Again, not being from the UK we can’t test the tool personally, however, it seems to be a fairly simple process. The program will launch, detect the Media Center’s EPG database then inject the channel manually. This will need to be done each time the channel lineup is rescanned however as the database starts from scratch after each tuner or channel scan.

To use the fix you’ll either need to check the TGB thread for the latest release or download version 5 (4/28/10) from Hack7MC here. Run the program and apply the fix. Then simply re-launch Windows 7 Media Center (we assume). The author has also setup a donation page for those who’ve been helped by the program.

If ITV HD is showing up properly in the TV Guide but there are no listings available you will need to associate them manually. Select the channel name in the guide, press i or right-click and select Edit Channel. Select the Edit Listings option from the following page and locate the listings for ITV1 HD and associate them with this channel. Media Center should now retrieve the ITV1 HD channel listings automatically with each guide update.

Hopefully this fix works for everyone having issues with getting this channel to show up properly. It’s great to see that the community can take over so expertly in Microsoft’s absence. For even more on channel lineups check out our guide on setting up custom channel lineups.

Even more importantly, this third party program requires very little configuration to get setup and working on your home media center system. Most users will find the most complicated portions of the setup to be forwarding the ports of their home router and setup of the xmltv files. Upon first launching Remote Potato you’ll receive a window letting you know that the server has been started along with a windows dialog to allow the program appropriate rights to the firewall (provided you are using the built-in Windows 7 firewall). Once you’ve allowed access to the program you’ll notice a Show Settings button on the main window. Pressing this will reveal the options and setup portions of the program.

For those just getting started with Remote Potato the main settings that need to be set are going to be the TV Guide and the options found under the General tab. In order for the program to obtain a listing of channels and programs you’ll need to have an xmltv file. To get one of these handy files for your system you can simply follow this guide here on Hack7MC to using MC2XML. Of course this file will need to be updated regularly (every few days is recommended). Doing this automatically is simple enough using Windows 7’s built-in Task Scheduler.

Open Task Scheduler from the start menu by entering “Task Scheduler” into the search box and hit enter (crazy, right?). Then on the right hand side you’ll notice a number of actions that can be performed. Select Create Basic Task and go through the simple wizard setting a name for the event, choosing Daily (which can actually be set to run every X number of days) and then selecting the shortcut created in the MC2XML guide as the program to run.

Once you’ve setup your xmltv guide file open the TV guide section of Remote Potato’s options and set the “Get EPG Data from” option to  “a locally stored XML file”. Next locate the file created by MC2XML in the XMLTV file dialog box and once the program has finished the initial loading of the file contents set the import option to re-import data for approximately the same number of days as you set in the Task Scheduler.

Next, under the General options tab most users will want to set the program to automatically start with windows and do so minimized. Simply check the box for both these options and the program should be all set to go. Now provided you’ve setup proper access from your router to access the port on the media center system you can now access the Remote Potato guide from a remote system.

Simply open your favorite web browser and navigate to the media center’s ip address followed by the port set under Remote Potato’s general options (ex, 55.55.55.555:9080) If you are having trouble accessing the machine remotely be sure to check from the actual machine itself using localhost:port.

The web based interface is fairly intuitive and the program even provides a Silverlight version, which can be enabled under the Silverlight tab in the options. Users can easily browse, search and manage recordings from anywhere with internet access including moblie devices such as a PDA or cellphone.

Thanks to FatAttitude for putting out this great application and making it so easy to setup and use as well. This handy utility is sure to fill the gap for many Windows 7 Media Center users that are consistently on the go but don’t want to miss out on recording their favorite shows and new series.

To get started decide whether you’ll be using the patch or editing your Media Center shell DLL by hand. If the patch doesn’t work you’ll likely need to edit the file by hand as updated or altered versions of the Media Center shell DLL could cause the patch to no longer work properly. If using the patch download it here, otherwise you’ll need a program to edit the file by hand such as Resource Hacker or Restorator. Also, a copy of Media Center Studio is required.

The first step is launching Media Center Studio and creating a new theme. Bill24 doesn’t mention in the guide what changes this makes to the Media Center files that makes it a required step, it may be a simple matter of setting the correct permissions on the required Media Center DLL files. Once inside Media Center Studio select the New button to create a new theme, name your new theme and save the file. Return to the main themes listing tab and select the newly created them then press the Apply button. Launch Media Center and browse to the EPG guide, unless additional edits were made inside Media Center Studio nothing should have changed.

Alternatively, if you’ve got the Take Ownership registry file applied you can take ownership of the Microsoft.MediaCenter.Shell.dll file to affect the same results.

