• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

My Recent Experience with Windows MCE 2005 on a Domain

RebateMonger

RebateMonger

Elite Member
A client insisted that I try to integrate his new HP Media Center PC into his Windows Small Business Server 2003 domain.

Here's what happened:
The HP MCE computer didn't come with ANY CDs. I tried to create a set of System Restore disks for MCE 2005, in case the client ever wanted it back. But the HP program that creates them said it'd take about twenty CDs! I didn't have the time to write twenty CDs. There IS a Recovery Partition on the hard drive. I didn't touch that.

I preformed the "Banana" Registry modification of MCE. I then ran the standard SBS "ConnectComputer" wizard to join the MCE to the SBS Domain. The Domain join went flawlessly.

All seemed well. I could access the computer remotely, I could access the Server using cached Domain Credentials, and Group Policy seemed to be applied. However, I noticed in the Server's Event Log that every hour, this computer tried to become the "Master Browser". The SBS Server always won the election, but this shouldn't be happening at all.

Also, after a week or so, the client reported that the MCE computer would drop off the network occasionally.

I decided to install Windows XP Professional on top of the MCE 2005 installation. The only XP Professional available to me was an Upgrade Edition. XP Professional isn't an allowed upgrade from MCE 2005, but we DO have an (unused) Windows 98 license for the upgrade.

However, when I tried running the Upgrade from within Windows MCE, the XP Pro install routine kept denying the Product Key from the XP Pro box. It reported the key was incorrect.

I gave up and rebooted with the XP Pro Upgrade CD. I told it to delete the MCE partition and to reformat and install XP Professional. The install went well. The XP Pro Upgrade did NOT ask for any other proof of prior license. Apparently, it saw the MCE files on the hard drive and said, "Good enough", even though that's not an allowable upgrade under Microsoft's policies.

In summary, it seemed like the "Banana" registry fix works fairly well, but there seem to be some minor problems that weren't acceptable on our SBS network. And you can't do an upgrade installaton of XP Professional over an MCE 2005 installation.

I was tempted to try a "Repair Installation" of XP Pro on top of MCE 2005, but I didn't have time and this project has already taken way too much time.
 
Originally posted by: RebateMonger
A client insisted that I try to integrate his new HP Media Center PC into his Windows Small Business Server 2003 domain.

Here's what happened:
The HP MCE computer didn't come with ANY CDs. I tried to create a set of System Restore disks for MCE 2005, in case the client ever wanted it back. But the HP program that creates them said it'd take about twenty CDs! I didn't have the time to write twenty CDs. There IS a Recovery Partition on the hard drive. I didn't touch that.

I preformed the "Banana" Registry modification of MCE. I then ran the standard SBS "ConnectComputer" wizard to join the MCE to the SBS Domain. The Domain join went flawlessly.

All seemed well. I could access the computer remotely, I could access the Server using cached Domain Credentials, and Group Policy seemed to be applied. However, I noticed in the Server's Event Log that every hour, this computer tried to become the "Master Browser". The SBS Server always won the election, but this shouldn't be happening at all.

Also, after a week or so, the client reported that the MCE computer would drop off the network occasionally.

I decided to install Windows XP Professional on top of the MCE 2005 installation. The only XP Professional available to me was an Upgrade Edition. XP Professional isn't an allowed upgrade from MCE 2005, but we DO have an (unused) Windows 98 license for the upgrade.

However, when I tried running the Upgrade from within Windows MCE, the XP Pro install routine kept denying the Product Key from the XP Pro box. It reported the key was incorrect.

I gave up and rebooted with the XP Pro Upgrade CD. I told it to delete the MCE partition and to reformat and install XP Professional. The install went well. The XP Pro Upgrade did NOT ask for any other proof of prior license. Apparently, it saw the MCE files on the hard drive and said, "Good enough", even though that's not an allowable upgrade under Microsoft's policies.

In summary, it seemed like the "Banana" registry fix works fairly well, but there seem to be some minor problems that weren't acceptable on our SBS network. And you can't do an upgrade installaton of XP Professional over an MCE 2005 installation.

I was tempted to try a "Repair Installation" of XP Pro on top of MCE 2005, but I didn't have time and this project has already taken way too much time.
Click to expand...

So he lost MCE functionality. 🙁

It's a shame MS crippled MCE like that. 🙁
 
All seemed well. I could access the computer remotely, I could access the Server using cached Domain Credentials, and Group Policy seemed to be applied. However, I noticed in the Server's Event Log that every hour, this computer tried to become the "Master Browser". The SBS Server always won the election, but this shouldn't be happening at all.
Click to expand...
Just thought I would check and report back; I've got 2 domain member MCE 2005 boxes and I havent seen any attempts from them to take over the master browser role. One of them I did the "banana" reg hack, and the other I joined to the domain during install (no need for the hack during setup). Not sure if this is a common issue or not.

You might be able to turn your client off to making the MCE boxes a domain member by explaining:
1. It's an unsupported configuration (by Microsoft)
2. He will loose the ability to use a Media Center Extender (which make use of the fast user switching functionality that wont function on domain members)

Also you should be able to stop MCE (or any workstation) from trying to become the master browser by visiting this registry key:
\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Browser\Parameters
And changing the MaintainServerList value to "no"

Regards,
Erik
 
Spydie,

Yeah, I imagine I could have stopped the Browser elections. But I was concerned what other issues I was going to see. Those elections SHOULDN'T have been happening I've NEVER seen them on an SBS Domain. I considered it a fun experiment, but the fun was over when the client started having network connectivity problems.

Thanks,
RebateMonger.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top