HP M7246N Media Center Drive Bay

I have a HP M7246N Media Center Tower, when I insert a HP Personal Media Drive into the Bay, the Drive lights come on, I do not see the Drive listed with the other My Computer USB Personal Media Drives. Where should you see the drive. Do I have to do something.
I bought the M7246N brand new a long time ago, just got it out of the box to update for the end of MS XP 4/8/14.
It is a nice PC and works fine.
I may try and push just alittle on the Media Drive, it may not be seated in the internal USB plug.
I have noticed the external USB plug needs alittle push to it...
Thanks
CACTUS24
Pennsylvania
This question was solved.
View Solution.

When I have some time, I will look at this some more... The external USB drives work fine...

Similar Messages

HP Pocket Media Drive Bay replaced with 3.5" Floppy Drive. Need Bracket

I'd probably never find a use for the Pocket Media Drive Bay, because I don't know what one is. So I took it out, and I found out it was just another way to plug in USB. Oh my gosh. And also, it has a very strong spring. It catapulted some batteries across the room. The only good use for it is to make an internal flash drive. BUT LET'S NOT GET INTO THAT TOO MUCH. I was curious to know if my 3.5" Floppy Drive from another computer would fit in there, and it did. I was even able to make it work. But, since it's shorter than any other 5.25" drive (in height), I don't know if just any 5.25" to 3.5" bracket would work for the 3rd drive. So I tried dremeling the old frame to the old bay, and it didn't work. So where do you suggest I get a bracket made for it? PC: HP Pavilion a6200n

Hey HughZ,
I'm sorry you're running into this BIOS issue.
If I understand correctly, you've currently got a previous BIOS version loaded by the computer shop. Is that correct?
If so,
1. Download and install BIOS version 5.23. You may already know but, it will restart on its own during the installation. Allow it to restart and get back to the Windows login screen or desktop.
2. Then go to Start and Shutdown. Boot into the BIOS by tapping F10 repeatedly at power on.
3. Once you're in BIOS press F5 to Set the BIOS to Default Settings. You won't get a message or any feedback but just press F9 once and then press F10 to Save and Exit. Yes to confirm and Windows should load normally.
4. Once Windows has loaded, Shutdown again and test the power on sequence to see if your issue remains.
If it does, you can also go into BIOS and arrow over to Boot. Change Boot-time Diagnostic Screen to Enabled if it is Disabled. Also, let me know what the other tabs' (Advanced, Power and other settings in Boot) settings are set to. You can take pictures and post them with your reply, if you'd like. Let me know the results when you get a chance

Pavilion Media Center PC m7330n - 3gig drive support

I have a Pavilion Media Center PC m7330n and am think about purchasing a 3g SATA hard drive. The BIOS version is Phoenix-Award V3.47 (Core version 6.0) Do you think that my system will support a 3g drive? Thank you

Hi chavinda546,
No you can't put an Intel i7-960 chip into the motherboard in your PC. You would end up replacing the motherboard, memory, power supply and processor. And, your HP recovery disks would not work so you would probably need to buy a copy of Windows 7.
HP DV9700, t9300, Nvidia 8600, 4GB, Crucial C300 128GB SSD
HP Photosmart Premium C309G, HP Photosmart 6520
HP Touchpad, HP Chromebook 11
Custom i7-4770k,Z-87, 8GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650,GTX 760
Custom i7-4790k,Z-97, 16GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Plextor M.2 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650, GTX 660TI
Windows 7/8 UEFI/Legacy mode, MBR/GPT

HP Media Center m7050y (PX153AV) CTO Desktop PC driver for card reader in windows 7

I have a HP Media Center m7050y (PX153AV) CTO Desktop PC that I've upgraded to Windows 7 Ultimate 32 bit. I'm trying to get my card readers driver. Is there one specifically for Windows 7, or is there one that worked with previous Windows editions that I should use?

