Windows Media Center

Shout out to the group at the Australian Media Center Community forum for figuring this one out. After Microsoft pushed out an Update last week, those of us that have customized our WMC menu's with Media Center Studio saw many of our customizations revert back to Media Center defaults. If you open Media Center Studio you should see that all your customizations are still there, they just don't appear in WMC anymore.

My native Movies tile, which I had removed and replaced with Media Browser, was back. Hulu which I had placed in the TV strip was also gone. Although I custom "Add-In's" tile I had created with tiles for Boxee and a few other items was still intact.

I found a fix at the Australian Media Center Community forum. The developer chimed in and said that a fix in Media Center Studio would be forthcoming eventually, but here is a fix for the time being.

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Some of you may be thinking, "what are  VIDEO TS folders and VOB files and why would I want or need to play them in Media Center?" VIDEO TS is the folder on a DVD movie. It holds VOB files that contain the contents of a DVD, such as video, audio, menus, extras, and even subtitles. Think of them as the file and folder structure of a DVD movie. By ripping these files to your hard drive and playing them in Media Center, it's just like having your DVD collection loaded onto your system. But, you don't have to go through the hassle of swapping discs.

We're going to take a look at how to play them in both the WMC Movies Library, and Media Browser plugin for Windows 7 Media Center. One of the many great things about Media Browser is it's ability to recognize and play not only VIDEO TS folders, but to Mount and play ISO files as well. You may want to check out my post on Media Browser for Windows Media Center if you aren't familiar with Media Browser. Even if you don't plan on watching Video TS or ISO files, it is still a great  way to manage and display your movies and TV shows in Windows 7 Media Center.

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There are things that Windows Media Center can't do, but Boxee can. That's what makes the Boxee Integration for Windows 7 Media Center 1.0 plug-in so great. For those of us that run a Media Center HTPC, this little plug-in allows us to access all the content from Boxee right through our media center remote. It comes from the same developer that created the Hulu Integration for W7MC plugin and works basically the same way.

Boxee gives you access to Last.fm, Pandora, MLB.TV, YouTube and numerous other content providers that don't come with Windows 7 Media Center. Plus, it works great with a Media Center remote.

Downsides: It doesn't work with extenders, which is a big bummer to those that use them. It basically minimizes WMC and then opens Boxee when you launch it, then closes Boxee and reopens when you exit. So, the process isn't totally seemless. Some may not really care for this, but it really doesn't bother me at all. The bottom line for me is to be able to do it all with a remote, which is really what the Boxee integration software brings to the table.

Here is my original write up at How-To Geek on the Boxee Windows 7 Media Center Integration 1.0 app. If you're ready to download it and check it out yourself, you can grab it here.

Want to integrate Hulu with Windows 7 Media Center? Check out my article on the Hulu Integration plugin, or just grab the software and dive right in. You'll need to install the Hulu Desktop application first.

This is a really nice feature if you listen to music on your Media Center HTPC. You'll need to initially setup rip settings in Windows Media Player (not WMC), but after you do that you can rip CDs to your Media Center library with nothing more than your MCE remote. Now if only you could train your pet to swap the CDs for you...

Read my full post on how to rip a music CD in Windows 7 Media Center at How-To Geek.

One feature missing from Windows 7 Media Center is the ability to customize the start menu by moving the tiles and strips around to better suit If your media habits. The only real way to do any of this type of customizing is being able to add Extras Library applications to the Main Extras strip. Enter Media Center Studio.This powerful application allows you to move around Media Center tiles and Menu Strips to your heart's content, and even add additional applications to Windows Media Center.

It should be noted right up front that this is a Beta application that does include some bugs. Another downside is that it includes zero documentation whatsoever and it isn't the least bit intuitive. However, it really is a great tool once you figure out how to use it.

Check out my full post at How-to Geek for a detailed look at how to use Media Center Studio to edit and customize your Windows Media Center menu. It should get you pointed in the right direction and hopefully save you a lot of time learning to use this program. Ready to dive right in? You can download Media Center Studio from the website.

Note: Media Center Studio can also be used to add Themes to Media Center, but I choose to attack that one in a separate post.

So... you are out to dinner and suddenly break out into a cold sweat because you realize that you forgot to record the latest episode of Lost. (Or, if you're me, the Simpsons). Relax. The good folks at FatAttitude have created a powerful remote recording application for Windows 7 Media Center called Remote Potato. And, not only will it allow you to record your favorite shows while you are on the go, it'll allow you to stream those recorded shows to your laptop or PC.

When I first took a look at this application back in late January (2010) I initially dismissed it as more trouble than it was worth. And truthfully, it probably was at that time. I was intruiged by what it could do, but it required extensive tweaking, which included configuring and using a third party EPG (electronic programming guide) instead of the built in guide in Media Center. However, the developers have been quite busy actively updating and improving on this application over the past few months. Now, you use the built-in guide, they've added streaming video (recorded TV) and are promising photo and music support in upcoming releases. The trickiest part of getting it setup now is configuring your router.

Check out my full post on Remotely Scheduling and Streaming Recorded TV in Windows Media Center with Remote Potato.