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Should i do a Windows Standard 7 Embedded Media Center guide?

post #1 of 27
5/24/10 at 7:10am
Thread Starter 
Some may know, some may not, but Microsoft Windows Embedded Standard 7 a month ago.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsembe...d/default.mspx
Like the name says, it`s a embedded/componetized Win 7 OS targeted at applications such as medical devices, industrial controls, thin clients, and alot more, including advanced set-top boxes and network media players. MS has already demonstrated W7 ES runing just Media center + it`s plugins :

http://www.engadget.com/2010/04/27/w...edded-devices/

Following previous guide for 7MC, i`m thinking of doing a guide on getting a barebone W7 ES on your HTPC, with all the software included in my HTPC Software GUIDE for Windows 7 Media Center, and without any additional services, even without the Win7 explorer/shell. Just a media box OS running on your HTPC.

Now, there are 3 options:

1) Making a step-by-step guide on how to do it yourself and aditional options you might want to add (Win Explorer for ex)
2) Uploading a finished ISO (on a site like megaupload or smth), with the software included in my guide and drivers for the latest hardware (Ati 5xxx series, intel Core ix HD graphics). just install and play, basically.
3) Both

I`m interested in your opinions.
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post #2 of 27
5/24/10 at 7:47am
I thought Windows 7 Embedded wasn't going to be released to the public. I thought it was only for OEM's. Do you know anything different?

-Jonathan
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post #3 of 27
5/24/10 at 7:58am
Thread Starter 
Ups, i forgot the download link : http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...cea92#filelist

It seems that they released it as an evaluation for 5 months. I`m going to experiment and see if you can activate it permanently via a normal W7 (Home/Pro) key.
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post #4 of 27
5/24/10 at 2:00pm
Nice i have been wanting to learn how to use embedded for a while and downloaded a copy of XPE while back to try to learn but never had the time... i was going to use it for a jukebox project... I am all for a walkthrough! Thanks for offering!
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post #5 of 27
5/24/10 at 2:36pm
I've had my eye on this.

step-by-step guide would be most interesting.

As long as "OEM only" means the same as WHS "OEM only" and not Windows Vista TV Pack "OEM only" (without leaks) or "Extender Technology" then all should be good. Still seeking clarification on this issue.

Thanks for the offer GreenEyez!

BR

Wo0zy
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post #6 of 27
5/24/10 at 2:40pm
It would sure be nice if we can use regular Windows 7 keys for Embedded.
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post #7 of 27
5/29/10 at 3:59pm
This would be a very welcome guide! Thank you for offering to do this.
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post #8 of 27
8/25/10 at 7:55pm
absolutely! will be highly valuable!
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post #9 of 27
9/12/10 at 6:52am
Are you still planing on doing this?!
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post #10 of 27
9/13/10 at 11:53am
Just a little bump, anymore thoughts on this, would love to see this done.

Jay
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post #11 of 27
9/14/10 at 9:53am
I'm just curious as to what's the point of this - how many people are running hardware that needs a stripped down version of Win 7 to run? It's not like the additional services from W7HP are slowing most computers to a crawl or something. This just smacks of the people who used to follow those Win XP "tweak" guides to turn off services in an attempt to eek another 1% speed (and didn't actually work).
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post #12 of 27
9/14/10 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
Well, i ditched the ideea some time ago. Normal (bought) Windows licenses don`t work with embedded version, and there are no "pirated" licenses for such a thing, so it wouldn`t work anyway.

@jvarisco - Neah, the point was to get an ISO image that you could just install and have everything pre-installed and up and running, not performance.
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post #13 of 27
11/9/10 at 1:59pm
Thread digging but I just remembered this thread existed after a comment about Windows XP Embedded on another forum.

