[daveb34]

Would it be possible to copy over vista media center to ws2008??

I copied the ehome folder over, but am guessing you need to do more than just this,
maybe some services need starting and some reg enteries need adding.

Anybody tried?

[bledd]

i don't see the point in this

Vista SP1 is essentially the same as Server 2008

When people gave 2003 media centre i could see why -2003 has a newer kernal than xp sp2

[guj]

has anyone done this because im waiting for a way to get media center onto 2008 as well. ive just purchased the enterprise edition and was hoping that media center would be included.

if anyone does have a way of doing this, please reply.

Regards, Guj

[nmX.Memnoch]

guj, on Feb 21 2008, 07:14 AM, said:

ive just purchased the enterprise edition and was hoping that media center would be included.

I fail to understand why desktop features would be included in a server operating system. That's just additional cost overhead that 99.99999% of us don't want/need in our server OSes.

Personally, I never saw the reason for people to run Server 2003 as a desktop OS. I could understand some perceived benefit since it has a newer kernel than XP SP2. But Server 2008 and Vista SP1 have the same kernel. Yes, some things are tuned a bit differently, but they're more geared towards making server-based applications work faster. If you want the desktop features, buy the desktop OS.

Just my 2 cents.

[dexter.inside]

daveb34, on Feb 20 2008, 05:41 PM, said:

Would it be possible to copy over vista media center to ws2008??

I copied the ehome folder over, but am guessing you need to do more than just this,
maybe some services need starting and some reg enteries need adding.

Anybody tried?

I did, have a look at this:

 MCE.zip (139.3K)
Number of downloads: 853

You have a * - Add.reg to add registry settings to run MCE, a * - Remove.reg to undo that you added (if you mess it up) and a txt file containing all file dependencies you need.

[solema]

Dexter, I tried running the registry files in your ZIP, and I get an error when it tries to import them. Are you sure they are formatted correctly? When I open the "Add" registry file, some of the paths have truncated names in them with "..." replacing what should be there.

[daveb34]

solema, on Feb 24 2008, 11:18 PM, said:

Dexter, I tried running the registry files in your ZIP, and I get an error when it tries to import them. Are you sure they are formatted correctly? When I open the "Add" registry file, some of the paths have truncated names in them with "..." replacing what should be there.

Same here!!

After playing a bit more with this i decided to install MediaPortal to see what was going on, before doing what Dexter suggested.

MediaPortal installed fine so i went to configuration to set up my TV-Card (Nova-t 500 DT) But it couldent create a graph and
bda tuning space etc, for my device.

So, once this has been sorted we could then at least move on to what Dexter suggested.
I still think the tv-card needs more work before moving on.

p.s Thanks Dexter for your time and effort

[dexter.inside]

hm... some dots are in the registry, some are not. Well, at least I'm making some progress with my tool

[pinh3ad]

dexter.inside, on Feb 23 2008, 07:40 PM, said:

daveb34, on Feb 20 2008, 05:41 PM, said:

Would it be possible to copy over vista media center to ws2008??

I copied the ehome folder over, but am guessing you need to do more than just this,
maybe some services need starting and some reg enteries need adding.

Anybody tried?

I did, have a look at this:

 MCE.zip (139.3K)
Number of downloads: 853

You have a * - Add.reg to add registry settings to run MCE, a * - Remove.reg to undo that you added (if you mess it up) and a txt file containing all file dependencies you need.

how did you examine it?

a special prg?
something to read out all dependencies of an executable?

need to know for some other things to import/export!

tired of searching everything by myself!

[dexter.inside]

pinh3ad, on Feb 28 2008, 05:20 PM, said:

how did you examine it?

a special prg?
something to read out all dependencies of an executable?

need to know for some other things to import/export!

tired of searching everything by myself!

The data is extracted with my own application. I'm developing it for a very similar purpose. It has a diffing engine that compares 2 images of the OS and extrapolates specific dependencies for a given component.

I'm still working on this particular concept for the moment, these files are something like a "proof-of-concept". It will be opensource later on.

[jojobrituk]

Vista SP1 and Server 2008 are the same, its like comparing XP Home to XP Pro, you can install that same Service Pack to both, but they just have different features. In fact, Vista SP2, will also update WS2008, just like SP2 for WS2003 can update XP x64..

[UtCollector]

Quote

Hi i get this error when i try to import the reg file:

error cannot import c:\filelocation.... .reg. Error accessing the registry (i can import other reg files normally)

I have been able to make a .inf file of you're reg file but i did nog get my mce working yet.

Sorry never mind i tryed this on xp. Wont work there ofcourse.

But could you supply me with a reg file of xp. I'm trying to make a mce addon for xp.

This post has been edited by UtCollector: 06 March 2008 - 07:05 AM

[gordon8452]

I went ahead and collected all of the dependencies from a vista ultimate install, through the use of a batch file, however it is a pain to move some files to the server 2008 installation specifically the winsxs folder and any sybfolders, I had to take ownership of the folder as administrator (normally the only user with full control is "TrustedInstaller". All of the other files copy without issue. Hopefully someone can work out the files and the registry entries to get a fully functional MCE in server 08. If anyone wants the batch files to grab the files easily i can attach them here.

