XP MCE upgrade to Pro

[coughtryb]

I have a user that wants to use her new laptop on our company domain. It currently has XP Media Center installed. I need to upgrade to XP Pro so that it can join our domain. I have upgraded XP Home to Pro before but have never actually seen Media Center. I know the upgrade to Pro can be done but is there anything I should be wary of? Will any of Media Center's features be lost?

Thanks again friends =)

 

[bsobel]

You can not 'upgrade' MCE to Pro. You can hack MCE to join a domain (you will lose extender functionality however), and without reinstalling pro you won't have cached credentials.

 

[coughtryb]

Interesting. Why is the upgrade not possible?

 

[RebateMonger]

Microsoft doesn't offer an 'upgrade' option from MCE to XP Pro. I tried doing an in-place upgrade from MCE once, and the XP Pro Upgrade Edition refused to accept the new Key.

I WAS able to use the XP Pro Upgrade Edition to do a completely fresh install over the old MCE, but doing so isn't, technically, an allowed upgrade according to Microsoft.

I don't know if a "Repair Installtion" of XP Pro on top of MCE would have worked. I'd already spent too much time on the upgrade and decided to start from scratch.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: coughtryb
Interesting. Why is the upgrade not possible?

The installer wont allow it as it's not a tested upgrade path.

 

[ND40oz]

MCE actually has some of the Server 2003 optimizations in it, that aren't in XP Pro. I believe that's why they don't let you "upgrade" it. I'd recommend just doing the reg hack.

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: ND40oz
MCE actually has some of the Server 2003 optimizations in it, that aren't in XP Pro. I believe that's why they don't let you "upgrade" it. I'd recommend just doing the reg hack.

There is no truth to this statement.

 

[ND40oz]

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: ND40oz
MCE actually has some of the Server 2003 optimizations in it, that aren't in XP Pro. I believe that's why they don't let you "upgrade" it. I'd recommend just doing the reg hack.

There is no truth to this statement.

Really? Cause Josh Venning makes that statement.

"Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of Windows that offers a variety of audio and video applications beyond what you get with the standard Windows XP OS. An interesting side note is that MCE 2005 includes many of the performance enhancements of Windows Server 2003, so it can actually outperform XP Pro systems by a small margin. The main interface for multimedia applications is easy to navigate and full of options."

 

[bsobel]

Originally posted by: ND40oz

Originally posted by: bsobel

Originally posted by: ND40oz
MCE actually has some of the Server 2003 optimizations in it, that aren't in XP Pro. I believe that's why they don't let you "upgrade" it. I'd recommend just doing the reg hack.

There is no truth to this statement.

Really? Cause Josh Venning makes that statement.

"Windows XP Media Center Edition is a version of Windows that offers a variety of audio and video applications beyond what you get with the standard Windows XP OS. An interesting side note is that MCE 2005 includes many of the performance enhancements of Windows Server 2003, so it can actually outperform XP Pro systems by a small margin. The main interface for multimedia applications is easy to navigate and full of options."

He is incorrect, MCE is bulit on XP. The changes he referes to are included in SP2 so it's not just media center that benefits.

 

[TerryMathews]

MCE is XP Pro until you install the second disk.

 

[ND40oz]

Originally posted by: TerryMathews
MCE is XP Pro until you install the second disk.

That's what I always thought until that article. I'll call microsoft tomorrow for an answer.

Either way, it's the install of that second disk that makes it unable to be "upgraded" to XP Pro.

 

[coughtryb]

Interesting information. Thanks a lot guys, I appreciate it! -Ben

 

[Mavtech]

To join MCE 2005 to a domain: (worked for me)

01 - Insert Windows XP CD. (I used an XP Pro CD. You can try another)
02 - Start > Run > X:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons
03 - (replace X: with the appropriate drive letter)
04 - Acknowledge prompt by clicking 'Yes'.
05 - Skip updating process by clicking 'Cancel' or by pressing 'Esc'
06 - After installation, acknowledge success msg. by clicking 'Ok'
07 - Start > Shutdown > Restart
08 - At boot menu, select 'Microsoft Windows Recovery Console' (I booted to the CD)
09 - Select proper installation to log onto (default: 1) and press 'Enter'
10 - (If prompted, enter Administrator password and press 'Enter')
11 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: 'cd system32\config'
12 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: 'copy SYSTEM C:\'
13 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: exit
14 - At boot menu, select 'Windows XP Media Center Edition'
15 - Start > Run > Type: 'regedit' and press enter
16 - Click on 'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE'.
17 - File > Load Hive...
18 - Browse and select C:\SYSTEM
19 - Specify key name 'BANANA' and click OK
20 - Expand: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > BANANA > WPA > MedCtrUpg
21 - On the right-hand side, double-click IsLegacyMCE value
22 - Change selected value to 1 and click Ok. (THAT IS NOT AN L!)
23 - Click on BANANA subkey (under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE).
24 - File > Unload Hive. Confirm.
25 - Start > Shutdown > Restart
26 - At boot menu, select 'Microsoft Windows Recovery Console'
27 - Select proper installation to log onto (default: 1) and press 'Enter'
28 - (If prompted, enter Administrator password and press 'Enter')
29 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: 'cd \'
30 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: 'copy SYSTEM C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM'
31 - (Yes, you want to overwrite - Go ahead and do it)
32 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: 'del SYSTEM'
33 - Type (without quotes) and press enter: 'exit'
34 - At boot menu, select 'Windows XP Media Center Edition'
35 - Join domain.