I'm curious, does Windows Embedded Standard support acting as a Windows Media Center extender. Given Microsoft doesn't support softsled on vanilla Windows 7 versions, this is one of the things I'm wondering about with Windows Embedded. Unfortunately, I don't really have the time to play with Windows Embedded at the moment so I haven't downloaded the 6-month trial just yet.
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post #14 of 27
11/9/10 at 2:11pm
Here's the MS website that talks about what is and is not included.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/wind.../dd819150.aspx
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post #15 of 27
11/9/10 at 2:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kegobeer View Post

Here's the MS website that talks about what is and is not included.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/wind.../dd819150.aspx

I've already read that and it doesn't really answer my question. The only way to confirm whether Windows Embedded can act as an extender is to actually try the OS which GreenEyez has done.
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post #16 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:08am
Any news on this one?! Since students can get a legal copy of this software through Microsoft's DreamSpark program, it might be of some interest to some of us...
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post #17 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:18am
I see that it and the keys are available on MSDN. I don't have any spare hardware to play around on at the moment, but I *might* be interested if I could easily dump something on an ITX system for the bedroom, if for no other reason than the hobby curiosity thing.
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post #18 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:41am
My thoughts is that it STILL won't support blu-ray (m2ts), mkv or HD Audio streaming as it is quite apparent that MS doesn't want to fork over the money for usage rights. So what's the point?
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post #19 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:43am
I've been casually watching this for some time now too. Being able to install it on a small, passively cooled PC with something like Mediabrowser really would be all I'd need it for.
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post #20 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

My thoughts is that it STILL won't support blu-ray (m2ts), mkv or HD Audio streaming as it is quite apparent that MS doesn't want to fork over the money for usage rights. So what's the point?

My understanding is that it would be up to the OEM to build in support for stuff such as mkv, hd audio bitstreaming, etc...
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post #21 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

My understanding is that it would be up to the OEM to build in support for stuff such as mkv, hd audio bitstreaming, etc...

Agreed but the OEM might as well just develop their own OS or use linux as they will have to do additional develpment to make it functional. My streamer cost $45 and plays mkv, m2ts and HD Audio with a f/w upgrade flash but my Win7 HTPC is a pain in the @$$ to get set up to do it... It does it but creates other issues so the all-in-one solution is not there, really.
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post #22 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:53am
BTW the poll answer #4 busts me up. Answer #3 is pretty hilarious too!
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post #23 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

Agreed but the OEM might as well just develop their own OS or use linux as they will have to do additional develpment to make it functional. My streamer cost $45 and plays mkv, m2ts and HD Audio with a f/w upgrade flash but my Win7 HTPC is a pain in the @$$ to get set up to do it... It does it but creates other issues so the all-in-one solution is not there, really.

Well, I never said anyone would be crazy enough to develop off of it

Don't forget though, an OEM developing with embedded now has the possibility of creating a fully functional streamer + PVR (with Cable Card support), something you are not getting with any other streamers on the market these days (with SageTV HD300 being somewhat the exception).
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post #24 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

BTW the poll answer #4 busts me up. Answer #3 is pretty hilarious too!

Those must have just been added recently as they definitely weren't answers originally. Not sure what happened to Greeneyez as he seems to have dropped off of AVS altogether.
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post #25 of 27
4/11/11 at 11:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sammy2 View Post

BTW the poll answer #4 busts me up. Answer #3 is pretty hilarious too!

Quote:
Originally Posted by dbone1026 View Post

Those must have just been added recently as they definitely weren't answers originally. Not sure what happened to Greeneyez as he seems to have dropped off of AVS altogether.

And I meant #5 and #4 too... my computer raped me!
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post #26 of 27
4/12/11 at 6:28am
I'm looking into the whole embedded thing purely for personal reasons, as I'm trying to build a small htpc system for the livingroom. Would it be possible to just add the extra functionality for BluRay and mkv through some 3rd party application during the setup process?

