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frostypepper · 2010-11-09, 22:18

I would like to use something like MicroXP, but all my searches on the forums yield 2 year old results.

Is there something better? Embedded windows xp or 7?

I basically want the ability to run hyperspin and other emulators from xbmc and make it look like the htpc boots straight into xbmc.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Im just not sure if the older threads on such subjects denote that everyone moved on to better options.

On a side note I have a ubuntu based xbmc/htpc running now. Its just that its a nightmare getting the emulators working, and even more of a nightmare getting wireless xbox 360 controllers running.

eriksmith200 · 2010-11-10, 00:54

Check out WickedxWeasel's posts in http://forum.xbmc.org/showthread.php?tid=84243

frostypepper · 2010-11-10, 03:10

thanks for the heads up, eventghost looks like exactly what I want.

Any thoughts on a actual version of windows? Im leaning more toward microxp, just for its huge base of drivers. If ran with eventghost its not like any desktop stuff would be seen.

Is there anything newer than microxp 0.82?

jhsrennie · 2010-11-10, 10:14

Why not just use ordinary Win7 and put the XBMC shortcut in the Startup folder? I do this on a Revo 3610 and it works very well.

JR

>>X<< · 2010-11-10, 13:55

Just one thing XBMC (Dharma) uses DXVA2 so if you want hardware decoding from your GPU it wont work in XP as that only supports DXVA

You would have to use the DSPlayer branch to get hardware decoding in XP

frostypepper · 2010-11-10, 16:29

X: Thanks for the heads up on the hardware decoding, I completely glazed over that fact.

jhsrennie: I only have x64 windows 7 on my gaming computer, its a absolutely massive install of up to 30 gigs.
What I do have is a older copy of xp that I believe I can use its key. Microxp would be tiny enough to put on a small partition and leave the rest for movies.

I just wish the Ubuntu based xbmc (or Ubuntu for that matter) could handle emulation of older consoles better. It makes me a sad panda when I have to ditch a great install based on linux and start over with windows.

rausch101 · 2010-11-10, 17:20

frostypepper Wrote:jhsrennie: I only have x64 windows 7 on my gaming computer, its a absolutely massive install of up to 30 gigs.
What I do have is a older copy of xp that I believe I can use its key. Microxp would be tiny enough to put on a small partition and leave the rest for movies

I really think you're going to want to go the Win7 route over XP. Drivers on XP are now pretty faded as compared to Win7 and also you might eventually want Windows Media Center and again that's where Win7 will win.

If you're concerned about HD space (though I don't think Win7 takes up 30GB. . .) I think it would definitely be worth it to buy a new HD as they're extremely cheap now (1TB for like $80)

frostypepper · 2010-11-11, 01:12

True the x86 windows 7 install doesnt take up that much space, but two days ago a fresh clean install of x64 took up close to 30 GB.

I have a tiny little 2Gb disk on module that I will install this to. Its a solid state drive of sorts, its what they used in industrial machines before all this ssd craze made everyone go crazy. I would like to install a small enough OS that it wont take up the whole DOM.

I am going to strip out the ui, and its going to function as a xbmc box only. I was able to strip ubuntu down to just under 1GB and it worked great. Great except for the emulators Sad

If there is a micro version of windows 7, then I might be interested.

luisomar0 · 2010-11-11, 02:07

frostypepper Wrote:If there is a micro version of windows 7, then I might be interested.

Search for "Windows Tiny7", is around 700mb. I've never tried it myself so I don't know if it's any good.

frostypepper · 2010-11-11, 05:50

luisomar0, you sir are a scholar and a gentleman. Im gonna have to take a look into this. Yea!

luisomar0 · 2010-11-11, 06:14

lol. Good luck with it, I hope it works good for you.

maruchan · 2010-11-11, 18:24

I tried using Tiny 7, but I think I ran into issues with Samba not working due to some components being ripped out. I'm sure it can be fixed, but something to ask yourself is how often will your htpc be shut off?

I was concerned about having an appliance-like experience when I first built my htpc, but I soon realized that there was rarely a need to shut down/reboot my htpc in the first place... going into standby it draws almost no power, will 'turn on' (resume) far quicker than if you do a cold boot, and is immediately in XBMC, where you last left it.

Sranshaft · 2010-11-13, 02:09

If you decide to go with Tiny7, seach for Tiny7 Revision 2. It will include fixes that turned off network sharing in the first revision (as Maruchan stated, some of the necessary components where turned off / stripped out). Among the things stripped from it is .Net 3.5 which cannot be installed separately, or at least I wasn't able to.

One thing you will run into issues is with remote support. The necessary drivers to use MCE-compliant remote are non-existent in Tiny7. I tried many of times to find them and only ran into more issues with that. The best bet would be to rip those drivers from a full Windows 7 install. Needless to say, if you're going to use a remote, you're going to need EventGhost.

Also, as Tiny7 does include a validation / activation crack the legalities of it are fuzzy. As far as I know, there isn't a way to bypass this when installing it so I had issues with windows updates even with a valid serial number.

Other than that, if you don't need WMC for TV tuning / DVR, it's a great way to get a streamlined and the smallest possible footprint when hard drive space is an issue. All together, Tiny7 is less than 700 Mb and fits nicely on a CD-R.

I used it for nearly a year without any major showstoppers and only had the remote issue / update failures.

MajorWoody · 2011-02-23, 01:20

Did you ever get anywhere with this?

I have been exploring the option of windows embedded 7, kinda like this guy:

http://www.japan0708.com/2010/06/04/down...mc-leaner/

I am doing this not only to trim down the install but also because Windows embedded 7 is available free through MS DreamSpark if you are a student.

Has anyone else attempted this? Is it worth the effort?

Windows Server 2008 R2 is also available there so I will probably try is out also.

Thanks,
Major

phin586 · 2011-02-23, 07:29

For what its worth, 7 is far better at this then XP. At least in my experience. =)