Edit: I have managed to import the registry entries as well, the issue now seems to be the error I am recieving upon launch:
"Windows cannot open this program because it has been prevented by a software restriction policy. For more information contact your system administrator."

Normally this is either a group policy setting, or setting the program access and computer defaults settings in the control panel. However i have checked these settings and they are not what is preventing the program from lauching.

This post has been edited by gordon8452: 06 March 2008 - 10:39 PM

[dexter.inside]

gordon8452, on Mar 7 2008, 02:52 AM, said:

Normally this is either a group policy setting, or setting the program access and computer defaults settings in the control panel. However i have checked these settings and they are not what is preventing the program from lauching.

I was afraid of that too...
Vista/Server 2008 have a internal "licensing" global policy per-component, saved somewhere in the registry that defines what internal components (a.k.a for stuff registered in WinSxS) are allowed to run. The WAIK makes changes there when modifying setup options.

I will try to monitor changes made by WAIK to see what keys are involved. In this case it's probably a simple DWORD called Installed, that should enable MCE in the policy.

[gordon8452]

[font="Arial"][code]Well there are two registry entries relating to one group policy setting that specifically says whether or not media center is allowed to run or not, but not whether it is installed or not. The third entry just specifies whether it is allowed to run through program access and defaults, which is not an available option in server 2008 under the add/remove control panel applet (there might be a way to enable those options), so I found the registry entry for that instead. the winsxs files and folders installed ok after i took ownership of them, althought the registry entry regarding "LocalService" and "LocalServiceNoNetwork" needs to have entries modified in the registry by hand, otherwise you end up overwriting other entries listed in that key. I tried to automate the ownership of files in my batch file using takeown and icacls, but it would not work without me doing so manually through the explorer menus. The policy reg entries I found so far are:

For per-user settings available in the User Configuration tab:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter]
MediaCenter

For per-machine settings available in the Computer Configuration tab:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter]
MediaCenter

Both should have a setting of 0 (a setting of 1 disables media center)

The other registry entry I found that causes the error is this one:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Media\Windows Media Center\InstallInfo]
IconsVisible

If the IconsVisible value is set to 0, then Windows Media Center will not run.

If there are other entries, I have not found the, yet.

There were a few entries that I had to remove from your reg file so that it would import successfully, I isolated the entries down to the ones that would cause it to fail, I can post them here if necessary.

Has anyone looked into the setup inf's from a vista install? Perhaps they can provide some insight as well.

[dexter.inside]

I see you found them

I was wondering if changing them in the WIM image (before installing) might result in proper policy settings / functionality

[gordon8452]

The problem I seem to be having is getting the services started, whether related to the policy issues or not. Whenever i click on them, i get an error message saying something to the effect of the device associated with the service not being present. Near as I can tell this has to do with the LEGACY entries for those services unable to be imported to the registry (those were the errors in the reg file that prevented import), though I will try to remove the enum key in the regular service entry and see if the registry will repopulate those instances automatically. The error pops up if you try to view the properties of the service, and upon trying to start the service it just throws back an error saying it did not repspond in a timely fashion. I also had to import the pnp-x ip bus enumerator service due to it being a dependancy of the windows media center extender service. Not sure if that service is a necessity yet, but I'm trying to be all inclusive here.

[Talderon]

nmX.Memnoch, on Feb 22 2008, 04:18 PM, said:

guj, on Feb 21 2008, 07:14 AM, said:

ive just purchased the enterprise edition and was hoping that media center would be included.

I fail to understand why desktop features would be included in a server operating system. That's just additional cost overhead that 99.99999% of us don't want/need in our server OSes.

Personally, I never saw the reason for people to run Server 2003 as a desktop OS. I could understand some perceived benefit since it has a newer kernel than XP SP2. But Server 2008 and Vista SP1 have the same kernel. Yes, some things are tuned a bit differently, but they're more geared towards making server-based applications work faster. If you want the desktop features, buy the desktop OS.

Just my 2 cents.

I agree... I was checking out a few other forums and so forth and someone was complaining and stating how 2008 "sucks" because their favorite game would not install/run on it.

If you need Desktop OS features, why run a Server OS? Just because it is the latest and greatest?

[effy_t]

Hi guys,

I use AMD64 proccesor, instead of x86.
I've copied all files listed in your list (x86 files changes into amd64 files) from Vista Ultimate installation to Windows Server 2008 Enterprise.
I've also imported all the registry keys you've provided (also, modified to suit my proccesor) - had to grant administrators access to many keys.
When I try to launch Media Center, I get the software restriction policy error (same as you wrote here).
I trieid adding the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\WindowsMediaCenter - MediaCenter (DWORD 32 BIT) = 0 value, but the error box keeps appearing and won't bother launcing my media center .
Do you have any other suggestion how to KILL this message box ?

Thanks ahead,
Effy.

[tim427]

Does anybody finished this project; watchting tv at server 2008 via Vista Media Center?

Dexter: Do you have a newer/better version of this MCE.zip? I get an error when I want to add to the registery....

I would be gratefull if some one can tell me how to do this. I just want to use the Vista Media Center on Server 2008 to stream the Live TV to my XBOX 360 elite.....