Windows Media Center
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Posted on Jul 11, 2005 11:42 am
whosyourdaddy00
Hold 'Em Czar
Member Since: Dec 30, 2004
ok i've been settin' up a brand new computer for the studio and we're using a now discontinued RME card (with latest drivers ofcourse) but now when i boot up i get a choice to boot XP Pro or XP Media center (what ever the muck that is)....if i try to boot Pro, my screne goes blank and i got a flashig cursor in the top left corner, and i gotta turn off the computer and reboot, but if i choose the Media Center thing, then everything works fine....am i booting a trimmed down version of xp when i do this?
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vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Jul 11, 2005 11:45 am Did you get this PC from somebody or made it dual boot on purpose? For studio you need XP. Media center is just an OS they made for home theaters with nice prompts for movies, music, etc. Go for XP Pro, no need for dual booting with media center unless you are using it this way also.
Jul 11, 2005 11:46 am My next computer is going to be Media Center, it is a version of windows aimed at home theatre and media use. It includes TV watching, jukebox and radio listening, managing mp3's, videos, digital recording like Tivo as other such things in addition to typical windows use.
I plan to use it to run the home theatre I am going to build in my basement, hopefully over the winter.
That said, it should do everything you typical Windows XP does...
Jul 11, 2005 11:51 am yeah it's a brand new HP P4....everything looks normal when i boot the MC, so yeah i was just wondering if i was gonna be hindering the performance any.
thanks
wyd
vdalehubbardLost for words with all to say.Contributor
Since: Sep 12, 2003
Jul 11, 2005 11:56 am Probably not.
Jul 11, 2005 12:04 pm Yeah, I don't see any performance issues being presented...I agree with sir hubbard
jmailjimmie neutronMember
Since: Feb 14, 2005
Jul 12, 2005 06:20 pm Media Center just has stuff like the old Microsoft Plus, but *MORE*!!! You've apparently got a failed install of the XP Pro, or something goofed on the install when it went to put in the Media Center stuff, perhaps? My momminnlaw got a Dell with Media Center and the same thing happened when we fired the box up and it did its auto-install. Dell Support was at a loss and just had us delete the entry from the Boot.ini file (or which ever one it was???)
insyneLoserMember
Since: Apr 12, 2006
May 07, 2006 08:30 pm actually, I was told that most external media cards, mixers, etc aren't supported by Media Center. Kinda gay.
zekthedeadcowEat Spam before it eats YOU!!!Member
Since: May 11, 2002
May 08, 2006 07:49 am right it's just media center... not mulit-media center... I think the "media" was intended to be illegal downloads :)
pjkPrince CZAR-mingMember
Since: Apr 08, 2004
May 08, 2006 09:30 am I have MC on a home PC, from dell. Seems to be working well. I'm not using it for studio use, but we're putting pictures and songs on it.
It never came up with any strange multi-boot options.
That said, I put XP Pro 2 on my studio box.
TadpuiI am not a crook's headMember
Since: Mar 14, 2003
May 08, 2006 11:00 am If its giving you an option at bootup to choose which OS to boot into, then the previous version of Windows was not nuked before the next version of Win was installed. During the install process, the first thing you want to do if you don't want a dual-boot machine is wipe the bootable partition clean. Format it. Apparently this wasn't done before the Media Center edition was installed.
If you're not too attached to the data that's on the bootable partition and you have the install CD for Media Center, then I'd suggest reinstalling and formatting whichever partition has that other XP install on it.
May 08, 2006 11:31 am hmmmm very interesting, somehow, i got it to quit givin' me options, and i really havn't thought about it in months....i think i am too attached to the data that's on the bootable partition, reinstallin' just sounds like too much work to me. everything is runnin' fine now so...if it's not broke, i'm not gonna break it.
Jan 29, 2007 04:36 pm Just to make sure you've heard, Media Center is a big hot issue for recording audio. Most major like Steinberg, Cakewalk, M-Audio (Pr-Tools and more), Presonus and many more won't support WME (Windows Media Edition). Software and hardware won't work, or may not work very well. Or...it may work fine. Some in the know have been countering what other official sources have been saying (like Sweetwater, which offically tells you to get XP Home or XP Pro and get rid of WME all together) that WME can be tweaked to work with most audio hardware and software.
I am in the middle of trying to get things to work on a laptop with WME.
But right now, many are saying to avoid WME for recording audio.
