Aaron Stebner's WebLog
Thoughts about setup and deployment issues, WiX, XNA, the .NET Framework and Visual Studio
Information about patching improvements for future Visual Studio and .NET Framework hotfixes
I found a couple of articles that Heath Stewart wrote a few months ago that I somehow missed at the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/02/2006
How to perform an unattended uninstall of Visual Studio 2005
I have previously posted several items about how to manage deployment of Visual Studio 2005, but a...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/01/2006
How to detect old beta versions when deploying the .NET Framework 2.0
I was talking to a couple of Microsoft product teams a couple of weeks ago. They are trying to...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 05/01/2006
Mailbag: How can I tell if I have Update Rollup 2 installed on my Media Center PC?
Question: I bought a computer from a system builder, and they told me that Update Rollup 2 for...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/30/2006
Registry settings that can be used to configure advanced Media Center options
There have been a couple of posts by myself and Matt Goyer listing some of the registry keys and...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/29/2006
Mailbag: How can I stop Media Center from losing FM radio presets when rebooting the PC?
Question: I have a computer that has Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/28/2006
Windows Media Center SDK build 5365.8 now available
There is a new build of the Windows Media Center SDK available on the Microsoft Connect site this...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/25/2006
New hotfixes available for Update Rollup 2 for Media Center 2005 - April 2006 rollup and DRM hotfix
Today is the monthly release of new hotfix packages and updates to Windows Update, and there are a...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/25/2006
Article about Visual Studio 2005 IDE extensibility
I ran across an interesting article today that describes the available extensibility options for the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/24/2006
Updated AVerMedia TV tuner driver now available to fix Digital Audio Service errors
A couple of months ago, I posted an item about Digital Audio Service errors that can be caused with...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/24/2006
Mailbag: How can I make the WEP password text visible in the Media Center wireless network connection page
We got this question from a Windows Vista beta customer, and I wanted to pass this information on...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/20/2006
Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions are now free forever
I came across a press announcement and some additional blog information regarding the availability...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/19/2006
Update Rollup 2 setup failure when installing KB899337
I heard from a couple of customers today who ran into a new (to me) setup problem while installing...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/19/2006
Windows Media Center design and architecture - part 2
Francis Hogle has posted part 2 in his series about the behind-the-scenes design and architecture of...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/18/2006
New hotfix available to fix protected content playback errors in Update Rollup 2 for Media Center 2005
As many of you have noticed and posted on my blog in the past (here, here, here and here), there are...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/14/2006
New build of the Media Center SDK for Windows Vista February CTP refresh
I am really excited to announce that there is a new build of the Windows Media Center SDK available...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/14/2006
New article posted - Visual Studio 2005 and .NET Framework 2.0 deployment guide
Over the past few months, I have written several blog posts describing how to perform various...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/11/2006
Visual Studio 2005 and .NET Framework 2.0 deployment guide
This guide is intended to serve as a collection of links to articles, tools, tips and tricks that...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/11/2006
How to perform a silent install of Visual Studio 2005 Team Explorer
I have previously posted instructions for performing a silent installation for Visual Studio 2005...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/10/2006
Channel 9 video about Windows Media Center development on Windows Vista
Robert Scoble stopped by a few weeks ago and filmed a video with Charlie Owen and Mark Finocchio,...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/09/2006
White paper now available for installing and configuring Away Mode
Update Rollup 2 for Windows XP Media Center 2005 introduced a new feature called Away Mode. This...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/08/2006
How to synchronize your system clock to attempt to resolve Media Center guide download errors
Many folks who have run into trouble downloading guide data within Media Center have tracked the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/07/2006
Updated version of DUAScriptGen (v1.1.0004) is now available
A customer posted a bug report on my blog indicating that DUAScriptGen was incorrectly marking...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/06/2006
Introducing Heat - a new WiX tool for automating creation of setup authoring files
Derek Cicerone (one of the volunteer WiX developers) posted a blog entry this week introducing a new...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/06/2006
Updated version of DUAScriptGen (v1.1.0003) is now available
I have posted an update to the DUAScriptGen power toy for Windows XP Embedded on my tool download...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/05/2006
