I’ve been running Windows 7 as my main Media Center system since the beta first released. As is the case with most enthusiasts, I like to play, even though my wife hates it. This playing can cause issues. I’m lucky because now I have a laptop to test software on and know that it works before putting on my main system.
The laptop thing happened just recently though and now I have to reinstall. While it isn’t that difficult of a task, it can be problematic due to the fact that no one in the house has access to media while I do it. When you centralize your media, this is one of the things that comes with it.
Here I’m going to walk through the install and Media Center setup process as it applies to me and will to most people. Again, this doesn’t have to be a complicated procedure, but I’ll do my best to spell everything out.
The first thing we’re going to do is install Windows itself. I again, am running Windows 7 and this installs like most other Windows OSs. I won’t spend much time here since most people can handle this part of it. One thing I like about Windows 7 though is the fact that it really works well at finding drivers for your hardware and installing them through Windows Update. With Vista, I’d spend 30 minutes swapping disks or running executables to install drivers. Now, Windows 7 finds all but 2 of mine and those I keep on the thumb drive for quick installation. Any that your install doesn’t find, get those loaded after running
Once you’re drivers are installed (including for any installed TV Tuners) it’s time to start setting up to run as a media center and for me, a server. The first step I take in doing this is setting up my libraries. This can be done in Windows Media Player, Windows Media Center, or right from the desktop. I do it from the desktop just because it’s fast and easy. If you bring up the “computer” window you can see the various libraries listed in the left-hand pane. Click each one, move to the right side of the screen and click where it shows the number of locations in the library. Here you can add folders. These can either be local or shared network folders.
Once you have your libraries setup the next place to head is right into Media Center. This is where you’ll probably have to do the most work to get things working the way you want, but again, it’s a relatively fast, easy process that shouldn’t be too difficult.
Media Center is first going to want you to run through the required setup. This is extremely fast and is really just setting up your internet connection and a few other tidbits. Afterward is when the “real” work begins. At this point it’s time to start turning this into a real Media Center by configuring our TV signal and recorded TV settings. Media Center walks you right through the process. If your tuner is installed correctly, Media Center should give you the option to setup TV on the TV strip on the main menu. Clicking this takes you through the process of setting up your region, installing PlayReady, and scanning your tuners for signals. Once it locates the type of tuner and the signal connected, the system will provide you the available tuner options that you can setup. In my case I have a hybrid analog and digital tuner. Even so, I only set up the analog side as I still have it connected to cable. By selecting my tuners manually, I’m able to skip setting up the digital tuner. After selecting the tuners you want used, you’ll choose your TV provider and Media Center will get your guide data and you should be all set. Optionally you can head to the setup and change where the system saves your recorded TV. Personally, I keep recordings on a separate hard drive so I go in and make the change.
The hard part is out of the way. From this point on, much of what you can do is optional. It can take some time for libraries to populate which is one of the reasons I set them up first. You can of course add plugins to Media Center which will help you expand the functionality, but for basic DVR, music and picture playback you should be all set.
If you read posts on The Green Button, here, or on other blogs, you might think that Media Center is something that takes a genius to run. This simply isn’t the case. Those of us who write blogs are more than likely on the geeky side and therefore tend to play with our systems. If you’re looking for something relatively simple and quick to setup which will provide you with TV (proper hardware of course), video, music and picture viewing capabilities, you can have Media Center up and running in less than 20 minutes depending on your setup. Don’t be intimidated. Even if you’ve never looked at Media Center before, go in and do a quick setup. Even without a TV tuner, you may find that you like using it for other things.