Jan 29, 2007 04:39 pm yeah, leave media edition for the home theaters.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Jan 29, 2007 07:09 pm Hmmm, I've been recording on a media center 2005 PC for 2 years now. No problems at all.
Media Center is XP pro at the core with a media center overlay and services that tie in, but they are simply software layed over XP Pro.
I leave mine running 24/7 with the services enabled, it records my tv shows which I stream to my 360 upstairs. I have even recorded music while recording TV with no problems (accident, but it worked!).
So, to the initial question. The only dumbed down part is that they disabled media center from joining a domain. All ntfs permissions are intact and drivers written for XP home or Pro will indeed work with media center as I have never downloaded a MCE specific driver.
I'm not saying it's perfect for a recording studio but I think people are quick to blame it for problems. I would look at firewire drivers, usb drivers, motherboard updates, chipset drivers, spyware, viruses and the likes before I started blaming the OS.
As Jim said, it may not work very well, or it may work fine. Just as with any other OS.
Jan 29, 2007 07:23 pm Nothing from MS is "simply software layed over"
meltdown5Faze 2 StudiosMember
Since: Aug 15, 2005
Jan 29, 2007 11:33 pm I had media center and pro-tools wasnt havin it.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Jan 29, 2007 11:58 pm Whatever! Windows 3.11 layered over DOS!!! :)
Jan 30, 2007 05:03 am my bad, ya got me on that!
rnrshMember
Since: Jan 31, 2007
Jan 31, 2007 04:19 pm I'm going through this same thing...
Running Sonar 6 on a smokin' HP dual-core with 2g of memory (Media Center), and triggering Giga sounds out of a second computer (XP Pro). The main problem is that once I got the HP, my Mackie Control would no longer communicate. I've tried every un/re-install procedure in the chain, nothing helps. All non-essential startup apps and processes are disabled. Also, there is a lot more latency in the drum tracks I capture than there should be, given the speed and power of the computers.
So I'll be wiping Media Center and putting XP Pro on this week, and hopefully will get the Mackie Control back online. Will post an update.
Sweetwater and Cakewalk have both told me that Media Center is unsupported and causes a lot of problems.
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 31, 2007 07:56 pm Tripps, ya the 2005 edition supposedly works for most apps. Any release after that though does not work. Or it take a miracle to get it working properly. I know Cakewalk supposedly found a work around, but it still doesn't matter if the hardware doesn't want to do the deed.
Jan 31, 2007 07:58 pm solve all your problems, go Vista!
Noize2uCzar of MidiAdministrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002
Jan 31, 2007 10:50 pm Ya, go Vista and go broke. Even the upgrade price is [size=7]HUGE![/size]
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Feb 01, 2007 02:47 pm I got a free upgrade on the HP i bought recently. Still haven't taken the time though as it runs really well and is my gaming rig on the bigscreen.
So when you say "any release after that" you mean the older MCE? I personally never ran the older ones as I new 05 was right around the corner.
But... I guess that speaks well for echoaudio. I've used my hardwaresince early '03' on xp home edition, xp pro, 2kPro and media center 05 on software ranging from Samplitude, Cool Edit 2, Audition 1.5 and Audition 2.0 with no problems. Go layla!!!
And yeah DB, vista fixes everything I'm sure :) I would love 64 bit OS, hardware and software. I'm guessing we will be waiting awhile though.
rnrshMember
Since: Jan 31, 2007
Feb 01, 2007 09:25 pm "Anything newer" must refer to the rollups and patches. I forgot to mention in the first post, but when I installed the 2 newest critical rollups for WMC, my system stopped recognizing the MIDI outputs of my RME Multiface. I did a system restore to undo the rollups, and it went back to normal.
Media Center is crap.
CptTrippsCzar of Turd PolishMember
Since: Jun 20, 2006
Feb 01, 2007 09:36 pm Strange, I auto update everything and am at the most current for windows and media center. Once again, speaks well for echo audio.
Feb 02, 2007 03:04 pm well, my mother's new computer is WMCE, and she's going to be installing an EMU 0404. Guess I'll just pray it works. If not, guess i'll get her XP home.
I freakin hate microsoft. Seriously...
rnrshMember
Since: Jan 31, 2007
Feb 08, 2007 12:24 am OK, it's settled, at least for me.
I wiped Media Center, and put XP Pro in its place, and lo and behold, my Mackie Control came back to life.
Will never use Media Center again.
