SOFTWARE NOT COMPATABLE WITH MCE 2005????

Question

I've just read about some 95/98/2000/xp programs not compatable with media center operating system. If this is true, ('You gotta be kidding'), this will be the last straw.  All over the web I have read about the problems with media center. I realize the complexity of tying all different hardware and vendors together to make a great entertainment system. Gut i need a good, stable operating system to work my computer. Games, video copying, music playing and copying, internet surfing, and accounting programs are all I need. Not an o/s out of the early 90's with multiple problems.(if I wanted problems, I would buy a 20 year old boat and stay out on the lake everyday) So, is it true, some programs are not compatable with microsoft windows media center xp 2005? and if so what programs? I would appreciate to hear your experiences and advice. Thanks

davejohn · Answer

You said you just read about them.  Can you give us the links to these articles about incompatible programs?   Dave

doureadsutterka · Answer

Cannot find the listing  in Dell community Forum but will continue to search. Been all over the web reading about comlaints and opinions about media center and I will continue to list the sites as I find them again. www.fstop-blues.com/2005/10/media-center-compatibility-issues.html

doureadsutterka · Answer

DellCommunity Forum Software: win xp media center, page 3, Beware xp media center ed. 2005 a little review, by jeeper1, dated 03-04-2006.

There is another dell forum entry which stated problems with software compatiblity which caught my attention today but I have yet to find it. I'm going to give mce a whirl but I see alot of comlaints.

refurbished xsp600 on the way, somewhat concerned.

looking for opinions and advice about media center 2005 operating system.

Thanks

datapod · Answer

@doureadsutterkane wrote:

DellCommunity Forum Software: win xp media center, page 3, Beware xp media center ed. 2005 a little review, by jeeper1, dated 03-04-2006.

There is another dell forum entry which stated problems with software compatiblity which caught my attention today but I have yet to find it. I'm going to give mce a whirl but I see alot of comlaints.

refurbished xsp600 on the way, somewhat concerned.

looking for opinions and advice about media center 2005 operating system.

Thanks

You read the "a little review," post by jeeper1, did you read the responses from people (myself included) who are using MCE to do all the things that "jeeper1" claims "cannot be done?

I've been using MCE 2005 on a Dimension 8400 for 14 months without problems and it has worked as one would expect. I've installed and experimented with a ton of software and haven't run into any compatability issues.

That Media Center Edition is an operating system in and of it self is something of a misnomer.

It is essentially XP Pro (with the ability to join a domain and use cached credentials traded off for the ability to use Media Center Extenders) and with the "Media Center" components added. (domain membership is possible if chosen during installation or (reportedly) via a registry hack on an existing installation)

Until you start the Media Center component the computer looks and acts the same as any Windows XP Pro computer with all the controls you would expect to find in all the usual places. IOW if it'll run on XP it'll run on MCE.

Judging any product by the posts in user forums is like going to the mechanic and deciding that cars must all stink because every one you saw there was broken. People rarely post to say everything is going well.

Sure people have problems with MCE just like they do with any other product. That doesn't mean the product itself is broken. Many wounds are self inflicted.

davejohn · Answer

Everything that ran on my Dimension 4550 with XP Pro runs just the same on my XPS600 with MCE 2005.  Well, except faster. :smileyhappy: Mine is also a refurb from Dell Outlet. Dave

doureadsutterka · Answer

I am beginning to get the picture. I ordered the xps600 Thursday, then started to browse forum and the internet studying in detail everything that came with this system. The first google entry was for mce which brought me to the dell forum and the above entry. His statements raised a red flag. Further search of the forum and the internet alarmed me with everyone problems of mce.

But I am getting the picture of operator error, equipments setup error, inadequate computer systems, mce update conflicts ( which can be resolved as stated on the Microsoft web site). A lot of the conflicts I have read do not state which version of mce is on their computer. It could be the 2002 version with bugs in it( or bugs in hardware), or the 2005 version.