Useful FAQ for configuring an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender
I have been asked several questions recently related to setting up an Xbox 360 with a Windows XP...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 04/01/2006
Internet Explorer now has a public bug reporting tool
I stumbled across a post on the Internet Explorer team's blog from last Friday that I wanted to post...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/29/2006
How to create a combined network install point for all Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions
Now that I have posted items about how to create a network install point for a Visual Studio 2005...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/29/2006
A look behind the scenes at the Windows Media Center design and architecture
Francis Hogle, the development manager for the Windows Media Center core team, has posted a really...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/27/2006
Example of how to use Visual Studio IDE language switching
Recently, I wrote a couple of blog post (here and here) about how to enable multi-lingual...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/24/2006
More information about the Q podcast and video blog client written with Media Center Markup Language
I previously posted links to a feature specification and user interface video for the Q podcast and...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/24/2006
Log files created during Xbox 360 PC setup
I have heard from a few folks who have run into issues installing the software to enable using an...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/22/2006
New version of the .NET Framework verification tool that works with .NET Framework 2.0
I received a question from a customer last night asking about the availability of a version of the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/21/2006
How to silently install Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions
A few folks (both inside and outside of Microsoft) have contacted me asking for instructions for how...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/20/2006
Introducing Windows Media Center Presentation Layer Web Applications
Earlier today, I posted an item on the Media Center Sandbox site introducing Windows Media Center...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/18/2006
Possible interaction problem between Sony Changer add-in and Media Center hotfixes
A customer contacted our setup team this week with a problem on their Media Center system - they saw...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/18/2006
Available command line switches for .NET Framework 1.0 and 1.1 setup
I previously posted a list of command line switches for .NET Framework 2.0 setup. One of the...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/18/2006
Mailbag: How can I suppress reboots during Visual Studio 2005 unattended installation?
Question: I tried to install Visual Studio 2005 using the unattended installation instructions that...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/17/2006
Check out Q - an add-in written using Media Center Markup Language for Windows Vista Media Center
I just noticed that Charlie Owen posted an item on his blog about the sample application named Q...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/16/2006
Creating a network install point for Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions
Last week, someone asked me about how to perform automated installations of the Visual Studio 2005...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/15/2006
How to create an installable layout for Visual Studio 2005 Express Editions
The following options can be used to download and assemble a folder structure that can be used to...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/14/2006
How to automatically configure Visual Studio IDE UI language for multi-lingual development
A few days ago, I posted some general information about how multi-lingual development can be enabled...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/11/2006
Media Center guide download error code 14 caused by BladeRunner Pro
About a month ago, I received a blog comment from a customer who diagnosed and solved an issue where...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/10/2006
Document Explorer 2005 setup fails with a 1935 or 2908 error
A while ago, I posted an item regarding a possible cause and resolution for 1935 or 2908 errors...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/10/2006
Multi-lingual development support in the Visual Studio IDE
One of the features of Visual Studio that has been around for a while and that I'm not sure a lot of...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/08/2006
Command line switches for Windows hotfix setup packages
Every so often I get questions from customers who ask about how to automate the installation of...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/06/2006
Mailbag: How can I get to MSN Music in Media Center now that it no longer appears in Online Spotlight?
Question I noticed a couple of weeks ago that MSN Music is no longer available within Online...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/04/2006
Mailbag: How can I create an administrative install point for Visual Studio 2005?
Question You previously posted instructions for how to create an administrative install point (AIP)...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/03/2006
Possible cause of VS IDE crash on shutdown after upgrading from VS 2005 beta 2
Some developers I know on the Visual Studio IDE team have been looking at online crash analysis data...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/01/2006
Visual Studio 2005 crashes on shutdown due to an incorrect version of dteproperties.tlb on the computer
Problem Description Visual Studio 2005 crashes on shutdown. Possible Cause A type library (TLB)...
Author: Aaron Stebner Date: 03/01/2006