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Posted by aloof on 12/31/06 19:03
Wow, quite the passionate group I posted to here. :)
Anyway, Company Man was right (though I figured it out prior to his
post). What I needed to install was the UDF 2.5 file system driver on
the machine so Windows could recognize the files on the HD-DVD disc. I
was able to find one on the web and that seems to have made Windows
happy with it (e.g. Explorer now shows the name of the movie when it's
in the drive, I can browse the directories/files, etc.).
To answer some of the things people mentioned above:
> No, you're thinking of Apple. Windows makes you go look for your own
> DVD players.
It's not actually Windows to blame here. Windows XP came out way before
UDF 2.5 was defined so I can't fault it for not coming with the driver.
Vista actually comes with support natively it seems. So when I upgrade
I should be fine there.
Also, I also have a MacBook Pro which I really like but I hadn't yet
heard of any Macs that came with HD-DVD drives. Maybe I've just missed
them.
> (so, like...there are computer companies that DON'T give
> you everything in the box?) :)
It's because I chose to flatten the box that I got myself into this. I
realized this prior to doing it. The unfortunate part is that HP (the
maker of the machine I purchased) doesn't provide you with actual
Windows install disc. It instead gives you "recovery discs" which force
you to install it their way. I have my reasons for needing pure XP
though, if I didn't I'd certainly be running MCE.
> Actually the company, or PC shop or whatever DID make it capable of
> actually delivering what it promised until "you" formatted it and
> replaced the properly configured Windows Media Center (successor to
> WinXP Pro) for an older version of the Operating System, which
> obviously lacks the capability to use an HD-DVD drive.
It's a drivers thing in this case, not an OS thing. Media Center
doesn't have some native ability to play HD-DVD discs that XP doesn't
provided you have the right drivers.
Also, note I'm not really blaming the "company" for what I did. It
would be nice if they'd have the proper drivers available on their
website instead of only giving you the option of making your own
recovery discs. However, I am not in agreement with anyone who expects
my machine to never be formatted as that's just naive and unrealistic.
It's even funnier given how the machine came with all sorts of papers
informing me of how it was Vista ready and how to join the Vista
upgrade process but the one support rep I spoke to was saying how they
do not support formatting the machine or upgrading it's OS to any other
OS.
In the end, I'm fine with it all as it's easy enough to figure out the
manufacturer of each component, head to their web site, and
download/install the appropriate driver. This is what I end up doing
each time I get a new machine (especially when I build it myself)
anyway.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for the help including the folks afflicted
by what seems to be some sort of usenet rage.
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