PMurnane, welcome to the forum.
Since there are no Product Specifications for the computer, I don't know the brand of the card reader. Here is a driver for the Realtek card reader. If it doesn't work, let me know the brand of it.
Please click the "Thumbs up + button" if I have helped you and click "Accept as Solution" if your problem is solved.
Signature:
HP TouchPad - 1.2 GHz; 1 GB memory; 32 GB storage; WebOS/CyanogenMod 11(Kit Kat)
HP 10 Plus; Android-Kit Kat; 1.0 GHz Allwinner A31 ARM Cortex A7 Quad Core Processor ; 2GB RAM Memory Long: 2 GB DDR3L SDRAM (1600MHz); 16GB disable eMMC 16GB v4.51
HP Omen; i7-4710QH; 8 GB memory; 256 GB San Disk SSD; Win 8.1
HP Photosmart 7520 AIO
++++++++++++++++++
**Click the Thumbs Up+ to say 'Thanks' and the 'Accept as Solution' if I have solved your problem.**
Intelligence is God given; Wisdom is the sum of our mistakes!
I am not an HP employee.

Need driver for XP media center 2005

Hi
I have TV anywhere
was working with XP pro
I did upgrade my system
now I have XP media center 2005
Reinstalled the MSIPVS TV @nywhere card.
I got my video but no sound
need help

MSIPVS:TV@nywhere 8876 ver1.00
Conexant CX23881-27 E232040.1
N1996
in XP I did use
The MSI PVS software version 2.0.34.198
audio /video are good
using the same driver for xp media
got video but no sound
system has realtek sound card
system =acer E380

Media in CD / DVD drive not writeable by Media Center

I have a Qosmio F20 laptop running Windows XP Media Center 2005 edition, when I try and record my recorded tv program onto a DVR+RW I get the following error message,
Media in the CD/DVD drive is not writeable by Media Center
I have update rollup 2 installed.
Rgds

Many thanks for the info above. Ive looked at those pages but was not able to find the solution.
I can record using the installed Sonic recording package onto all of my discs, CDR CDRW DVD+RW with no problem.
I just wanted to record via Media Center in the hope that it would play on my DVD player attached to my TV.
My CD drive model is UJ-840S so I hoped I woudnt have the problem. As the info from Microsoft says that its
the UJ-846S that may not work without installing Update Rollup 2 for Media Center.
I saw the following explanation on the Microsoft page http://support.microsoft.com/kb/909083
The computer is using a DVD-RAM drive that was not supported in the initial release of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. For example, the problem is known to occur when you use the Matsu****a DVD-RAM drive model UJ-846S. This drive was not supported in the initial release of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005.
Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 adds support for additional drives, including the Matsu****a DVD-RAM drive model UJ-846S. Without these updates installed, the UJ-846S drive will correctly recognize DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD-RAM discs. However, the drive will not recognize CD-R, CD-RW, and DVD+RW discs.
To determine the model of optical drive that is installed in the computer, follow these steps:
1. Click START click RUN type MSINFO32 and then click OK
2. In System Information expand COMPONENTS
3. Click CD-ROM The mode of the optical drive is displayed in the NAME section.
I will keep trying various Microsoft solutions and come back If I find the answer.
Thanks again.
Mike
Message was edited by: miketurner201

Add hard drive to media center m7160n

i added a western digital 500 gb hdd to my hp media center m7160, no problem physically. os dosen't find the new drive although both set-up and device manager see it. device manager says it is working correctly, but that it has not been initalized. question: how do i initalize it? many thanks, be well, peace. dp
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
You probably need to format the new HDD - try the following.
If you're running Windows XP, see the guide on the following link.
http://www.simplyguides.net/guides/prepare_second_hdd/prepare_second_hdd1.shtml
For Windows Vista, Windows 7 or Windows 8, continue as follows.
Hold down the Windows Key and press R. Into the Run Box type compmgmt.msc and hit enter. Click Disk Management in the left pane and let the drives load up. Right click on your new HDD and select Format to start the Wizard. Windows will assign a Volume Label so if you’re happy with this, just leave the default one. File system is normally NTFS. Allocation Unit Size should be left as the default value. Select the option to perform a Quick Format if it is not already selected. Leave any other settings as default and click Ok and Ok again to start the process.
When this has completed, your new HDD should now appear when you look under Computer.
Regards,
DP-K
****Click the White thumb to say thanks****
****Please mark Accept As Solution if it solves your problem****
****I don't work for HP****
Microsoft MVP - Windows Experience

Installed new hard drive on Media Center m7434n now it freezes and hangs up. Help Please

