putting media centre onto pc

fizzgog

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hi guys, if i was to purchase windows media centre and put it onto my pc, would i have to format the pc and start from scratch or can i switch over without losing whats on my hard-drive?

also, do you guys think that it is worth it?
thanx
pete
 
fizzgog said:
hi guys, if i was to purchase windows media centre and put it onto my pc, would i have to format the pc and start from scratch or can i switch over without losing whats on my hard-drive?

also, do you guys think that it is worth it?
thanx
pete
You will firstly need to make sure that your hardware is compatible with Media Centre. Their is a list of compatible devices etc. on MS's website somewhere.
 
fizzgog said:
hi guys, if i was to purchase windows media centre and put it onto my pc, would i have to format the pc and start from scratch or can i switch over without losing whats on my hard-drive?

also, do you guys think that it is worth it?
thanx
pete

I'm not sure about installing over XP, but apart from formatting the hard drive and doing a fresh installation, you could partition it if there is enough space and install Media Center on the new partition. In doing this you are isolating Media Center from you current installation, if it is needed for work etc. Also media files, pictures etc should still be accessible to Media Center from the new partition.

If the system is purely for Media Center, the ideal solution would be to backup all your files to CD/DVD/external hard drive/partition on existing drive. You can now run the Media Center installation which should format your drive and install.
Once Media Center is up and running you can recover your files form CD/DVD and in the case of another partition, files can be copied over and partition removed..or kept.

With regards to whether Media Center is worth it, IMO, it depends on if you are planning or have thought about upgrading and paying a hefty price for a top version of Windows Vista when it's released next year (hopefully before summer!), this will come with Media Center.

Also, how much do you intend to use it? If you have a full, Media Center compatible PC and want to go the whole hog to use it to watch and record TV and general media pc usage, it makes it more of a reasonable purchase. I'm assuming you are planning to use it in conjunction with your Xbox. If the PC isn't near the TV, using the Xbox as a media extender to access you media through a TV is a good reason for Media Center as long as you are planning on watching compatible video. If you are not fussed about video being streamed from the PC to the Xbox and out of the TV, then I'm guessing only pictures and music might be of interest in which case you can use Windows Media Connect, that is free.

If the price you are paying for Media Center is 'chump change' to you then it go for it and give it a go. If Media Center will leave a significant dent in your wallet, give Windows Media Connect a try, if you haven't already done so and see how you fare without video streaming. :thumbsup:
 
thanx for the responses guys, i will probably just give media connect a try for now before deciding about vista or media centre 2005.
cheers
pete
 
You create a virtual PC using something like VMware - I use this and if you give the virtual machine a GB memory it works fine.
 

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