Back to Windows Vista Media Centre

Well, the combined issues of non-supported dual tuners and network congestion means that the only choice I have is to re-install Windows Vista. Having taken the decision and re-installed it, I must admit I had forgotten how rock solid Windows Vista + Linksys DMA2200 are as a combination. Even when streaming live TV over WiFi.

Network connectivity and 7MC

It turns out that the network connectivity issue that I mentioned in previous entry is a known issue. Apparently, Microsoft are working on it. Good summary thread here.

Shame, it looks like this issue and the dual tuner issue means I will be reinstalling Vista!

7MC and Dual Tuners

Having installed Windows 7 onto the box that I am using as a Media Center everything seems to work fine, except Media Center treats the dual tuner card as if it only has one tuner. It recognises the dual tuners during set-up, but when you try and use the two tuners in practice it says there is a conflict and shows the two tuners are already both in use. Argh!

A little bit of investigation shows that this is a common issue. Try here for a great summary thread that lists the affected cards (which includes the Hauppauge dual tuner that I am using) on The Green Button.

Windows 7 Media Center (7MC)

I have just upgraded the Intel Atom based machine that I have being using to run Vista Media Center. I connect it to my TV using the Linksys DMA2200 Media Extender. The combination works a treat although occasional the Media Extender does need to be rebooted. This set up is described elsewhere on this blog, but I think it is fair to say that running Windows Vista on such a small footprint machine is pushing the limits (1.6GHz HT processor with 1GB of memory).

Well, I thought I would push the limits a bit further and install the Beta build for Windows 7 onto the machine. I am using the Beta build (build 7000) that was released last week and you can download off MSDN.

I did an upgrade from Vista SP1 using the ISO download on a DVD. The process is fairly seamless and can be done completely unattended, except the bit at the end where you need to insert the license key. Amazingly, it came up first time without any problems. Not bad for a Beta! I have included the performance data above. You can compare it to the results from Windows Vista here running on the same box.

OK, so onto Media Center. First time you start it up, it asks if you want to import that previous Media Center. This is what I did and it worked well - it sorted out the tuners (the drivers all worked), it re-tuned the tuners and even imported the existing scheduled recordings. The Media Center UI has been revamped in Windows 7 and it looks a little more polished with some additional features. As always, it is going to take a little time to get used to. More of this once I have had more time to play with it.

I powered up the Media Extender (expecting to have to set it back up again) and it worked first time without any fiddling or re-setting up. I hadn't really thought much about it, but I was pleasantly surprised when the new Windows 7 Media Center UI appeared on the extender. Cool.
I do seem to be suffering from some more network connectivity issues than I have had in the past. But I can't see how this is due to the new version of Media Center. But let's see how it performs over the next week or so.