MCE has been out since 2002 with numerous updates. Microsoft has had their ups in downs with the courts world wide and I really don't think MS would release operating systems like the ones in the 90's with their fixes and patches as a cost to the consumer. Although, one web site stated ( see above) that mce being replaced by vista is a good thing.

I am a novice, but I find all this stuff as a very interesting hobby and when I find a problem I don't let it go until I have exhausted all my avenues.

Never the less, alarms and flags went off, but I believe through research and help from friendly people such as yourself, my opinion of "The Dreaded MCE 2005" is beginning to change.

My new system will be arriving shortly and the proof will be fort coming. This will be my 4th dell system and I've ordered 2 systems for my folks, refurbished and new. All previous systems are running strong and Dell has always been very good to me. Thats why I keep coming back. I have had no trouble with support, but come to think of it, I've had little need of support from Dell.

I already take high blood pressure medicine so I dont need new headaches (thats what daughters are for).I've entered questions throughout the Dell forum requarding MCE 2005, and once I give the system a good run through, I will report back to all my entries and recap my opinion. Hopefully by the end of the month I will turn off all the alarms and lower the flags reguarding MCE.

Thanks for your efforts...... I'm still trying to find the forum question reguarding mce software compatibility problems that set this entry off. I considered replacing the hard drive with a new one with xp home on it, but my view of mce is changing from the view I preceived after reading other complaints.

Message Edited by doureadsutterkane on 03-06-2006 11:52 AM

joe53 · Answer

Hi:

Like datapod, I have had very few problems with MCE, and none that I could not fix. Most of these problems were related to MCE- not to the basic XP apps.

As far as incompatable software goes, I've seen reports that McAfee AV is not supported (I don't use McAfee), and that any Palm PDA's are not supported. (I have an old Palm, and it synchs just fine. Palm confirms that MCE is not supported, so I'm not sure what to make that.)

Be sure to get all critical updates from the MS Update site. I downloaded as well all optional updates related to MCE, and have had no issues related to them.

doureadsutterka · Answer

Thanks for your reply. This will be my first bout with MCE. I don't recall seeing MCE on the box of store bought software under the system requirements, just 95/98/xp etc. I am contacting different software companies, just for drill, to see their take on MCE.

Regards

I belive my system is being shipped with 15 months mcafee antivirus software.

datapod · Answer

@doureadsutterkane wrote:

Thanks for your reply. This will be my first bout with MCE. I don't recall seeing MCE on the box of store bought software under the system requirements, just 95/98/xp etc. I am contacting different software companies, just for drill, to see their take on MCE.

Regards

I belive my system is being shipped with 15 months mcafee antivirus software.

FWIW the McAfee problem apparently (from reading in the MCE Newsgroup) relates to the use of Media Center Extenders. (I'm not clear on what the problem is since I don't use an extender) Mine also shipped with the 15 month McAfee deal and I've had no problems with it.

doureadsutterka · Answer

For Your Information: Found a wonderful article on Microsoft's upcoming operating system called VISTA ( formally code name Longhorn). Interesting reading and talks a little of Media Center 2005 (about one third down the page). This article coincides with the opinion of the author of the previous link above. Vista sounds wonderful on paper, LOL. Note the links included with the article, one relating to MCE and Xbox. Also refers to BSOD, Blue Screen Of Death.

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186655,00.html

oops wrong link, above link refers to xbox and mce

www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,186454,00.html

Message Edited by doureadsutterkane on 03-07-2006 12:49 PM

rjls · Answer

My own experience has been that MCE2005 DOES have problems with other software.

Kodak finally gave up and informed me that they do not support their EasyShare camera software on MCE2005 after I tried everything they (and others) suggested to get it to install. I've also had serious problems trying to use any type of "virtual pc" or "virtual machine" software.

Even Microsoft specifically states that their Shared Computer Toolkit is not supported on MCE2005, so the statement "anything that will work on XP Pro will work on MCE2005" is not entirely accurate...to what extent I don't know.

davejohn · Answer

Kodak said that?  XPS600: Don't tell my computer it doesn't work. :smileywink:   Dave Message Edited by davejohn on 04-04-2006 05:32 PM Message Edited by davejohn on 04-04-2006 05:33 PM

datapod · Answer

@rjls wrote:
My own experience has been that MCE2005 DOES have problems with other software.

