One Tip A Day » MCE

Increase Windows Media Center Live TV Buffer Size

Tony Williams — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 12:17:37 +0000

Ever paused a football match or tv show in Windows Media Center and then returned to find it playing rather than still paused? That’s because by default Windows Media Center only pauses live TV for 30 mins. This restriction probably made sense in the good old days of Windows XP Media Center, but now most media center users have GBs and TBs of storage to spare in their machines.

If you want to increase the size of the Windows Media Center Live TV buffer then there’s a great little app available called MCE Live TV Buffer Manager. Just install the app and you can increase the size of the MCE Live TV Buffer in 15 minute increments all the way up to 120 mins. The app works on all Windows Media Centers – W7MC, VMC etc

Download: MCE Live TV Buffer Manager

How To Play Lossless Music In Windows Media Center

Tony Williams — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 09:14:52 +0000

I’ve been slowly over the weeks re-importing my CDs to MediaMonkey in the lossless FLAC format as I now have tonnes of hard disk space to accomodate the better sounding, but larger music files. However, being able to play my music in Windows Media Center proved tricky until I found this great guide on the Lossless Audio blog.

To add support for lossless FLAC files to VMC or MCE then do the following:

1. Download and Install one of the FLAC Directshow Filters

These filters allow you to play FLAC files in Windows Media Player. The most popular being the Illiminable Directshow Filter.

Illiminable Ogg Directshow Filter

Core Flac Directshow Filter

2. Download and Install WMP Tag Support Extender

This plugin allows Ape, MPC, WavPack, OptimFROG, AAC, Flac and Ogg (read only) tags to be used in Windows Media Player and added to the library in Windows Media Center Edition. Be sure to use the latest version.

WMP Tag Support Extender

3. Configure the WMPTSE Plugin

Open WMP and go to Options. Click on the Plugin-Ins Tab and then choose the Background category. Then make sure there is a check in the box for the WMPTagSupportExtender Plugin and choose Properties.

Once in the Properties you can configure how the plugin refreshes the media library as well as additional Read/Write options. There is also a Refresh Now button for refreshing your library.

4. Open MCE/WMP and add new files to your library

Better results are obtained by using Add Folders instead of Scan for Media.

That’s it!

For more advanced advice on how to playing flac files then head on over to the Lossless Audio blog

10 Essential Free Vista Media Center Addons & Tweaks

Tony Williams — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:43:23 +0000

I’ve had a lot of fun customizing Windows Vista Media Center over the last couple of days. Here are the best 10 free tweaks and addons I’ve found for VMC that will allow you to get so much more out of your Windows Media Center.

My Movies 2: A free addon that automatically adds new movies that you add to your PC to your Windows Media Center library. It also downloads information about your movies from the My Movies WebService, including genre, actor, movie reviews and other information. More info

Vista Codec Packs: This codec pack is the only one you will need to install on your Vista PC. Not only does it support nearly every format known to man, there are no messy configuration screens. If you are a 32 bit user you just need to install the 32 bit version. If you are a 64 bit OS user then you need to install the 32 bit version AND the 64 bit version.

Remove annoying ‘Sample Music/Sample Videos/Sample Photos folders’: The annoying sample folders that Vista Media Center adds as a default, just refuse to die no matter how many times you say to ‘stop watching’. Unless, you follow these instructions. More info
Add Amazing Visualizations: Media Center visualizations suck – here’s one that doesn’t. More info

Show DVD Library: In VMC the DVD Gallery is not enabled by default like in Windows XP Media Center. A quick registry fix will take care of this problem. More info

Yougle: Watch Youtube Videos In Vista Media Center

Tony Williams — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 12:09:36 +0000

I’ve spent some time this weekend trying to improve the brilliant Windows Vista Media Center. One feature that VMC is lacking is the ability to watch Youtube videos. The problem was easily solved with a few google searches and I found Yougle Vista.

With Yougle Vista you can watch videos from Youtube, Google Video, DivX Stage 6, Daily Motion and WWITV within VMC. The interface is very easy to use and all videos play full screen. One drawback is that the link to Yougle Vista is within the program library, so I’m now searching for a way to add the link to ‘Pictures & Videos’ or ‘TV & movies’.

You have to register with the developer’s forums to download the file, which is a shame.

More: Yougle Vista

How To Remove Annoying Sample Music Folder From Vista Media Center

Tony Williams — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:08:01 +0000

If you’re a Windows Media Center user, then you are have probably given up trying to remove the annoying Sample Photos, Sample Music and Sample Videos folders. It took me ages to find a way to find out how to remove them permanently from MCE, and the solution I found in the end was very simple.

All I had to do was delete the following folders to permanently delete the Sample Music, Sample Photos and Sample Videos folders:

c:\users\public\public pictures\sample pictures
c:\users\public\public videos\sample videos
c:\users\public\public music\sample music

The change should be instantaneous.

Add My Movies To Watch DVDs In Windows Media Center

Tony Williams — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 14:00:28 +0000

One of my most popular posts explains how to enable the DVD Library in Windows Media Center. However, I’ve just found a better way to add and play DVDs within Windows Media Center.

My Movies 2 is a free addon that automatically adds new movies that you add to your PC to your Windwos Media Center library. It also downloads information about your movies from the My Movies WebService, including genre, actor, movie reviews and other information.

The service is relatively easy to setup. All you have to do is download nad install My Movies and it automatically adds itself to Windows Media Center. There’s even a version for Windows Home Server which is a bit trickier to install.

How To Auto-Logon To A User Account At Startup With Vista

Tony Williams — Sun, 27 May 2007 09:09:09 +0000

One of the annoying features of Vista is that because you have to create an account and a password for every other PC or device that you want to share files with. Because of this, everytime Vista all of these accounts are displayed, even if you don’t actually use them on the PC, and you also have to login everytime.