HP Media Center m7434n with Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 installed. It is hanging up and freezing. I have downloaded new drivers, etc but nothing is helping. I am a novice and 80 yrs old. Please help.
Thanks, bjh

you'll need recovery disks...
HP and Compaq Desktop PCs: Looking for Recovery Discs?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3752245&docname=bph07...
HP ENVY 17-j005tx Notebook, HP ENVY Recline 27-k001a, HP ProLiant MicroServer Gen8 G2020T, HP MediaSmart EX495 Server, HP MediaVault 2020, HP ENVY 120 AiO Printer

How do I get fios to work with my new desktop w/ Windows Media Center

Can someone please help me I have "fios".TV and internet 1HDSTB + 1HDDVR with multi room dvr Home media mgr.how do I get fios to work with my new desktop HP Pavillion m9715f**(specs below)**w/ Windows Media Center or did I just throw away my money?
also equipted is 47" Samsung 850series 1080p 120hertz HD LCD TV + 36" Samsung 560series 1080p 60hertz HD LCD TV and 19"Samsung 950b LCD Monitor
** computer specs**
Product number NZ017AA
Introduction date 30-Jun-2009
Country/region sold in: United States,Canada
Hardware Base processor
Phenom-9650 (A) 2.3 GHz (95W) 3600 MHz HyperTransport 3.0 Socket, AM2+
Chipset AMD 780G
Motherboard Manufacturer: MSI Motherboard Name: MS-7548 HP/Compaq motherboard name: Aspen-GL8E
Power supply 300W
Memory
Component Attributes Memory Installed 8 GB Maximum allowed 16 GB (4 x 4 GB) (64-bit OS)
4 GB* (4 x 1 GB) (32-bit OS)
*Actual available memory may be less Speed supported PC2-6400 MB/sec Type 240 pin, DDR2
Hard drive750 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)7200 rpm
Blu-ray player & SuperMulti DVD burner with LightScribe Technology drive
This Blu-Ray Disc DVD drive introduces a player that reads Blu-ray Disc format enabling you to watch high-definition Blu-ray Disc movies. NOTE: This drive does not include high-definition write capability.
Formats/Disc types Write speeds Read speeds Storage capacity Blu-ray Disc BD-ROM SL NA up to 6X up to 25 GB BD-ROM DL NA up to 4.8X up to 50 GB BD-R SL not supported up to 6X up to 25 GB BD-R DL not supported up to 4.8X up to 50 GB BD-RE SL not supported up to 2.3X up to 25 GB BD-RE DL not supported up to 2X up to 50 GB HD DVD not supported DVD DVD-ROM SL NA up to 16X up to 4.7 GB DVD-ROM DL NA up to 8X up to 8.5 GB DVD+R SL up to 16X up to 12X up to 4.7 GB DVD+R DL up to 4X up to 8X up to 8.5 GB DVD+RW SL up to 8X up to 10X up to 4.7 GB DVD+RW DL not supported DVD-R SL up to 16X up to 12X up to 4.7 GB DVD-R DL up to 4X up to 8X up to 8.5 GB DVD-RW SL up to 6X up to 10X up to 4.7 GB DVD-RW DL not supported DVD-RAM up to 5X up to 5X up to 4.7 GB CD CDROM NA up to 40X up to 700 MB CDR up to 40X up to 40X up to 700 MB CDRW up to 24X up to 40X up to 700 MB CD-DA NA up to 32X up to 700 MB Video CD NA up to 10X up to 700 MB
Wireless Wireless LAN 802.11 b/g
Video Graphics Radeon HD4350
512 MB DDR2 memory
I/O Ports: HDMI, VGA, single-link DVI
Television Hauppauge ATSC/NTSC TV tuner card with FM tuner
Sound/Audio High Definition 8-channel audio
ALC 888S chipset
Network (LAN) Integrated 10/100/1000 Base-T networking interface
Memory card reader
Contains an Infrared receiver for remote control
Supports the following cards:
Compact Flash I
Compact Flash II
IBM Microdrive
Secure Digital (SD)
mini-SD
MultiMediaCard (MMC)
Reduced size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC)
MultiMediaCard Plus (MMC plus)
MultiMediaCard Mobile (MMC mobile)
Memory Stick
Memory Stick Pro
Memory Stick Duo
Memory Stick Pro Duo
SmartMedia
xD Picture Card (xD = extreme digital)
External I/O ports
I/O ports on the front panel
Port type Quantity 15-in-1 (4 slot) with IR Receiver One USB Two Headphone One Microphone One Audio L-R One S-video in One Composite video in One
I/O ports on the back panel
Port type Quantity PS/2 (keyboard, mouse) Two S/PDIF out (coaxial) One VGA One (disabled due to the installation of a graphics card) DVI-D One USB Four 1394a One LAN One Audio (side speaker out, rear speaker out, center/subwoofer-out , line-in, line-out, microphone) One Each
Expansion slots
Slot type Quantity PCI Express x16 One (None available) PCI Express x1 Three (Two available)
Drive bays
Bay type Quantity 5.25" Two (One available) 3.5" Two (One available) Personal Media Drive One (One available) Pocket Media Drive One (One available)
Keyboard and mouse HP multimedia keyboard HP PS/2 optical mouse
Remote Control USB infrared remote control,Remote control expansion card with IR ports,IR emitter cable to transmit codes to a set top box

