There have been quite a few Windows 7 Media Center plugins that enable watching streaming video from services like Youtube. Most, however, cover the basics of getting the content to your screen but leave quite a bit to be desired in style and usability. MacroTube does both quite well allowing you to browse Youtube, DailyMotion and Microsoft’s Soapbox rather [...]
Sure, Microsoft already offers a slimmed down version of Windows 7 known as Starter which is light enough to run on even the trimmest of netbooks. Not to mention that standard version of Windows 7 are excellent performers as well but there’s always room for improvement and the Starter version of WIndows 7 doesn’t include things like Media Center. [...]
Though the demographic is likely small there are certainly a group of Media Center enthusiasts who have already started using a more centralized server setup to store movie media removing the need for a DVD drive on their actual Media Center machine. This goes for many main stream desktop machines as well, with the ability to buy practically any [...]
One of the few features missing from Windows 7 Media Center but available in most modern DVR setups is the ability to remotely schedule recordings. This much touted feature of commercial DVR systems such as Direct TV have been sorely missed by many media center enthusiasts who are frequently away from home. Luckily, a third party program from FatAttidtude [...]
MediaBrowser has long been a favorite for anyone looking to replace the built-in movie library browser with something that has a few more features. MediaBrowser is a free plugin for Windows 7 Media Center that adds more advanced library management, multiple view options for browsing the library and plenty of sorting options. It doesn’t take long with this plugin [...]
Not satisfied with the default setting of seven rows of channels displayed in the episode guide of Windows 7 Media Center? Unfortunately, there is no option to enable an increased number of rows to appear so increasing the rows displayed requires users to do extensive editing to the Media Center DLL files. Thankfully, Bill24 has posted a guide to [...]
Looking for a way to launch commands or programs to run in the background from the Extras Library menu? When you may be in luck, CW-Kid and Andrew Cherry have come up with a .dll and a set of direction for doing just that. The process can be a little daunting for novices but if you’re looking for a [...]
There are several situations in which you may find yourself needing to do a simple conversion of the audio contained inside an MKV file only to find out it’s not so simple after all. Despite the fact that the MKV format is a simple container for holding a video and audio files (as well as subtitles, chapters and other [...]
Despite Windows 7 Media Center’s inclusion of a native movie library no function to actually rip the DVDs to the library was included. Certainly an attempt to avoid this legal grey area of copying purchased media to a secondary source, this also leaves out an important feature from the Media Center platform. This of course leaves an area open [...]
One major advantage to be had when using a Windows 7 Media Center over your standard cable DVR is the ability to scan and remove commercials from Recorded TV shows. Programs such as Lifextender, which can be setup to use either comskip or Showanalyzer, can arrange for new shows to be scanned and the commercials removed without having to [...]
Are you one of the many Media Center users already running a Vista Media Center and planning to upgrade to a new Windows 7 install? If so, it’s likely that you’d want to move your recording schedule over as well. For those planning to do a simple upgrade the process should be automatic, however, if you’re planning a clean [...]
As many former Vista Media Center users know, Windows 7 brought a new format to the Media Center in the form of the .WTV file. This new format is the new standard for recorded TV in Windows 7 Media Center, meaning all recorded TV will now be saved as WTV instead of the former standard DVR-MS. Unfortunately, this also [...]
Converting audio streams already contained inside an MKV can be a daunting process for the beginner. First, we’ll need to extract the audio tracks from the MKV container then we’ll begin the process of converting the track. Finally, we’ll re-mux the entire project back into a new MKV file. There are any number of reasons why one would want [...]
Heatwave, one of the more popular weather plugins for Windows Media Center and one of the first plugins to be covered here on Hack7MC has been updated to support the final release version of Windows 7. Previously, a small change to the Windows 7 Media Center code had made running the application problematic for those with the final release [...]
The latest version of Media Browser, code named “Phoenix”, includes the addition of a parental control option. This much requested feature enables the locking of content of a certain rating and requiring a pin number to be able to view the media. Much like the common cable DVR this is enacted to prevent younger audiences from getting access to [...]
By default the new Netflix application remembers a users login information for use each time you enter the movie browser. However, what if you should change your username or password via the Netflix website? Unfortunately at this point instead of allowing you to re-enter your information the Netflix app simply returns a login error and sends you back to [...]
With the release of My Movies 3 one of the most popular movie library plugins for Media Center makes it’s way into Windows 7. The plugin has received a complete makeover to the user interface as well as updated code to work with the new structure of the Windows 7 Media Center platform. How does this update to an [...]