Now open Windows Explorer and browse to C:\Windows\ehome and locate the MediaCenter.Shell.dll file. Copy the file to another location and make certain to create a backup of this file as well just incase something should go wrong during the process. Now, if using the patch method, copy the patch into the same directory as Microsoft.MediaCenter.Shell.dll and apply the patch to this file. Afterward copy the file back into the C:\Windows\ehome directory. Relaunch Windows 7 Media Center and check your EPG guide, there should now be ten rows listed.

For those editing the file by hand open the MediaCenter.Shell.dll in your resource editor and browse to the html –> EPG.MCML file. Inside search for the following lines and edit the values as described:

Name=”InitialGridPosition” Left=”FilterButton,1,1″ Right=”Parent,1,-53″ Top=”FilterButton,0, –44
Name=”InitialGridPosition” Left=”FilterButton,1,1″ Right=”Parent,1,-53″ Top=”FilterButton,0, -134

Set Target=”[FilterButtonLayout.Bottom.Offset]” Value=“493”
Set Target=”[FilterButtonLayout.Bottom.Offset]” Value=“580”

Set Target=”[Table.VisibleRowCapacity]” Value=“7”
Set Target=”[Table.VisibleRowCapacity]” Value=“10”

Font FontName=”global://comm:LightFontFace” FontSize=“48”
Font FontName=”global://comm:LightFontFace” FontSize=“0”

<Set Target=”[Table.VisibleRowCapacity]” Value=“2″/>
<Set Target=”[Table.VisibleRowCapacity]” Value=“4″/>

After changing each of these values save the MediaCenter.Shell.dll file and place it back in it’s original location. Relaunch Windows 7 Media Center and browse to the EPG guide to ensure that you’ve now got ten rows listed.

Thanks to Bill24 for sharing this information with the Windows 7 Media Center community! Be sure to check out his blog (dead, sorry) on the Australian Media Center Community website for even more great information on modifying Media Center. This certainly is a more efficient usage of screen real-estate than the original seven row display.

To get started open up Task Manager. You can either enter “task manager” under the start menu and select the first listing to “View running processes with Task Manager” or use the old standby of pressing ctrl-alt-delete and selecting Task Manager. Once inside the Task Manager select the Services tab and press the Services button.

Now locate the Services associated with Windows 7 Media Center then right click each one and select the option to Stop the service. You can also select the service then press the Stop link on the left hand side of the Services pane.

Once you’ve stopped both Media Center services return to the Task Manager window and open up the Processes tab. Here you’ll want to press the button to Show processes from all users. There are a number of processes that may or may not be running that will prevent you from deleting the guide database. Locate any running processes marked as part of the Media Center process such as the Receiver and Scheduler service as well as the In-band Guide Loader. Each of these processes will need to be terminated by pressing the End Process button before we can delete the existing database.

Now that we’re certain that no remaining Media Center processes are locking down access to the database we can finally open up Windows Explorer and locate the files we need to clear. Inside Windows Explorer navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\ehome.

Inside the ehome folder you’ll see a .db file as well as a folder marked mcepgX-X-X, these are the files that need to be cleared in order to reset our TV setup and guide data from Media Center. Now that the Media Center processes have been stopped you should be able to delete the .db file as well as the folder and it’s contents to reset your TV setup to it’s original state.

After deleting the files we’ll want to restart the machine to ensure that all of the appropriate Media Center services are restarted. Afterward, open Media Center and enter the Setup Live TV option from the TV start menu.

That’s all there is to it! Windows 7 Media Center has been restored to the original Live TV guide settings and you can start fresh. Be sure to bookmark Hack7MC as well to find all the tips and information you need for your Windows 7 Media Center!

To get start you’ll need to sign-up for an account at Big Screen Global and apply for participation in the latest Big Screen EPG beta. Afterward you will be issued a link to download the program as well as a trial key. Download and install the program then launch it from the programs menu. A command line interface will appear and you’ll be asked to enter your key. Then we’re finally at the real meat of the program.

The first thing we need to do is assign an XMLTV provider to use with the program. Select the link on the left hand side of the main interface to Add an XMLTV Provider to begin. If you’ve got a subscription to an online XMLTV provider you can follow the steps and enter it here or if you’d like to use one of the default Media Center XMLTV listings with Big Screen EPG you can follow our guide to MC2XML here on Hack7MC.

Once you’ve completed the XMLTV provider setup, returning to the main interface you’ll see that there are now a number of additional tabs available to select from. Big Screen EPG provides for a large number of customization options from assigning channels to certain listings, marking channels as HD and even automatically assigning genre and parental ratings to channels and shows.

Starting with the Providers tab you can add additional listing providers to your TV listings, handy for those who use multiple tuners with different channel lineups such as those near the US-Canada border who receive OTA stations from over the border.