Based on what you've posted, your computer does not have the right tuner. You need a QAM tuner to record locals from FiOS, or a CableCard tuner to record all local and cable channels from FiOS.
QAM tuners to record local channels only
This requires Windows Vista or Windows 7
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250
SiliconDust HDHomeRun (info on a sale)
CableCard tuner to record local and cable channels
This requires Windows 7 + one CableCard from Verizon for $3.99/mo
ATI TV Wonder Digital PC CableCard Tuner (records one channel at a time) -- $200-$250 on ebay
Ceton MOCUR tuner (records four channels at a time) -- coming in early 2010 for $400-$600
Make sure your computer has Windows 7 Home Premium (or better) installed. That's necessary to support CableCard tuners.
If you are the original poster (OP) and your issue is solved, please remember to click the "Solution?" button so that others can more easily find it.

Need advice on on a Mac Pro 1,1 Media Center

I currently have a 2009 Mac Mini running as my home media center, but I recently came by a FREE Mac Pro 1,1 and have decided to repurpose it as my media center so I can migrate my Mac Mini to my bedroom TV where it will live an easy life doing nothing but run Plex Home Theater, Netflix, and EyeTV. This machine falling into my lap was also quite timely because my 4-bay Drobo is running low on available expansion and another Drobo isn't in the budget at the moment.
This vintage mac pro is running Lion 10.7.5, has 1 old and crusty 500GB hardrive, dual x5160 processors, 4GB RAM (one stick i'm pretty sure is toast judging by the red light and the kernel panics), and the standard NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT 256MB graphics card. It will be used primarily for the following: network storage for iphoto and itunes libraries, streaming video, Plex Media Server & Plex Home Theater, and Handbrake encoding. I also have a goal of safety of data for my movies, photos and music as this machine will supplement my current Drobo storage.
My plans are for a 128GB SSD boot drive installed in one of the PCIe slots and then to load up all 4 of the 3.5" drive bays with WD Green hard drives. I have also ordered 4GB of replacement RAM, so upon removal of the faulty unit I will have 7GB.
Here is where I need advice because I am not very familiar with RAID and the differences between hardware or software raid. Am I better off getting four drives of the same size and setting them up as RAID 5 (I think) using Apple's RAID utility or should I throw in three 1TB drives and then install a fourth 3TB or 4TB drive as a Time Machine backup for the other three?
Should I upgrade the OSX to the technically unsupported latest version? Or is it not worth the trouble for this application?
Also, is there any benefit to upgrading the graphics card to the ATI Radeon 5770? Would this yield an improved image quality? I am outputting to a Denon AV Reciever and subsequently to a 100" projection screen, if that makes a difference. I also noticed the 5770 has an HDMI port, wich would be nice, but not necessary since I can use a DVI converter and woud still need to use the optical audio out anyway.
Much obliged for any input

My plans are for a 128GB SSD boot drive installed in one of the PCIe slots and then to load up all 4 of the 3.5" drive bays with WD Green hard drives. I have also ordered 4GB of replacement RAM, so upon removal of the faulty unit I will have 7GB.
PCIe cards that use or support SSD are not bootable until you get to 2008 (and that is limited too).
Green are not suited for any form of array unless say NAS and WD RED. Better option would be 3 x 2TB WD Blacks in a mirror, and too many people only use two drives, well 3 is much easier safer and works better. Might want to invest in www.SoftRAID.com product even.
Best price and quality, got my 1,1 with 8 x 2GB (ideal is 4 or 8 DIMMs)
2x2GB FBDIMM DDR2 667MHz @ $25
http://www.amazon.com/BUFFERED-PC2-5300-FB-DIMM-APPLE-Memory/dp/B002ORUUAC/
With price of 250GB SSD $155 I'd go with that or stick with $89 for 128GB .