Anyhow, I've just set up an virtual machine to take a look at the available package options. Maybe we could select all the components which are essentials or at least optional from the following list:

Code:
FEATURE PACKAGES

.NET Framework
        .NET Framework 2.0
        .NET Framework 2.0 Client Profile
        .NET Framework 3.0
        .NET Framework 3.0 Client Profile
        .NET Framework 3.5
        .NET Framework 3.5 Client Profile

Application Support
        COM OLE Application Support
        COM+ Application Support
        MSMQ
        Win32 Application Runtimes and Libraries

Boot Enviroments
        Enhanced Write Filter Boot Environment
        Windows Boot Environment

Browsers
        Intermnet Explorer 8

Data Access and Storage
        Windows Data Access Components
        Windows Data Access Components - SQL

Data Integrity
        Shadow Copy Volume Interface
        Shadow Copy Volume Service
        Windows Backup and Restore
        Windows Side by Side

Devices and Printers
        Device Framework
        Device User Experience
        Driver Frameworks
        Fax and Scan
        Printing Utilities and Management
        Sensor and Location Platform
        Standard Windows USB Stack

Diagnostics
        Common Diagnostic Tools
        Performance Monitoring
        Problem Reports and Solutions
        User

Embedded Enabling Features
        Edition Branding
        Bootable Windows USB Stack
        Custom Logon Desktop Background Images
        Dialog Box Filter
        Enhanced Writer Filter with HORM
        File Base Writer Filter (FBWF)
        Hide Boot Screens
        Message Box Default Reply
        RAM Disk Controller
        Registry Filter
        WSDAPI für .NET

Fonts

Graphics and Multimedia
        Premium Codecs
                Microsoft AC3 Encoder
                Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder (MPEG-2, AAC)
                Microsoft DTV-DVD Audio Decoder (MPEG-2, H.264)
                MPEG Layer-3 Audio Codecs (MP3)
                MPEG-2 Audio and Video Encocder
                MPEG-4 Decoders
                Windows Media Video Codecs (VC-1)
        Audio and Video Engines and Media Foundation
        DirectX and Windows Device Experience
        Graphics Platform
        Image Mastering API V2
        Windows Media Player 12

International

Internet Information Services - IIS
        IIS 7.0
        Windows Process Activation Service

Management
        System Management
                Group Policy Management
                Microsoft Management Console (MMC)
                System Management Administrative Tools
                System Management Utilities
                Windows Managment Instrumentation (WMI)
        Windows Update
                Windows Update Standalone Installer
                Windows Update User Interface
        Parentral Control
        Power Managment
        Windows Application Compatibility
        Windows PowerShell 2.0

MediaCenter

Networking
        Base
                Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP)
                Internet Authentication Service
                Networking Base
                Networking Foundation
        TelnetServer
        BITS
        Bluetooth
        Domain Services
        IRDA and UNIMODEM
        Network Access Protection
        Network and Sharing Center
        Network Diagnostics
        Peer Networking
        Quality of Service
        Remote Access Service (RAS)
        Small Networking Services
        Telephony API Client
        Windows Firewall
        Wireless Networking

Remote Connections

Security
        Security Credentials
        System Security Management
        Active Directory Rights Management
        AntiMalware
        Application Security
        Bitlocker Secure Startup
        Encrypted File System (EFS)
        Security Base
        Trusted Platform Module (TPM) Management

System Services
        File System
                Advanced File System
                Core File System
                File and Folder Synchronization
                File Compression Utility
                Remote Client
                Simplified Message Block (SMB)
        Remote Procedure Call
        Windows Installer

User Interface
        Help
        Windows Speech API
        Windows Shell
                Accessories

                Application User Experience
                Shell Controls and UI Support Functions
                Shell Foundation
                System Control Panel
                Windows Explorer Shell
                Windows Explorer Shell Resources
        Accessibility
        Command Prompt Shell with Custom Shell Support
        DVD Maker
        Mobility Center and SideShow
        Natural Language 6
        Photo Viewer
        Search Indexing
        Tablet PC Support
        Text Services Framework
        Windows Search
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post #27 of 27
2/19/12 at 6:14pm
sorry to bump an old thread, but did anything ever come of this? Would love to have an embedded system like the one Ceton showed at CES this year. In my dream world, it would function more like a CE device than an HTPC.
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