XP MCE 2005 Rebuild and Extender software?

[grcsomd]

Hi Folks,

I have been using a Dell XPS and Win XP/MCE 2005 since about 2007. I have 2 Xbox 360s and 4 Linksys extender devices which have all historically worked fine. (granted no HD to the Linksys, but OTA HD works on the 360s..) I am using Hauppauge and VBox (HD) tuners. With a Terabyte USB HD, the platform serves well as a big DVR. Anyway, a few months ago things started melting down on me... First one, then multiple Linksys extenders would not connect. Went through the whole regenerate the secret keys bit, removed accounts from XP MCE, nothing worked. I decided to attempt another ground up rebuild of the OS, all drivers, etc.. I left it alone for a while, but then started the complete rebuild today... and I am almost done except for one thing... I cannot find the Media Extender/Manager software anywhere anymore. Last time I went through this drill was in late 2010.. I think there was a download on http://www.xbox.com/pcsetup but it points to Microsoft now which only supports Vista+ now in extenders..

So I did check out both Microsoft and Xbox sites.. Googled around quite a bit.. and the support for the XP MCE 2005 extenders has kind of disappeared to say the least.. If anybody has those files stashed away somewhere so I could reinstall the Media Center Extender Manager utilities that are required.. it would help me out big time.. I will try other avenues of course... and my search is just beginning.. but I figured I would start here. I should have saved off those installation packages but I thought possibly there would be updates out there..

Yeah.. these devices don't owe me anything anymore... I suppose.. If this last rebuild doesn't work out.. I may just forklift the XP and go with Win7 or take a look at some other solutions, SlingBox, or Plex, etc.. or look into decentralization with devices like Roku and other direct streaming platforms. Seems like Microsoft really left some of us in the cold with these extenders that do not work in Vista and beyond, and now it seems like XP MCE support has also been abandoned...(shrug)

Thanks in Advance,

grcsomd

[erkotz]

I've never actually setup an extender on XP MCE, however, I doubt the download would have been on xbox.com, as (original) xboxes weren't natively extenders - it was much more likely to be on microsoft.com

[grcsomd]

Hello,

I finally managed to find the Media Extender software on the Microsoft site. It was very difficult to find... but Google finally did the trick.. There were actually 2-3 updates I had to apply since I had already installed XP SP3 and MCE Rollup 2.

Everything is working again on the Media Center Server !!!

Thanks Again!

grcsomd

[shadowdoc]

Greetings --

Just purchased an XBOX-360 and went through the entire setup process for an extender with Win MCE '05 (i.e., Windows XP)
today (12-Nov-13). After hrs of effort, managed to finally get it going... as a service, I'm going to post all the info
I found (with links & filenames) in the hopes that it well help someone else.

--> note that the 'turnkey' links you need have been removed from www_xbox_com/pcsetup ; and, I spent nearly an hour in online chat
with "Xbox Live" tech support-- at the end of all that, the technician suggested I try Windows tech support... (!)

- - - - - - - - - -

OK, starting point: Windows MCE '05 fully updated (= Win XP SP3 & Media Player 11; latest .Net framework)

1. If you haven't specifically installed it, you need "Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005"; I believe this is
the update that installs the backside code for streaming & such in MCE. A working link, as of this evening:
http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/de ... x?id=12939 (**requires windows validation)
[if the link won't work, the file you need is "WindowsXPMediaCenter2005-KB900325-usa.exe"]

2. Next, you may get an error when you try to install the file in (#1). Some of the older material on the 'net suggests you have
to remove SP3 (? is this even possible?), or do something with .Net 1.1, to get the file to install. What worked for me--
just remove Window Media Player 11 (rolls back to v10). The file immediately installed, and you can next just go to
Windows update and add back Media Player 11, if you want.

3. The next major file you need is the one that actually sets up the Windows Media center PC (i.e., the server), with the XBOX-360:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=73537 . if the link breaks, filename = "XboxMCE05Lite-enu.exe"

4. Installing this file may error, as well; one solution is posted here: http://blog.jasontsang.ca/2008/05/windo ... -2005.html
...and there is also, apparently, a Microsoft "hotfix" available but I do not have that link handy. (sorry!)

5. The above steps fixed the problems I had; the only other thing to mention is to be sure that your XBOX-360 is on the
correct setup screen when you finally go to connect (& that it hasn't powered down after you've been setting up your PC).

SD

--> the above may end up being a moot point before long, as Microsoft is ending all Win XP support in APR-2014, and the
new "XBOX 1" apparently won't have media center extender capabilities at all...

*************************'
keywords: Microsoft Windows Media Center Edition 2005 MCE Win XP XBOX 360 Extender setup