Media Center M7960n Card Reader

I'm refreashing a Media Center M7960n for a friend. Upgrading RAM, HDs, and Win7, I got a little to quick handed removing the pieces and parts that she no longer needed...The HD DVD drive, expansion Bay, Modem, etc...and now I unplugged the media card reader...and can't find where to plug it back up too...Any help would be great Thanks

Hi,
Hope page #54 of the following manual helps:
http://www.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph07860.pdf
Good luck.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

HP Pavilion Media Center m8300f Hangs on boot

I have a HP Pavilion Media Center m8300f which came loaded with Vista Home Premium. About 18 month sold. Recently the computer would hang on boot up. I used the system restore and went back to a safe install. This worked ok until Windows added more patches which caused the same problem to occur again. After one or two of these episodes I was not longer able to return to a safe install. I ran the system recovery several times to check the hardware. Everything turned up good. Since I did not have a good set of recovery disks I decided to install XP on the computer and then upgrade to Vista. XP installed without a single problem. I purchased a NEW Vista Home Premium because I could later upgrade free to Windows 7. I tried to install Vista over XP. The process would start and then hang. So I reformated the hard drive using an external USB unit on another computer, replaced the drive and tried to install Vista off the DVD. It would not boot up. As a test using the Vista DVD I purchased, I upgraded XP on a separate computer to Vista. Worked very nice.
I ordered a set of the recovery DVDs and tried them. They would not boot up. I replaced the hard drive with a new SEAGATE SATA drive because I felt the connectors were not locking in. I still could not get the recovery DVDs to run. I went back to the XP and it installed. So here I am with a computer that willl not run or install Vista but will run XP. Also HP does not provide the XP drivers for the hardware on this computer.
Does anyone know why Vista will not install or how to get it on this computer?
I installed a NEW Seagate SATA hard drive for drive "C" because the connectors where not locking in place. rmated the hardI purchased the Recovery DVDs from HP and tried to reinstall it.

I had the same problem with computer halting with blue screens, black screens, etc. Motherboard had 6 capacitors with bulging tops. I found a replacement Nettle 2 motherboard from seller diypc2008 on E-Bay for the cost of $75.00 with free shipping. Installed new motherboard and computer works like new.
It appears like at around 2 years, this problem occurs from what I read on this forum. Look for capacitors on the motherboard with bulging tops. I fixed my computer by replacing motherboard after running many hours of diagnostics, replacing power supply, and changing out drives.

Can any one help me with CD/Audio disc playback problem on media center m8200n running Windows Vista

