[bitloader]

I've converted an older Dell laptop to function as my XBMC Media Center. It installed fine, configured easily and I've even tested it for a few hours just to see if I like it. And I do...a lot!! It even works with my older MS MCE remote. Yay!
So I'm really happy that I've found a nice clean and simple MC pack that has everything I need without complicated configurations.

- The Setup:
I'm connecting the laptop to my flatscreen TV (which comes with a nice VGA socket).
I've configured the laptop to auto-login with user xbmc, which works perfectly.
The only problem is, I can't set XBMC as shell without it exiting with the same error everytime.

XBMC: Error
ERROR: Unable to create GUI. Exiting

I've tried 3 different ways to set it as shell. And used the wiki I found here as a guide.
- EventGhost
- SilentLaunch
- plain and simple regedit-ing

What ever option I try, it comes back with the same error.
So I've set XBMC to start when logging on, using Windows build-in Task Scheduler. And that works, except that it minimizes XBMC after launch (even with -fs -p options) and shows the standard desktop. That's not a problem for me, but it is for my family.

I want this system booting into XBMC as a shell (or full-screen at login) so my kids can watch movies by pressing a few buttons on the remote.

Who can help me find the cause of this error and lead me to a solution?

[powlo]

When I did this (changed windows shell to XBMC) I followed this:
http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-ente...t-end.html

However, I got bitten hard by this. I don't think that this is something Windows really "likes"* or is set up to do, as seen by the convoluted instructions to get it going. After a few weeks my system failed big time (no response beyond BIOS) and there was no way to get back in.

Anyway, when I reinstalled the OS I just set XBMC to launch at startup by putting XBMC under the Startup folder. You should probably make sure that its set to run maximized.

I've found that there's some benefit anyway, I often need to get into Explorer, for example to check the status of the internet, or to install updates, and so on.

The price to be paid is the few seconds where you see the Windows Explorer desktop until XBMC starts up.

If you really do want a seemless MediaCenter then OpenElec might be the way to go. I haven't tried it out yet though.

*appologies for fluffy language.

[Kib]

It could be me, but you might want to specify which version of Windows you are running under, as the options for changing the shell differ hugely.