Kodak finally gave up and informed me that they do not support their EasyShare camera software on MCE2005 after I tried everything they (and others) suggested to get it to install. I've also had serious problems trying to use any type of "virtual pc" or "virtual machine" software.

Even Microsoft specifically states that their Shared Computer Toolkit is not supported on MCE2005, so the statement "anything that will work on XP Pro will work on MCE2005" is not entirely accurate...to what extent I don't know.

"Not supported" and "doesn't work" are not the same thing. If you ask tech support of an OEM computer manufacturer about anything not provided in the original configuration they will tell you it's "not supported." Obviously you can expand on the computers base configuration with soft/hardware additions that "work."

As the above poster notes (with pictures even :) Kodak Easy Share does indeed work on MCE computers. ( I use Kodak and have an MCE computer as well )

That you have had problems with multiple types of programs that others are running successfully suggests that something is amiss on your system. There are so many variables involved in what individual user changes, additions or "tweaks" are made to a system that it's sometimes difficult to pin down.

Unfortunately it's been my recent experience that in the constant battle against malware people are installing (and justifiably so) security software that in it's attempts to keep a system safe often hobbles functionality in some areas. There can be many other factors of course but this scenario is becoming more and more prevalent.

Back to the topic, unless the software in question uses some functionality that revolves around domain membership/cached credentials, if it works on other versions of Windows XP it really should work on an MCE computer.

--

rjls · Answer

Point(s) taken, but the fact remains that I can run software on an XP Pro machine with a greater potential for conflict--a 1 year old OS install, lots of software installs/uninstalls, too many utilities, more security software than I really need, some odd behaviors that I haven't found the cause for yet--that wouldn't run properly (or, in the case of Easyshare, install at all) on an MCE2005 machine "out of the box". The fact that you haven't had the same problems--and I'm happy for you :)--doesn't prove "anything that will run on XP Pro will run on MCE2005" any more than my problems prove that everyone will have them.

I'm not trying to trash MCE2005. I'm generally happy with it--but I'd be happier if I could figure out how to use some flavor of "virtual drive" software on it. Some people are reporting problems with it. Whether the problems are due to MCE2005 or the other software or a combination of factors--or how common the problems are--I don't know. I'm just relating my experience.

And datapod...I agree about the difference between "not supported" and "doesn't work", but I misquoted Microsoft concerning their Shared Computer Toolkit.

From the FAQ's:

Q. Which Microsoft operating systems can I use with the toolkit?
A. Operating System Compatible?

Windows XP Home Edition
Yes

Windows XP Professional
Yes

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Yes

Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005
No

Windows XP 64-Bit Edition
No

Windows Server 2003
No

Earlier Windows operating system versions (Windows NT, 95, 98, 2000, ME)
No

"Not compatible" seems to me to be closer to "doesn't work" than "not supported". Does that indicate there might be at least SOME difference between XP Pro and MCE2005 when it comes to software compatibility?

rjls · Answer

Almost forgot... Yes, davejohn. 'We appreciate your interest in using KODAK EASYSHARE Software with the new WINDOWS Microsoft Media Center. Unfortunately, we do not support that platform. We do, however, support KODAK EASYSHARE Software on the following WINDOWS operating systems. For WINDOWS operating systems, your computer must meet the following minimum requirements: * Microsoft WINDOWS 98, 98 Second Edition, Me, 2000, or XP operating system * 233 MHz Pentium II processor * 64 MB RAM (128 MB RAM for 2000 or XP) * 200 MB available hard disk space * Available USB port * Color monitor with a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels, high color (16-bit) * CD-ROM drive' This was after several previous emails they had sent with suggestions for solving my install--or rather failure to install--problem. Did someone there decide they were spending too much support time on this problem? By that point I had decided that their software wasn't worth the aggravation.

Windows General

SOFTWARE NOT COMPATABLE WITH MCE 2005????

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