I have HP Media Center m8200n Dest top running WINDOWS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32 BIT edition.It has MEDIA CENTER and MEDIA PLAYER. I experience problems with the computer being able to play CD music discs. What happens is that the Disc will play only for 63 seconds exactly and then stop playing the track, the player will then skip tracks, settle on another one, play it for a few moments and then skip to the end and then play nothing. It gives me an error message that it cannot read the disc. This happens with any and every standard store bought CD new or used. These CDs also do play on my laptop running basically same operating system. This happens whether I trying to Play a disc or burn the disc to the hard drive. The drives work great though as they do play DATA discs all the way through. MP3 discs play fine. It also plays the DVD movies with no problem. Windows media player doesn't make it work, also installed VLC player and REALPLAYER to try some other players and they also don't work for music, only DVDs. They all only produce 63 seconds of music play back from a disc. I've already tried Changing ENHANCEMENTS, UPDATING DRIVERS, UNINSTALLING THE DISC DRIVE and then re-installing back into WINDOWS but none of that helped. SYSTEM came with the integrated REALTEK HIGH DEFINITION AUDIO on the mother boad for multi channel playback options and I've downloaded those updated drivers again but that doesn't do anything. Thinking it might be a hardware drive problem I purchased a new LG BLU-RAY DRIVE/BURNER super multi drive which plays fantastic for any video format from Blu-Ray to regular DVD format with the Power DVD software but the machine is causing even this new drive to have the same problem with the audio and it cuts out playing the audio disc within the same 63 seconds running audio disc. . There seems to be a software glitch and I'm wondering if you can help. Also the sound card seems to work perfectly fine. I downloaded I-Tunes and copied over audio files to the computer via my flash drive and when I play those files from the hard drive, or even the sample windows media files which reside on the hard drive in MY MUSIC, all files play through perfectly, fully, and with great sound. Audio out jacks in back of computer work fine as also does the front head phone jacks upfront. Something in the software when playing a audio disc/file through the dic drives???? I've got hundreds of CD and it's a bummer not beng able to lay them through the system. Does anyone think moving from VISTA PREMIUM to a upgraded version like ULTIMATE or even going up to Windows 7 might solve problem??? What about the 32 bit verses 64 bit editions??? My system should be able to run in the 64 bit frame work also. THANK YOU in advance!!!

Hi,
All dimms work individually? Did you run a bootable memory diagnostic to determine the reliability? Did you run a diagnostic on the hard drive? I believe that your PC came with PC Doctor and that you can create a bootable diagnostic disk. Did you create that disk? Be sure to purchase memory dimms from a manufacturer that will stand behind their product with a guarantee such as Crucial, Corsair or Kingston. Buy directly from the manufacturer and they will stand behind the guarantee. Be sure that all of the dimms are identical. Use CPU-Z to determine that the specifications are indeed identical.
You have some options to consider once you can stablize your PC for updating the BIOS.
Locate a hard drive and use the HP external recovery media to build a VISTA system. -- safest method
Use a VISTA repair disk and at the command prompt try executing the HP BIOS update (Admin). -- safe
Try a bootable BIOS update process as suggested at this site. -- less safe but doable
HP DV9700, t9300, Nvidia 8600, 4GB, Crucial C300 128GB SSD
HP Photosmart Premium C309G, HP Photosmart 6520
HP Touchpad, HP Chromebook 11
Custom i7-4770k,Z-87, 8GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650,GTX 760
Custom i7-4790k,Z-97, 16GB, Vertex 3 SSD, Plextor M.2 SSD, Samsung EVO SSD, Corsair HX650, GTX 660TI
Windows 7/8 UEFI/Legacy mode, MBR/GPT

