Windows XP SP2 To Automatically Upgrade MCE 2002 To MCE 2004

[Suhit Gupta]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/upgrade/default.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/upgrade/default.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"If you already have a PC with Media Center Edition installed you will be able to upgrade to Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 via Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) once it is released. By installing the Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004 upgrade as part of SP2, you will also be able to take advantage of the security enhancements included in this service pack. SP2 is scheduled to be released in the first half of this year."<br /><br />This appears to be great news, and much relief for the MCE 2002 users that still haven't received their free MCE 2004 upgrade from their OEM. BTW, if you are interested in the new features of MCE 2004, click <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/mediacenter/evaluation/whatsnew.asp">here</a>.

[Gordo]

http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/tabletpc/evaluation/lonestar/default.asp

The same is true for any Tablet PC users. I can't wait to get something free from MS.

Gord

[Janak Parekh]

This is awesome! My only concern is, at this rate, that SP2 will be larger than Windows XP itself. 8O

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

This is awesome! My only concern is, at this rate, that SP2 will be larger than Windows XP itself. 8O

--janak
The full download is 273MB.

[coffeeFreak]

This is awesome! My only concern is, at this rate, that SP2 will be larger than Windows XP itself. 8O

--janak

Good point, although I wouldn't worry. Most likely there will be multiple version of SP2, and I doubt user of MCE will be able to access update that's for TPC, and vice versa. And the XP user probably won't have access to neither of them. just a though.

[Ed Hansberry]

Good point, although I wouldn't worry. Most likely there will be multiple version of SP2, and I doubt user of MCE will be able to access update that's for TPC, and vice versa. And the XP user probably won't have access to neither of them. just a though.
No. If you go to Windows UPdate and run SP2 from there, then the installer will figure out what you need and only download the right components.

For those that download the network version so they can rapidly install it on everything, there is just one SP2 - the full version. Right now it is a 270+MB download. That means I'll have the Tablet PC bits on my server HD even though they will never get deployed by the installer since it won't detect a Tablet on the LAN. It may get a bit larger before final release, but I doubt too much. It is in RC1 now and there should be no new features/bugs fixed/holes plugged. If that happens, it probably will go back into closed beta and be delayed - not likely IMHO.

[Suhit Gupta]

No. If you go to Windows UPdate and run SP2 from there, then the installer will figure out what you need and only download the right components.
Although, if SP1 was any indication, the WindowsUpdate will take forever to figure out exactly which components you need. In fact I found it much easier, in SP1, to download the whole 135MB installer and just run the whole thing instead of doing finding exactly which component I needed. I wonder whether this will be the case with SP2 as well :roll:.

Suhit

[Janak Parekh]

Although, if SP1 was any indication, the WindowsUpdate will take forever to figure out exactly which components you need.
That's because the SP installer starts doing some of its preprocessing before starting the download. That preprocessing also happens with the network version, but perceptionwise it's more integrated into the rest of the installation process.

The full download is 273MB.
Thanks for the info Ed. I can't believe I'm saying this, but that's not terrible considering the amount of functionality SP2 has. I almost always end up using the network version for various reasons. ;)

--janak

[Ed Hansberry]

Thanks for the info Ed. I can't believe I'm saying this, but that's not terrible considering the amount of functionality SP2 has. I almost always end up using the network version for various reasons. ;)
I always download the full version. I remember planning to dowload the 30-50MB NT4 SPs with a modem. 8O

I did it because I wanted it on my HD, ready to go and ready to reuse instantly if I rebuilt a box. Now, I have three boxes at home to update and there is no way I want to do that via WU.

[Suhit Gupta]

That's because the SP installer starts doing some of its preprocessing before starting the download. That preprocessing also happens with the network version, but perceptionwise it's more integrated into the rest of the installation process.
I guess that is why I download the full version. I wonder which the faster process is though, given a high bandwidth.

Suhit

[Janak Parekh]

I always download the full version. I remember planning to dowload the 30-50MB NT4 SPs with a modem. 8O
Yup, I remember the ritual well. I did it on weekends to get the least latencies. ;)

--janak

[Suhit Gupta]

I always download the full version. I remember planning to dowload the 30-50MB NT4 SPs with a modem. 8O
Yup, I remember the ritual well. I did it on weekends to get the least latencies. ;)
Oh man, this brings back memories. I remember trying to download SP3 at 5am in order to get a non-saturated connection :).

Suhit