Under the Channels tab we can find a plethora of options for editing our channel lineup and listings. In fact, Big Screen EPG provides one of the most comprehensive channel editors we’ve seen for Windows 7 Media Center. Big Screen EPG lets you alter channel names, numbers, call-signs and listings as well as automatically assign genres, ratings and more to shows that appear on that channel. The program even provides a built in channel logo assignment, though logos must be added manually.

Under the Classifications and Genres tabs Big Screen EPG gives you the ability to edit the links between program metadata and Media Center classifications such as those used to display colored show listings. Comprehensive tools are provided to adjust the settings to your heart’s content and get your TV listings exactly the way you like them.

Once you’re satisfied with your new setup return to the Overview tab and select the option to Generate data and Import to Media Center to begin the actual process of importing your new listings. A short wizard will appear allowing you to go through the steps to import your new data. Once the actual import to Media Center has begun you can watch the progress in more detail through the command line interface window that has been just hanging out in the background until now.

That’s all there is to importing custom XMLTV data with Big Screen EPG. An indispensable tool for those who need to load custom TV listings such as people who live in Canada and want to get those ATSC listings Microsoft seems to have completely ignored. The program is even great for those who just want the ultimate control of their guide listings. Head on over to Big Screen Global and give the beta a try and be sure to keep checking back to Hack7MC as new features such as Remote Scheduling are added to Big Screen EPG!

To get started with this new version of My Channel Logos stop by the official website and hit the download link. You’ll notice that the program’s author has posted a request for donations to keep the software going, a meager three bucks which seems more than reasonable for the aesthetic appeal added to your Media Center listings. Once you’ve got the program installed the latest version will need to download the latest icons from the central server.

Once the download, which may take several minutes, has completed first time users will need to set their region inside Edit -> Preferences. You’ll also find the option to change the location of the channel logo if you would prefer to have it appear under the description section of Media Center as opposed to the channel guide.

Under the General tab you’ll find the ability to select between color or the original white only logos. Selecting the Exemptions tab you’ll be able to assign channels for which you’ve created custom and assigned custom logos that you would prefer not be replaced during updates. Once you’ve set the options using My Channel Logos is the same process as previous versions.

Manually assign channel logos by selecting a channel then clicking the black logo input box to the right. Using the Auto Populate Logos button will automatically assign logos to every channel that matches the preset directory of logos included with My Channel Logos. Previous users of My Channel Logos may want to Remove All prior to Auto Populating logos with this new version to ensure the latest logos are assigned.

Once you’ve finished populating channel logos simply re-launch Windows 7 Media Center and your new channel logos should be available in your TV listings. That’s all there is to it. My Channel Logos is a simple program that’s easy to use but with big benefits for those looking for a richer DVR-esque appearance for their Media Center.

We won’t be covering the various uses for XMLTV files quite yet but will be referring back to this guide in the future as we get into them. To get started with MC2XML you’ll need to download a copy (Hack7MC Mirror) to your hard disk. Launch the program using the exe provided, there’s no installation process.

On first launch you’ll be prompted to setup your location. We’re going to focus on Media Center here but there’s also support for retrieving guide data from TitanTV and Schedules Direct. Enter your postal zip code and country code into the input boxes provided. For example, the United States would be country code US, Great Britain would be GB and so on.

Next you’ll be given a list of guides available for your location. Choose the same guide you chose during your Media Center setup. If your using a custom channel lineup this makes things a bit more difficult as MC2XML currently only allows you to download a single lineup at a time. Settings are saved in a file in the same location as the program named mc2xml.dat.

Each time you run the program once you’ve setup your settings MC2XML will automatically load the .dat settings file and download your guide data. In order to use multiple locations you’ll need to use a command line switch to change .dat files. Create a shortcut for each location and establish separate files using the “-D <filename>” switch to set the .dat file and “-o <filename>” to set the output filename.

That’s all there is to it. You can find a complete listing of command line switches as well as the download for Windows, Linux and OSX on the official MC2XML website.

Be sure to check back with Hack7MC soon to cover the various uses for these XMLTV files!

To get started you’ll need to download and install Guide Tool on your Windows 7 Media Center machine. During installation Guide Tools installs a background program allowing you to access your listings remotely. Once installed on the Media Center machine you can install it on any other machine to access your listings remotely.

Upon first opening Guide Tool you’ll be asked to provide the name or IP of the machine you’d like to edit listings for. If editing listings on a local machine simply enter “localhost” otherwise you can enter the network name or IP address to connect remotely. It should be noted that Media Center must be running on the destination machine while using Guide Tool however.