Windows XP Media Center Edition FAQ

What is a Media Center PC?
It is basically a regular PC, but designed to fit into your home entertainment system to replace your DVD player, Hi-Fi, TV set-top box, as well as allowing other functions as email, web browsing and more, all from the comfort of your armchair, or elsewhere
Many new Media Center PCs (MCPCs or Home Theatre PCs - HTPCs) are styled like hi-fi components to blend in under your TV, while many are regular PCs with extra multimedia functions.
What is Windows XP Media Center Edition?
Windows XP Media Center Edition (or XP MCE for short) is basically Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2) without advanced networking support (but including Remote Desktop Connection) and extra applications to turn your PC into a fully fledged Home Theatre PC (HTPC). The main Microsoft Media Center appplication allows a full screen interface suitable for viewing on TVs (pictured below left) and controlled by an easy to use Microsoft remote control device (below right), so you can watch and record TV, view DVDs and listen to audio CDs and digital music files.
How do I get WinXP MCE?
At the time of writing, XP MCE is only available as an OEM pack which you can purchase from your nearest dealer or online reseller, or if pre-installed on a purchased system. MCE is currently only available as a 32bit (x86) version, but works on 64bit systems.
The Media Center application is also included with the Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista.
How do I install WinXP MCE?
MCE installs the same way as any other version of Windows XP. However it cannot be installed as an upgrade, you must do a clean install. MCE comes on two disks; a WinXP XP SP2 disc, and the MCE extras disc. Boot from CD1 as you would normally when installing Windows. The setup screens will indicate Windows XP Professional, this is normal. During the graphic part of the install process, you will be prompted to insert CD2. This is obviously the second CD of the set which you should insert, as it contains the necessary extra Media Center enhancements. When it is done, Setup will ask you for the "Windows XP SP2 CD". It is actually just asking for the first disc again, so reinsert it and let it continue.
When install is complete, the system will reboot, and you will see the normal Windows XP desktop, though with a slightly different theme. To begin using the Media Center program straight away, click on Media Center in the Start Menu to begin the Media Center Setup wizard.
What graphics hardware is required for MCE to work correctly?
MCE works with DirectX 9.0c, so ideally your hardware at a minimum needs to be DirectX 9.0 compatible.
MCE requires a minimum of 64mb video RAM (shared or dedicated), 128mb recommended for the full visual "eye-candy" interface effects.
For Nvidia GPU chipsets, MCE drivers can be found here: nVidia Drivers. You'll need at least a Geforce FX5200 for MCE to work (however I have it running on an integrated Geforce 4 MX with no problems).
For ATI GPU chipsets, drivers for MCE can be found here: ATi Drivers. You'll need at least a 9250 for MCE to work, but I understand that the 9200 may also suffice.
Unfortunately, I understand that SiS and Via (S3) chipsets (as found on many mobos with integrated VGA) are NOT MCE compatible. Some Intel integrated VGA chipsets will work now, you should refer to Intel's website for updated drivers. I also understand that Via have introduced MCE compatible drivers for their Epia SP13000 ITX board, again refer to Via's website for correct drivers. However, it is recommended to use an add-in VGA card for best results, unless you have a new board which has integrated Geforce 6100 or ATI Xpress chipsets
What TV hardware works with MCE?
In order to display TV output, MCE requires an MPEG2 stream to display. It cannot encode this itself, so requires a hardware based TV tuner / capture card, such as the Hauppage PVR MCE series, or the MSI Theater 550PRO (above left). The card receives analog video through the aerial connection, or svideo / composite inputs, encodes it into MPEG2 format, which MCE can display.
This type of analog card is required to connect a cable or satellite box (eg Telewest, NTL or Sky in UK). Using the Microsoft remote receiver, two supplied IR blasters affix to the set-top box, so MCE can automatically change channels when needed.
For best picture quality on digital TV though, you can use a software-based DVB-T card, such as the Hauppauge Nova-T or the Black Gold DVB-T (above right). Using a regular aerial, these receive high quality digital terrestrial (OTA) signals (eg the Freeview service in UK), which are broadcast in MPEG2 format, and therefore no encoding is required. In the USA, ATSC is the digital terrestrial standard used, as DVB is not available there.
Unfortunately UK users of DVB-T cards will currently not be able to make use of DVB subtitles, interactive text-based services such as Teletext and BBCi, or listen to the Digital Radio services available on Freeview. UK DVB Digital Audio services are now available with MCE Rollup 2.
Unlike with VGA cards, MCE requires that your TV hardware has special BDA (Broadcast Driver Architecture) drivers which are MCE compatible. Check your hardware manufacturers website for compatible drivers.
Unfortunately, analogue TV hardware that is software-driven (such as MSI TV@nywhere and Vox) won't work in MCE.
Windows Vista Media Center will introduce support for cable (DVB-C) and satellite (DVB-S)tuner cards
Do I need any other software to make MCE work?
As MCE is essentially based around Windows Media Player 10, you will be aware that WMP cannot play DVDs until you install a suitable DVD codec. This is also the case with MCE, as until you install this MPEG2 codec, MCE won't play ANY video (including TV). So you will also need to purchase additional MCE compatible DVD player software, such as Cyberlink PowerDVD 6, Intervideo WinDVD 6, or Nvidia's DVD Decoder MPEG codec. Results can be varied using different codecs, so it is best to try a trial version of such software to see which gives you the best results before purchasing. You may find that suitable DVD software may already be supplied with some VGA or TV tuner cards.
Anything else I need?
You will also require an internet connection (not imperative, but certainly very useful) in order for MCE to access the internet in order to find and download TV guide listings, and album and artist information when playing CDs, MP3s and WMAs.
Without guide information, you will have to manually schedule TV recordings, and no programme information will be available.
If you are planning on having your Media Center in your living room, the Microsoft Remote Controller will allow you to control all aspects of the MCE interface without the need for a keyboard or mouse connected.
If you are connecting your Media Center to your TV, then your video display device will need TV-out capabilities (S-Video or Composite). S-Video offers better picture quality over composite video, but you will need to ensure your TV supports S-Video input, otherwise you will just see black and white video.
If your TV supports RGB inputs, then you may be able to obtain a VGA > RGB adaptor, which offers even better picture quality (search with Google, there are lots of sites about this). Many modern LCD and plasma TVs also support direct VGA / DVI inputs. VGA > RGB/SCART is only compatible with ATI Radeon VGA cards.
Can I watch one channel while recording another?
Yes, but you will need two identical TV devices, eg 2x DVB-T cards. You cannot have one analogue card, and one digital, as MCE presumes both hardware devices receive same channels, and can pick and choose between them. (However in the USA, you may have two analogue tuners, and one HDTV tuner)
This is straightforward when using two identical DVB-T cards. MCE has a channel list and guide data, so for example you are watching BBC1 on one tuner, MCE uses the other tuner to record the other programme on ITV2. Both cards are receiving the same input.
It gets a little more complicated if you want to do the same with a paid subscription service, such as NTL Cable or Sky Satellite in UK. As well as having two matching tuners (although I understand that some companies, including Hauppage, are releasing "dual-tuner" cards) you will also require two set-top boxes, with a subscription for each, as MCE needs to be able to change the channel on each set-top box seperately.
Good links....
Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 homepage
The Green Button - very good MCE community forum
MCESoft - for all sorts of plug-ins and extras for MCE
XPMCE.com - Windows Media Center forums
ukShazam.com - Media Center help & more
Note: MSI is not responsible for the content of external links[/b]
Look out for me in the XPMCE forums if you need further help!
That's about it for now, hope you find it useful. As I think of (meaning "remember" ) other stuff I'll add it above. If you know something that I've missed out, please post below with as much info as you can, and I'll add it to the guide, with a credit to you!
If you need help to solve a problem or want to ask a question, then START your own thread, with as much info as you can, please do NOT post in this thread, this thread is only for tricks,tips and useful reference info.

