I'm just completing a total reinstall of Windows on my Windows Media Center.  Not much fun.  I was having strange behaviors and finally trouble booting, and my attempts to reinstall Windows in place simply corrupted the system.  Eventually I learned my video card was burning up (not surprising running 24/7 in a poorly ventilated space for 3 years) and picked up a replacement.  By that time a total reinstall seemed the most likely way to regain some stability.

Anyway, enough whining.  The point of this post is that in order to remember the installation procedures and tricks I turned to - previous postings in this very blog.  Searching on "site:auburnmarshes.spaces.live.com media center" gave me a list of all the tricks I used previously to install the system.  The knowledge I recorded there to increase the knowledge base of the world in a miniscule way, turned out to benefit me.  I noticed Jon Udell recently doing the same thing - blog posting things he wanted to remember in a searchable archive - the World Wide Web.

Maybe that's why many blog posts don't seem relevant to anyone but the author.  But useful to one is better than useful to none!

One headache though - I'd purchased a DVD decoder from nVidea.  Yet when I dug up the links in the invoice to download a replacement those links were all dead!  Important links such as download locations and customer support should remain stable.  Anything in an invoice should remain stable.  Or at least redirect to the closest current equivalent.

Worse than that, after a mere 12 months, my account (forced upon me in order to purchase) had been terminated, and couldn't be found even though the site advertises that they provide a stable re-download for two years.  They even removed the free 30-day trial downloads that would probably would have got me back on my feet.  I eventually found an install backed up locally so I didn't have to wait for their customer service to get back to me (if ever.)  Anyway, my anti-props to nVidea.  Fire the webmaster.

Also the Microsoft OneCare UI now crashes.  So the firewall is activated but you can't change its settings.  Guess it never ends does it...