Once connected you’ll get a your current lineup on the left hand pane along with the option to select any available listings for your area into the right hand pane. You can browse through the listings and assign the guide data from the right hand pane to channels on the left by selecting one from each pane and pressing the Subscribe button in the toolbar. Conversely, unsubscribe will clear the association or the dropdown Subscribe menu to automatically assign listings to a channel by number or name.

Guide Tool also allows you to rename and renumber your channels any way you’d like by using the left hand pane and the renaming tools found in the toolbar. Just select the channel you’d like to change and press the rename or renumber buttons. Reverting is as easy as pressing the appropriate button as well.

Perhaps the best feature of Guide Tool, however, is the ability to manage tuners assigned to specific channels. Merge channels available on different tuners by selecting the Merge Tuners button and you can merge all channels by number, name or guide subscription. Manage channels individually using the Merge and Split buttons to combine channels available on multiple tuners or split them into separate listings.

I’ll admit that at first I wasn’t convinced of the value of this tool, the built-in settings dialogs seemed sufficient, but that soon changed as I found an error in my own listings that had been giving me trouble for some time. Using Guide Tool made tracking down the problem unbelievably simpler than Media Center’s built-in tools. A problem I had suspected was driver related was in reality just an improperly split channel.

Guide Tool does have a few lingering issues however. The tool doesn’t yet work properly on 64-bit machines and selecting a channel in one pane removed the selection color on the other though it was still selected. The 64-bit issue is on the docket to be fixed in the near future though and Guide Tool has certainly cemented it’s position as an invaluable tool for Windows 7 Media Center users.

Now before we start, this is going to involve changing registry strings on a nightly basis and downloading updated guide information and packages from Microsoft. There is the potential for this to mess with your program guide or other parts of Media Center in unexpected ways. Also, there is a high chance of Microsoft changing the behavior of Internet TV to block this method in the future since Internet TV for Windows 7 is still in Beta 2.

The first thing you’ll need to do is open up Regedit (start –> “Regedit” –> enter) and locate your current GeoISO2 code. This is a simple country code indicator used by Media Center. Navigate to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\MCE.GlobalSettings

and take note of the value of systemGeoISO2. Next, download this package which contains two registry files and a cmd file and extract it to your root C:\ drive.

Now open up the Yourloc.reg file in notepad and edit the systemGeoISO2 value to match your current GeoISO2 code and save the file. As long as you’ve properly extracted all the files to C:\ that should be all you need, otherwise you’ll need to edit the cmd file as well with the location you’ve extracted the files to.

At this point right-clicking the cmd file and selecting Run as Administrator should take care of everything and you’ll have access to Internet TV (until the next guide update). The problem is that tomorrow you’ll need to run the program again. So at this point let’s setup a task schedule to do the work automatically for us.

In the start menu type “Task Scheduler” and press enter to open up the task schedule manager. On the right you’ll see a list of actions, select Create Task. Under the general tab give the task a name, description and be sure to set the options to run whether or not someone is logged in and run with highest privileges (on an administrator account) in Windows 7 mode.

If your account doesn’t use a password check the Do Not Store password option as well. Under the Triggers tab create a new trigger and set the program to run each morning before you get up.

Under the Actions tab add a new action to start the cmd program and that should be all you need to setup for this new task.

Now instead of having to run the program manually each morning the system will run it automatically with administrator privileges.

Hopefully that should be all there is to it for you Windows 7 Media Center users living outside the US. I haven’t personally done any extensive testing of this method being from the US so your mileage may vary. Be sure to check out the original tip from Ian Dixon and let him know how you get along with this hack!

Many of our readers most likely know that Theme7MC is our resource for downloading Windows Media Center themes but you should know that Theme7MC also provides channel logos for download and use with My Channel Logos as well. A few of our UK members have created color channel logo packs for download and are available now.

Users in the UK are lucky enough to have multiple sources of free television programming available and we also have multiple packages tailored to these services. The first of these packages is submitted by Jon and actually covers more than one service and includes including Analog, Freeview and Freesat and 132 channel logos.

The next package available is from Simon Tether and provides 66 channel logos available specifically for FreeSat users. Using channel logos from iconharmony and our guide here on Hack7MC for creating your own custom color channel logos, Simon has provided a quality icon pack for download.

Finally, the most recent submission we have a pack created by Robert Wilson with 67 high quality channel logos created for FreeView users. This high quality set looks excellent on dark backgrounds like the default dark blue of the Windows Media Center guide. Edited specifically for use in HDTV setups this set is a truly great addition to your channel logos lineup.

For even more on creating your own color channel logos for Windows Media Center check out our guide here on Hack7MC then be sure to upload your set to Theme7MC!

Special thanks to all those who create custom channel logo packs as well as custom themes for download to enhance the experience of all Media Center enthusiasts and provide them for download and use for free. If you’d like to contribute be sure to check out Theme7MC!