For some reason when using the "certified" MCE version of the Forceware drivers, after a short while all the buttons in the menus become "corrupted"
The simple solution: use regular XP/2000 version of Forceware drivers. They still work perfectly in MCE2005, and the graphical corruption doesn't appear.
nVidia Drivers
EDIT: this problem appears to have been corrected in the recent Rollup 2 Update

Media Center on Standard Def TV with 2009 Mini

Hi all,
I'm recently married and since my wife the chef got every pot and pan she could ever hope for as wedding gifts, I get to treat myself to a Mac Mini media center. I'm hoping someone out there can give me their opinion on resolution quality.
Here's my current setup. I have a five year old 27 inch Sony Trinitron Wega 27FS120 which is limited to 480i. I have a first generation Macbook Pro and currently use a DVI to cable adapter to connect by composite when we want to stream Netflix, Hulu or use Boxee. The quality of streaming Netflix is acceptable for us, and while Hulu is a bit washed out it's still acceptable. The text on Boxee can be difficult to read at times, but we can live with it. iTunes standard definition downloads are great, and the HD obviously doesn't come across on the TV but we're very pleased with iTunes video.
From everything I've read, in order to make this work, I would need to use the mini-dvi or mini-displayport on the Mini to connect to a VGA converter to connect to composite video to make the transition to Mac Mini. My #1 concern is that video quality will deterioriate as a result of the conversion/additional adapter and I'm not going to be satisfied with the quality. We're drive-it-into-the-ground people and shudder at the thought of replacing a perfectly good TV if we can get the same quality out of the VGA-hooked media center as we're used to for a couple of more years. However, if there's going to be a noticable dropoff, with Black Friday coming, we'll bite the bullet.
Can anyone comment on what I might expect the dropoff in video quality to be considering what I'm currently using?
Thank you!
Ryan

My opinion is you won't be seeing much difference between what you have now with the MacBook Pro and the new mini. Whether the video signal translation takes place in the root device or in an external device, the final on-screen quality difference should be negligible between the two because the primary limitations come from other points in your configuration, not the point of translation.
Is S-Video use an option with your TV? You might realize at least a slight improvement over what you see now with composite video.

HP M7246N Media Center Drive Bay

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for