One of Windows Media Center’s many self-imposed limitations is to prevent the user from utilizing more than four tuners of any one type at the same time. With many tuners commonly coming with more than one tuner per card these days it’s easy to reach and pass this limit even on a tight budget. It’s hard to image why [...]
Many Windows 7 Media Center users will have a point where they need to backup important information and settings for their Media Center machine. Information such as custom TV listings, recording schedules and certain plugin and meta data can take a fair amount of time to setup. Certainly no one enjoys missing a favorite show due to a reformat followed [...]
Remote Potato’s original accomplishment, allowing us to view Media Center’s EPG remotely and even schedule recordings may have been dwarfed by it’s newest one. Remote Potato now has the ability to stream recorded TV from your Media Center machine to anywhere with internet access. There’s also been a number of improvements to the guide functions (the original reason we [...]
The last look we had at MCEBuddy was of the still forthcoming 2.0 version which was and still is missing a user interface. While this was fairly cumbersome on the end user it did get the job done. Luckily since then WTV support has been added to the version 1.1 product allowing for doing the basics that MCEBuddy could [...]
There are a lot of web browsers out there but only a handful of them ever make any real news. Kylo, on the other hand, has caught the attention of Media Center users everywhere by claiming to be the perfect web browser to use on “the big screen”. Though it seems this new product should be aimed squarely at [...]
Are you one of those Media Center enthusiasts who frequently launches programs like Hulu, Boxee or any other program for that matter from Media Center only to have to go through complicated closing processes to get back to Media Center? Sure you could just allow if to run in the background and hit the big green button to return [...]
If you frequently pause TV to go handle other, more pressing issues, then come back to find the program has begun paying once again chopping off sections of watchable TV and just destroying the show you were watching you’ve likely been a victim of the paltry pause buffer assigned by Microsoft. By default the pause buffer is capable of [...]
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. [...]
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 [...]
Now that we’ve covered a handful of great plugins to improve your Windows 7 media Center, here and here, it’s time to go through a few programs and background plugins that can greatly improve your experience. These programs and plugins will improve on the Media Center interface as well as adding some missing options and features that are lacking [...]
We’ve already covered replacing the built in movie library with a third party plug-in like MediaBrowser or Open Media Library. There are even a handful of solutions to hide the default movie start strip and add our own, such as MC Studio and Mikinhosoft’s Hide Strips program. The one problem that has persisted, however, is that pressing the video [...]
Around here we love when someone comes along and creates an application to take even the simplest processes and refines them into an even easier single solution. Previously we covered creating your own bootable USB Windows 7 installation manually and today we’ve got a couple of applications that make the entire process a snap. Even better, both applications are [...]
A default installation of Windows 7 already has incredible performance, capable of running on even the lowest end hardware. That doesn’t mean we aren’t able to eek out just a little more performance from a dedicated Windows 7 Media Center machine though. Windows comes ready to perform a wide range of functions but a dedicated machine really only performs [...]
My Channel Logos is definitely a favorite around here, partly because it’s just so darn easy to use. This handy little utility to add channel logos to your Windows 7 Media Center guide is so easy that it practically runs itself. Now the latest version of My Channel Logos even includes color channel logos and the ability to download fresh [...]
In search of an easy as pie way to relocate your recorded TV from one location to another? Perhaps a storage drive or a networked server machine? Well, Recorded TV Manager 3 has got you covered. This program is somewhat light on features but it gets the job done if you’re looking for simple and easy. Installation is relatively [...]
Wish you could start Windows 7 Media Center without the startup animation, in media only mode or without the shutdown options? Missing Remote has the details on some undocumented startup switches that will allow you to do that and more. Windows 7 Media Center comes packed with a number of ways to start up your Media Center experience just [...]
DVRMSToolbox is the Media Center enthusiast’s Swiss Army Knife due in a large part to the FileWatcher service and Media Center add-in it provides. Downloadable from Andy VT’s Tools and Blog, DVRMSToolbox comes jam packed with features and profiles which allow you to automate the menial tasks of being a Media Center user.
Using the FileWatcher feature is a lot [...]