I spent sometime yesterday looking for a way to auto-logon to Vista, as having to login was really getting annoying on my Vista Media Center PC where I just wanted the PC to boot straight into MCE so that I could access my media. Having to login, meant I had to keep getting the keyboard out just to type in a password . I eventually found a way to setup Vista to automatically login to a selected account at startup.

Click on the Start button and type in ‘netplwiz‘. This will open the Advanced User Accounts menu
In the Users tab, highlight the account you want to login to Vista automatically with, and then untick ‘must enter a username and password to use this computer’
Click on ‘Apply’. A new window will now popup asking you to enter the password of the account you’ve just highlighted. Do this, and then click ‘Ok’
Click ‘Ok’ on the Advanced User Accounts menu to finish

Now, whenever you boot up, Vista will login automatically to your chosen account which is great if you are using a HTPC like me.

Top 10 FREE MP3 Utiliites That Money Can’t Buy

Tony Williams — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 18:17:48 +0000

I can’t remember the last time I played a CD – in fact I’ve given away most of my CD collection to a friend who had no music. All of music is stored on my computer, which I play either on my iPod or I stream onto my Xbox 360.

One of the problems with a large digital music collection, is that because so many sources have been used to add music (ripping CDs, downloads, bittorrent, iTunes etc) your collection can quickly get quite messy and unless you’re really on the ball with keeping your mp3s nice and tidy, then you can end up not being able to find the track you want to play as its not tagged correctly so you don’t even know which artist is singing a particular song.

Well, never fear. Here are The 10 Best FREE MP3 Utilities That Money Can’t Buy, that will allow you to get the most out of your music collection.

1. MusicBrainz Picard

MusicBrainz Picard is great if you have a really messy music collection. The latest version of Picard incorporates acoustic fingerprinting which will help you identify and tag unknown tracks, so at least you will now know what you are listening to! Tagging your music correctly is vital if you want to add artwork to your mp3s.
More: Musicbrainz Picard

2. The Filter

The Filter is a great iTunes plugin that automatically creates playlists when you select a few songs and click on the big black “F” button. So, rather than randomly browsing through your music collection The Filter can build playlists in seconds to fit your mood.The Filter is particularly great if you have a big music library, or you’ve downloaded a lot of music and you never get around to listening to it all. Now you can create playlists on the fly everyday for free in seconds.

More: The Filter

3. TuneSleeve

iTunes 7 makes a decent attempt at adding artwork, but it can’t add artwork if the ID3 tags are incorrect and it also doesn’t add the artwork to the ID3 tag which will mean the artwork won’t be displayed if you use anything other an iPod, or if you use another mp3 application.

The best way to add artwork without a doubt is TuneSleeve, which is the #1 app for adding artwork to iTunes music. TuneSleeve not only has a very intuitive interface allowing the best artwork to be selected or searched for, but it also adds the art to raw ID3 tag in the mp3 file so that all players can see the artwork.

More: TuneSleeve

4. itunesexport

iTunes is great at creating playlists and managing music, but what happens if you want to use those playlists in WMP or you don’t use a iPod? iTunes Export is the answer as it allows you to export iTunes Playlists to the standard .m3u file format, which nearly every other mp3 player uses. This great free tool lets you decide what playlists to export, and whether or not to include protected files.

More: iTunes Export

5. BadApple

Are you one of those ’special people’ who don’t have an iPod and use a different mp3 player? Well if you are, but you still want to use iTunes which is the best music player around, then this great little application could be the solution. BadApple is a free plugin that allows you to sync your iTunes library with any MP3 player. It works with many popular players including Creative Nomad, Dell DJ, Oakley Thump and Archos.

More: BadApple (link is in German – sorry!)

11 Killer Freebies For Your Pocket PC

Tony Williams — Tue, 07 Nov 2006 09:30:28 +0000

I’ve been using a Pocket PC for quite a while now. I think I’m on my fourth PDA.

One of the cool things about PDAs is the amount of cool free software you can pick up, if you know where to look. Luckily, Lifehacker has done most of the work for us and compiled a list of 11 of the best free apps.

I’ve used a couple of them before, like Orb which lets you stream audio and video from one PC to another–or, in this case, to a Pocket PC. If you have a XP Media Center Edition PC it will let you stream live TV or shows that you’ve recorded. The quality is excellent and I usually use Orb to stream shows to my bedroom, where I don’t have a TV.

Other great apps on the list include PocketMusic, which offers a better way of playing music than Windows Media Player 10 Mobile, Skype for Pocket PC that offers most of the desktop’s clients features. I use this to make free Wi-Fi calls, and I love it.

To get the full list click here.

How To Play iTunes Tracks In Windows XP Media Center Edition

Tony Williams — Sun, 05 Nov 2006 17:37:05 +0000

Windows XP Media Center Edition is great for watching movies and listening to music on your PC. The problem is though, it isn’t compatible with music you have in iTunes, which just happens to be the most popular PC mp3 player. Finally, there is a simple answer. MCETunes allows you to access your itunes music and play it in your living room.

The free version will only play unprotected music that lives in iTunes. The paid edition ($29.99) will play any music bought from the iTunes store. I think the guys are MCETunes haven’t done their research, as most people only have on average about 150 tracks from iTunes Music Store, with the majority of their collections obtained by other means….but, hey, it’s free right??!!

Unfortunately the current version doesn’t work with the Extender built into Xbox 360s, but registered users will receive a free update to an extender-enabled version automatically when it becomes available.

Click here to download MCETunes.