Dell Media Direct 2.0 ... Running on 9300/XPS M170 - Page 23

Originally Posted by tentonine

It is not always DELL 2 3. You need to have a look at the order of your partitions using ptedit. Change the 2 to whatever the number of your XP partition is. Change the 3 to whatever the number of your Media Direct partition is. I have now changed some of my earlier instructions to reflect this. Sorry for any confusion.
If you need to boot to Windows XP to fix it, use this and run it from a bootable floppy or CD: http://gag.sourceforge.net/download.html
I'm afraid I'm not quite sure what you mean by express test and media direct's testing page. Is is starting up Dell diagnostics instead?
Incidentally, the guide I was referring to is on page 8.

Another way to boot your Windows XP installation again is to go to recovery console, choose your C installation and then type fixmbr.
If that alone doesn't do it, run ptedit and make sure that the boot section in your XP partition is set to 80.

Originally Posted by Pugsly0014

Hi all,
As you know, or maybe you don't. There are two versions of the Dell Media Direct.

Version 1: Installed with the 9300/XPS M170. It's where you press the play button on the front of the laptop and it brings up the Windows XP Media Center OS and immeadtly starts Windows Media Center.

Version 2: Installed on the 9400/E1705/XPS M1710. This version actualy loads a seperate OS on a 1.3GB partition which has a scaled down version of Windows Media Center. There is a custom DVD/Movie/Music/Picture interface. This is really nice cause it boots really quickly. It can search your C:\ drive for MP3's, movies, pictures, etc. You can also plug in a USB drive and do the same thing.

The problem... Most people blow away their OS's and start fresh without the Dell bloatware. I have figured out how to make version 2 run on the 9300/XPS M170.

Things you need.....

1. The Media Direct install CD located here:
http://aibal.fileburst.com/MediaDirect20.zip

Grab that ZIP file, inside is an ISO file. Burn this with your favorate CD burner.

2. 1.5 GB of free space at the end of your OS install. The OS can be any flavor of XP you want. (Home, Pro, Media Center).

3. Your video and sound drivers on a CD or USB stick.


Steps to make it work.

1. Install your OS normaly on the first part of the hard drive and load all your drivers. Also make sure that you have Dell QuickSet installed.
2. Take the Media Direct 2.0 CD you made from the ISO above and put it in your drive. This will install Media Direct 2.0 on do the free 1.5GB of space at the end of the drive. (Press Enter to start the install)
3. While this is installing, copy taskmgr.exe from C:\windows\system32 to Z:\windows\system32 or whatever drive DMD 2.0 is copying all it's files to.
4. When this is complete, you can do a shut down of your OS from the start menu. To test the install of Media Direct 2.0 press the play button on the front of the laptop and verify that media Direct 2.0 starts.
5. Press Ctrl-alt-del and bring up task manager. Go to File/Run and type in Explorer.exe This will start windows explorer.
6. Put your drivers disk in the drive, or put in your USB disk. Load your Video Drivers, and Sound drivers.
7. NOTE... If you useing the Audigie Drivers, don't install all the crap that comes with it. The drive needs at least 256MB of free space in order to hybernate so it can open and close quickly.
8. When you are done, press Ctrl-alt-del again and choose shutdown.
9. Press Play from the front buttons... Media Direct 2.0 should start and your done. Enjoy this new feature that the newer generations of Laptops have.


Now... If you don't know what your doing.. Please don't blow up your laptop and blame it on me. I have a vast background in a multitude of OS's and have been in the IT field for years.

I do not take any responsibility if you break your laptop.

Other then that.. I will gladly answer any questions you might have.


Why did i do this? Cause I need Windows XP Pro on my laptop for various networking reasons. I also wanted to be able to quickly play DVD's without booting all the way up to Windows to do so. So, no having to drain down the battery with Network cards, etc running.