Hi all first post on this site,
I wrote this for another site .. I hope i win something !! and more importantly i hope it helps heaps...A friend asked me to send him my "documented" procedure of loading Vista MCE.I dont think there should be one at this stage so ive put together all the Tip Tweaks and Tricks ive gathered for Vista from numerous sites (and ALOT of hard work, effort and learning!) - hope it makes your life easier.This might be a great "sticky" and one that we all should add too as we come along helpful tips/tricks.
32bit VistaHave 2 users and get 1 to login automaticallyKeep your two users and do the following:- Windows+R (or start->run)- enter "control userpasswords2"- uncheck "USERS MUST ENTER A USERNAME AND PASSWORD"- click ok- You are then prompted for the username and password you want it to logon with at boot up.To be able to play DVDs copied to the HDD through VMCE interfaceRegistry key - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\DvdSettingsRegistry value - ShowGalleryRegistry value data type - REG_SZRegistry value data - Gallery = enable My DVDs; Play = do not enable My DVDsServices that can turned off (Personally i think its better to download a program called Vista Manager)Windows Search (can't think of anything that would need that)ThemesTelephony TabletPC InputIIS (optional install)Secondary LoginReadyBoost (if you dont want to use it)Print Spooler (if no printer)Windows Mobile stuffOffline FilesMessage Queuing (optional install)Speed up vistaThe default power option has a cpu limit of 50%. START->CONTROL PANEL->POWER OPTIONS and change from balanced to high performance.To get back administrator rights turn off UAC and do the following.Here’s the simple solution: Remember that cute “Administrator” account you see when you login to safe mode? That’s the built-in administrator account that’s installed by default, and disabled by default too, after a little digging-in I made this tutorial that’ll let you enable and use this account in normal mode, and with a little other tweak, enjoying an XP-like administrator experience, while UAC is left ON (or off, it doesn’t matter), but with no prompts or right clicks.1- Click Start, and type “secpol.msc” in the search area and click Enter.2- You may receive a prompt from UAC, approve/login and proceed.3- In the left list, choose “Local Policies”, then “Security Options”4- Set “Accounts: Administrator account status” to Enabled.5- Set “User Account Control: Admin Approval Mode for the Built-in Administrator account” to Disabled.6- Now log-off, and you’ll see a new account named “Administrator” will be available, click on it to login.Now you are the master of your domain! I recommend if you’re going to use this method is to apply it as soon as you do a fresh install of Windows, so you can simply delete whatever administrator you created in the setup process, and make this one the “real” administrator for your PC, also you can rename this new admin account or change its password like any other account from “User Accounts” in the Control Panel. I’m sure many of you will be happy to have 100% power over their new operating system MPEG-2 Codecs-Wont change even if you load new ones (Best are nvidia purevideo (better colour on Dvico cards) and powerdvd 7.2 better driver atm but colours are more washed out)-- Get vmcd.exe from Gary Whittiker to easily change codecs.ICETV SETUP (Australian EPG)Vista MCE regularly rewrites the discovery service registry key. This happens once a day when the mcupdate.exe scheduled task runs. Mcupate downloads the latest discovery service url and ensures that the registry key (used by the rest of MCE) is up to date (and itdoes some other stuff as well). I believe this is to give Microsoft the option to easily change the location of the discovery service after Vista ships. An unfortunate side effect, is that it clobbers the changes we make to the key to point to our own EPG provider (e.g. IceTv, or a local discovery service running on our machine).This small service keeps the value of HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG\discSvc from changing. This is achieved by detecting changes to the key value and then immediately setting the original value back. When this service is paused or stopped, the value is allowed to change.Source code is also provided in the zip.Installation instructions:1. unzip the file to some location e.g. C:\keepKey2. start button->all programs->accessories3. right click on commandPrompt->run as administrator (command prompt starts)4. cd /d %windir%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.507275. installutil /i C:\keepKey\keepKey.exe6. net start "keep key"[Download Keep Key from xpmediacenter.com.au] Also download the MS Daylight saving patch or everything in the ICETV guide will be out an hour.Now i know you can now also use the latest version of PIMP .. but this has been working 100% for me for a long time.ADDITIONAL VISTA CODECShttp://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=66826This also loads FFDSHOW for you.These all helped me. Ive got a few fixes for 64bit vista .. but im going back to 32.64 Bit HELPICETV (Australian EPG)OK, there is a registry fix for the 64 bit version of Vista. IceTV guide installs as a 32 bit application, so Widnows Vista 64 bit moves it in to a different area of the registry from whats expected. You need to be looked in as Administrator to fix this:* Ensure Media Centre is not running* Press with windows key + R to bring up the run dialogue* Run Regedit* Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG* Right click on the EPG folder and Export to a place of your choosing.* in Windows Explorer, right click on the newly created reg file and choose edit.* Remove the Wow6432Node reference so that it now reads: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG]* Save the file.* Right click on the reg file and select merge and agree to the warnings* Run Media Centre, go and set up the TV guide and it should ALLLLLL be working :-)Vista Ultimate x64 uses the 32bit player by default.The systems' default player can be changed with these commands:unregmp2.exe /SwapTo:64 <-- enables the 64bit player as defaultunregmp2.exe /SwapTo:32 <-- enables the 32bit player as defaultThe ffdshow 64-bit build work fine within Windows Media Center. (after install you have to enable libavcodec for decoder in 'video decoder configuration' > 'codecs') :http://esby.free.fr/CelticDruid/mirr...64-rev2546.exehttp://esby.free.fr/CelticDruid/ VMCD.EXE wont work or change MPEG-2 codecs with 64 Bit Vista.As i said .. these all helped me heaps .. so i hope it helps you, in one easy and quick location. Maybe we should split it into 32 and 64?And as always, never play in the registry if you dont know what you're doing!Ok people ... start adding yours! (make this thread useful ie hints not comments).
I think this better helps Vista MCE newbee (me as an example). I ran into the same problem and saw an helpful post from another forum in addittion to the post above.
Great info, here is a tidbit you should add. Also on how to do the same thing without a domain.
http://iandixon.co.uk/cs/blogs/mike/archive/2007/01/30/how-to-share-recorded-tv-with-other-media-centers-domain-version.aspx
Problems
I dont have the choice to select power dvd under vmcd (Im using 3.2). DOH Im using 64 bit on this machine! What can I do?
Speed up vistaThe default power option has a cpu limit of 50%. START->CONTROL PANEL->POWER OPTIONS and change from balanced to high performance.
I dont beleive this is the default power option anymore, its not on my 64-bit version, and I will be checking my 32 Bit version at the first moment I have.