Microsoft Media Center

stackeye

Hi all

I am converting an old PC into a Media Center Pc, I have connected it wirelessly to my new Pc and am sharing divx files across the Lan, I have my old Pc hooked up to my Tv and can watch divx movies on my tv, I have XP on the old machine but no Microsoft Media Center, how do I go about getting Media Center or is there an equivalent program out there, I will eventually add a TV tuner and try get the Ntl Digital setup but for now my main concern is getting a media center program and wondering whats the best why to add remote control support, is it best to buy a tv tuner with an accompanying remote control?



Also this is another issue, I have vista on my new Computer with Media Center, but when I go into my video library where my divx files are - certain files crash media center, I have moved some files into different folders to isolate them but it seems to be random, has anybody come across this before

Thanks

SouperComputer

I am converting an old PC into a Media Center Pc, I have connected it wirelessly to my new Pc and am sharing divx files across the Lan

One to one on a wireless networkis fine, anything more than that and you will run may bandwidth and latency issues.

have my old Pc hooked up to my Tv and can watch divx movies on my tv, I have XP on the old machine but no Microsoft Media Center, how do I go about getting Media Center or is there an equivalent program out there

You can buy either XP MCE or Vista. However you can run GB-PVR or MediaPortal on your existing windowsXP installation. If you want full scaleability, MythTV is the best way to go, but the backend is Linux only.

will eventually add a TV tuner and try get the Ntl Digital setup but for now my main concern is getting a media center program and wondering whats the best why to add remote control support, is it best to buy a tv tuner with an accompanying remote control?

Most bundled remotes are pretty lame. Best to just go with MS's MCE remote. It also comes with IR blasters to control you NTL/Sky box.

stackeye

Cheers for the reply SouperComputer

I've just installed XP Media Center, Its working fine on my old machine, I have loaded the shared files over the Lan with all the divx files on it and unlike Vista MCE it doesn't crash when you open them,

I will get the MCE remote off Komplett in the next few days, now Im looking for a TV tuner that I can connect my Ntl Digital box to, nothing to expensive, Does anybody know of a good one?, Is it harder to setup Ntl Digital or Analogue in MCE?

lodgepole

stackeye wrote:

I will get the MCE remote off Komplett in the next few days, now Im looking for a TV tuner that I can connect my Ntl Digital box to, nothing to expensive, Does anybody know of a good one?, Is it harder to setup Ntl Digital or Analogue in MCE?

I bought off this seller on ebay, it works out about €15 cheaper than Komplett. Came very quickly too. Got the recomendation from boards.ie too.

A bit strange that Vista MCE is crashing divx movies, does that happen with any media player on the same computer?

stackeye

Lodgepole wrote:

A bit strange that Vista MCE is crashing divx movies, does that happen with any media player on the same computer?

Cheers for that

Its only Media Center that crashes, I have the same library on XP and Vista MCE but only the Vista MCE crashes, On my Vista machine no other media player crashes when playing any of the files, I would use Media Player 11 as my default player, The problem only happens when I go into the Video library in MCE and then I head into the folder with all the divx files, when its working to display the thumbnails the screen flashes and the shuts down, I can play the files if I get in there quick enough

8T8

Sounds like a codec/graphics driver combo problem (Vista uses the GPU to draw the UI so video is tied more closely to display driver now as well).

Remove whatever codecs you have installed, then download and install the CCCP codec pack.

Next step is to update the display driver what type is it ?

stackeye

I have a NVidia 7900 GS, its a real pain in Vista, Nvidia haven't come out with the drivers that will turn down the fan when in normal windows mode, I have to do it manually in Ntunes, There are alot of people in my position with this issue, I have the latest beta drivers from Nvidia 158.24, I will give the above a shot

ebowdia

I had the exact same problem and solved it recently by upgrading the installed "FFDSHOW" codec as described here: http://thegreenbutton.com/forums/thread/136935.aspx

8T8

CCCP = ffdshow though it is a fork of the original project, there is also ffdshow tryout which is the bleeding edge development of ffdshow either will do for Vista.

NVIDIA drivers... I understand your pain which is why I put in an ATI card into my HTPC running Vista you could try uninstalling the driver through it's own uninstall mechanism and then re-install the driver but that's about it.

stackeye

Cheers for the help, the CCCP thingy worked a charm, the thumbnails load and it doesn't crash, happy days