Sure there’s nothing wrong with codec packs, Shark007′s codec pack is a wonderful product, but there is something to be said for keeping it simple as well. This guide will take you through the minimum steps to install a nice clean setup with the minimum software required to play MKVs and many other less popular codecs as well. For this [...]
The Digital Lifestyle has a video demonstration of using Windows 7 Touch-screen in Media Center that shows the ease of use and functionality of the feature. Touch-screen really seems to add a level of interaction to Media Center that isn’t possible with other input methods such as a remote. Check out the video below: Be sure to shoot over to [...]
Windows 7 includes a new system for organizing your personal files called “Libraries”. On the surface they seem to work much the same as the old system but a closer look reveals that, unlike the previous system where each user gets a documents, music and videos folder, libraries can include many different directories. These directories are important to Media Center [...]
Nothing kills a Media Center user like having to pull out the old keyboard and mouse just to sit in front of the TV and run some updates or install new software. Many have turned to a feature in Windows known as Remote Desktop Connection. This feature, though only included in some versions of Windows, provides an easy way to [...]
In this new age of digital distribution our ever growing pile of devices needs to be able to interconnect with one another unlike ever before. The time for proprietary software and voodoo tricks to get all your devices working happily together has come and gone (long gone!). Windows 7’s new “Play To” feature may just be the first step towards [...]
At times installing codecs for all your music, movies and what have you seems to be 30% science, 70% voodoo. Fortunately, there is a way to double-check our brew to make sure it’s running the way we originally intended. GraphStudio will allow you to load your media files and show you the codecs being used to render it. It will [...]
As a follow-up to a comment placed ealier in the “Adding Weather to Media Center” article I realized there is a bug I forgot to mention in the previous posting. This will undoubtedly only apply to the Beta builds of Windows 7 though it’s something we need to work around until a fix is released. It seems that certain MSI [...]
All too often perfectly good plug-ins get left by the wayside with their original designers moving on to other projects and interests and these programs are simply left to rot. Unfortunately this rot takes it’s toll over time with updates to the main program and even the under lying operating system. Recently, with the release of the official Windows 7 [...]
Also, check out our guide to MKVs in Windows 7 Media Center! Currently Windows Media Player and Media Center don’t include native file support for a number of lossless audio codecs including FLAC, OGG, and basically anything other than Microsoft’s own WMA files. There is a cure for this minor omission though so no worries. We suggest that 32-bit users [...]
Adding applications or games to the Extras Library is probably one of the most desirable features of serious media center users. Despite this Microsoft has neglected to add a simple and user friendly way to accomplish the task. It should be a simple task, go through a gui wizard, choose your desired app, and hit finish. Maybe in the future [...]
