I finally go reinstalled my MCE to vista. The mother board has HDMI output that goes into my HDMI switch and I can now move the MCE to the Server Room in the basement 
Great with the Phillips Pronto RFX IR extender that enables me to control my MCE.
I found this tweak to the MCE that allows me to Copy looseless our DVDs to the MCE hard disk and have them played as if the were inserted into the DVD drive. I used to rip-and-compress them into MP4 with huge quality loss as a result now I can enjoy them in high quality.
http://apcmag.com/how_to_play_ripped_dvds_on_vista_media_center.htm
I have finally home-automated-my-DVD collection.
