you have, so I have no way of answering your
question. I also don't know what operating system you're presently running.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Hi, Im currently running win xp pro and have ordered a brand new
sealed mce with remote, which i havn't installed yet.

I have read some comments about upgrading, from xp pro to mce and
im getting kinda worried.

I have a pretty powerful pc:

P3 3.2GHz 64bit processor
2 gig ram
512mb graphics card
500gig HD

But i heard that you have to have specific hardware to run mce.
Could someone please tell me if it will work, even if it means me
having to wipe my hard drive clean.

XP pro is better then MCE and everything that you can do on mce ?
You can also get from I think would be better ( third party
softwares ) on xp pro

No, not true. The two are nearly identical. MCE is XP Professional
with its extra media features, and minus the ability to join a
domain. If you need or want the media features, MCE is better. If
you need to join a domain, XP Professional is better. If you need
or want neither, they are equal and neither is better.

There is hardly any software that will run on XP Professional that
will not also run on MCE.Almost the only thing of which that would
be true would be something domain-related.

If i were to install mce on a formatted hardrive, would my hardware
recognise mce?

I just dont wanna have to buy new hardware.

I have no idea what hardware you have, so I have no way of
answering your question. I also don't know what operating system
you're presently running.

Well - following the thread from the beginning...
The OP is running Windows XP Professional and has the following hardware
specifications:

P4 3.2GHz 64-bit processor
2GB Memory
512MB graphics card
500GB HDD

As far as the ops later question...

If Windows XP Professional recognizes the hardware (that means the
manufacturer of said hardware was kind enough to provide the drivers for
Windows XP) -- then the Windows XP Professional superset of Windows XP Media
Center Edition (minus a few key features that make Professional nice in
business and school environments) will recognize those devices as well -
given you have the latest drivers for the hardware available - either
through media or download.

As far as whether or not you will gain anything out of Windows XP MCE - that
does depend on your hardware, TV capture device - etc. I have found that
most third party software does better what MCE was intended to do with TV
recording/etc. However - experiences vary and there are other minor uses
for MCE you might find useful. Research it and find out.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Well - following the thread from the beginning...
The OP is running Windows XP Professional and has the following
hardware specifications:

I don't save already-read messages here, and an earlier message in the
thread doesn't help me answer his his question if the pertinent information
isn't repeated.

 

[Guest]

only additional hardware you need to make use of media center is the remote
control and ir receiver which you should get with your MCE disc, and a tv
tuner - if you haven't got one then run media center and see what you think,
but saying that - you dont need either to install it and run it - you'll just
miss out on the best bits of it