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Windows 7 = win for HTPC

5332 Views 10 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  EvilGenius007, 
BlackandBlue
So, I got a new motherboard in my HTPC and seem to be having issues with the USB ports/ MCE IR receiver. It seems that when I wake the computer from sleep, Media Center will freeze for ~ 7-10 seconds when changing channels on my STB. It will put in the first number (so, for 296, it will get the 2 entered) then freeze. I have formatted it a few times, each time trying a mix of the MS drivers and the Asus drivers. I had the same result each time (BTW, board is an Asus M3N78 Pro).

So, I finally broke down and tried the beta Windows 7 I got from MS. Wow. I know its a beta, so there will be bugs, but its awesome for my HTPC.

Just some highlights from an HTPC perspective (aside from the IR receiver now working):

-The new guide (can now display both Cable and Satellite in the guide, with proper updates) No longer trying to find Satellite channels that have similar lineups as your ATSC channels. Also has thumbs for popular programming.

-Supports QAM. Never had a real issue with Vista and my HDHomeRun, but its nice to know that they support it now.

-Can read DVD isos and has its own page like the 'Music' one with thumbs.

-Can find/read many additional audio codecs. It found my I-tunes ripped music and added it to the Library.

-Separate watched folders per Section (aka, your Music folders wont show up in the Pictures Section if you dont want them to).

-Wakes up correctly every time. Yeah, sleep works! And this is without MCE Standby Tool.

I've been using it for a few days and have not run across any bugs that would stop me from using it. The guide can be a little finicky and sometimes deleting/playing recorded freezes the app, but these are few and far between. I cant wait for the release and have a working version of Windows like Vista should have been. I still need to check out which video codecs it supports natively.
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K
Sleep did not work for me on Windows 7 when I was trying it for about a month. It was kind of a deal breaker for me. Since I never shut down or restart my PC's unless I have to or performance is sloppy, Sleep mode gives me the best results. Leaving my PC on all day makes me sad.

Also, did they make any improvements to MCE on Windows? I've never been a fan of it from Vista down.
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{core2duo}werd
i put the win 7 beta on my htpc and i will never go back to vista or XP media center ever again. even when i play blu ray movies in power dvd, it is smoother. in XP and vista it would kind of skip every once in a while, but not in win 7.
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BlackandBlue
Quote:


Originally Posted by kneeki
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Sleep did not work for me on Windows 7 when I was trying it for about a month. It was kind of a deal breaker for me. Since I never shut down or restart my PC's unless I have to or performance is sloppy, Sleep mode gives me the best results. Leaving my PC on all day makes me sad.

Also, did they make any improvements to MCE on Windows? I've never been a fan of it from Vista down.

I had a sleep issue too when I first put Win7 on. Theres 2 things to usually check:

- That your network card is set to 'Allow this device to wake the computer' and 'only allow management stations to wake the computer'. This will keep all network traffic from waking the computer.

- Under Power settings, check the 'USB settings' -> 'USB selective suspend settings' and make sure it is disabled.

If those dont work, you can always poke around the Event viewer to see if it tells you what is waking it.
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Lige
2
The only thing I couldn't get to work on Windows 7, File Sharing.
The only thing I needed.
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K
Quote:


Originally Posted by BlackandBlue
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I had a sleep issue too when I first put Win7 on. Theres 2 things to usually check:

- That your network card is set to 'Allow this device to wake the computer' and 'only allow management stations to wake the computer'. This will keep all network traffic from waking the computer.

- Under Power settings, check the 'USB settings' -> 'USB selective suspend settings' and make sure it is disabled.

If those dont work, you can always poke around the Event viewer to see if it tells you what is waking it.

I figured that was the issue.

I put my PC to sleep, and boot up my xbox 360... my PC wakes up. It made me laugh a few times =p
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recoba23
Quote:


Originally Posted by {core2duo}werd
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i put the win 7 beta on my htpc and i will never go back to vista or XP media center ever again. even when i play blu ray movies in power dvd, it is smoother. in XP and vista it would kind of skip every once in a while, but not in win 7.

Interesting... what are the features of your htpc?? Maybe I will try it.
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{core2duo}werd
Quote:


Originally Posted by recoba23
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Interesting... what are the features of your htpc?? Maybe I will try it.

i'm not sure i know what you mean features. if you mean it's specs it's in my system info page under HTPC.
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BlackandBlue
Well, they killed it with beta 7057. There are a few channels missing guide data (QAM only), guide looks like the old one (more like TV Pack), removed DVD playback over network (I have my DVDs ripped to a WHS upstairs), annoying ini file pops up every time I reboot, h.264 videos no longer want to play....

Then there are small things like the Music wall moves way too slow, video/music folders are showing up in the pictures tab, and the screen doesnt stay black until the channel completes changing.

I think I will try a reinstall, but why do they do this? Give us great features early on, the break them or take them away? I hate M$. This is going to be another Vista if they keep on this track.

Probably going to resort back to build 7000 if a new one doesn't come out in the next few days.
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{core2duo}werd
yeah, i'm staying with build 7000 also. sometimes to fix some problems they have to break some less critical ones. but they better get them fixed before final release.
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E
Were there any major changes between 7000 and 7048 in terms of HTPC functionality?
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