Sorry, the eHome IR driver updates were part of RU2; best of my knowledge, MS never broke them out.
Question: why wanting to avoid RU2? On a clean installation, you're more likely to have problems
not installing an update.
I'd suggest giving
Accident's MCE2k5 installation guide a read, if you haven't already done so.
And, some real-world advice: even if you previously had issues that seemed to stem from a specific update, install it anyways. The previous issue was most likely caused by some odd-ass incompatibility in the 'old' Windows installation (usually some software that you had installed conflicted with the update), and most likely will not occur when the update is applied to a clean system.
~Chris
'nearly every day of my life is some kind of computer hell'
Desktop: Shuttle SN41 (AthlonXP 2700+), AIW, T550, PVR-USB2, HDHR; server: Intel E6400 on I965P mobo, 2GB RAM, 2x 500GB WD, PVR500, NV DualTV, Saber2020, 2xHDHR; Xbox MCX, Xbox360