[arkay]

Hi all,

Just had an idea. We all use registry hacks, in some way shape or form, to make MCE behave a little better.

The annoying thing I find (given the number of rebuilds that I've done) is that you have to go hunting around the net to find them all (if you don't have them documented), and then it's a pain the $^&*@ running regedit to do it all.

So, what I would like to do it get a list of all the hacks that everyone is using and put together either a reg file that can do it all in one click, or if I get really enthusiastic I'll write a little configure app that let's you turn them on an off at will.

So, could everyone please use this thread to add the hacks that they have in place. Eventually we'll make it stick and put a link to a download that can do the hacks for us.

At the moment I'm using these:

Disable Ballon Tips:
User Key:[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Explorer\Advanced]
Value Name: EnableBalloonTips
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = disabled, 1 = enabled)

Record Padding
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Media Center\VideoSettings

RecordingsPostPadding
RecordingsPrePadding

When editing these registry values, you must make sure that you end process on ehRecvr.exe,ehtray.exe,ehSched.exe,ehrec.exe
and ehshell.exe

you then can change the values and they won't be overwritten. I believe that the ehSched is the culprit that is changing this value because it no longer coralates to the value in your Recordings.xml file. But you can easily change the RecordingsPostPadding to:
0x0000012c if you want 5 minutes
0x00000258 if you want 10 minutes
0x00000384 if you wanted 15 minutes.
The RecordingPrePadding is backwards; you'll need to subtract how many minutes you want to pre record from 0xFFFFFFFF (i.e. 0xFFFFFED3 would give you 5 minutes prepadding)

USB Power Key hacks
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\usb]
"USBBIOSHACKS"=dword:00000000
"USBBIOSx"=dword:00000000

Enable Guide
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Media Center\Service\EPG]
"TOSAgreed"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Media Center\Settings\ProgramGuide]
"fAgreeTOS"=dword:00000001
"fAgreeEPGPrivacy"=dword:00000001
"fGetEpgData"=dword:00000001
"fEpgDataAvailable"=dword:00000001
"fUsageTracking"=dword:00000000

Enable Autologin

You can use Registry Editor to add your log on information. To do this, follow these steps: 1.Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.2.Locate the following registry key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsN T\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
3.Using your account name and password, double-click the DefaultUserName entry, type your user name, and then click OK.4.Double-click the DefaultPassword entry, type your password under the value data box, and then click OK.

If there is no DefaultPassword value, create the value. To do this, follow these steps: a. In Registry Editor, click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.b. Type DefaultPassword as the value name, and then press ENTER.c. Double-click the newly created key, and then type your password in the Value Data box. If no DefaultPassword string is specified, Windows XP automatically changes the value of the AutoAdminLogon registry key from 1 (true) to 0 (false) to turn off the AutoAdminLogon feature.5.Double-click the AutoAdminLogon entry, type 1 in the Value Data box, and then click OK.

If there is no AutoAdminLogon entry, create the entry. To do this, follow these steps: a. In Registry Editor, click Edit, click New, and then click String Value.b. Type AutoAdminLogon as the value name, and then press ENTER.c. Double-click the newly created key, and then type 1 in the Value Data box.6.Quit Registry Editor.7.Click Start, click Restart, and then click OK. After your computer restarts and Windows XP starts, you can log on automatically.

If you want to bypass the automatic logon to log on as a different user, hold down the SHIFT key after you log off or after Windows XP restarts. Note that this procedure applies only to the first logon. To enforce this setting for future logoffs, the administrator must set the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsNT\Cu rrentVersion\Winlogon

Value:ForceAutoLogon
Type: REG_SZ
Data: 1

and I'm sure many others.

Thanks.

Cheers,
Arkay.