Hacking Windows7 MediaCenter

What better way to celebrate Earth Month and Hack7MC’s new house warming than with a new Media Center theme? Featuring shots from the excellent background files of the same name from Deviant Art member vhm-alex. This theme features the two whales seen in vhm-alex’s works prominently in each of Media Center’s sections. Check out a few screenshots then download this theme to give it a shot on your Media Center.

Installation:

This theme doesn’t include an installer and may require you to take ownership of the ehres.dll file manually using the “Take Ownership” registry fix. Download and apply the registry file then navigate to “C:\Windows\ehome\” and right-click ehres.dll. Select “Take Ownership” to take ownership of the file.

Also, make a backup of your ehres.dll file and place it somewhere safe. The patch program should create a backup file named ehres Backup1.dll but there’s no reason to not keep an extra backup on hand.

Download the Flying Whales patch file below and copy the patch file to the “C:\Windows\ehome” directory. Right-click the patch file and select “Run as Administrator”. Inside the patch program select the start button to begin the patching process. Once complete launch Media Center to verify success.

Uninstallation:

Replace ehres.dll with the “ehres Backup1.dll” file created by the patch process. Alternatively, replace the file with the backup you created before applying the patch.

Download: Download Flying Whales Theme from Hack7MC (39.9mb)

Written by MHealy | 1 comments

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Tagged As: themes

Happy April Fools Day! Since it's meager beginnings earlier this year Hack7MC has grown quite a bit in it's following. I'd like to take a moment to thank all the faithful readers, subscribers and Twitter followers. Also to let you know that Hack7MC will be moving from Blogger.com to a more robust system using Wordpress on Dreamhost.

Hopefully, this will provide the opportunity to give you, our readers, more valuable resources through the site and take Hack7MC to even greater success. The downside is during this coming week there will likely be times where the new construction creates a few jams. Also, postings may be slightly slim this week as the transition will take a good bit of effort to accomplish.

Hack7MC will be back to normal in no time however, so stay tuned. There are a few special items that have been held back for such an occasion that should keep everyone happily hacking their Media Center boxes all week long. So be patient during this transition period and I hope you enjoy the benefits of the new Hack7MC soon!

Let us hear your thoughts in the comments and drop any tips or ideas you may have for a Wordpress based Hack7MC!

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Need to convert a video or two into a different format? Have some MKV files you’d like to play on an extender as MP4 files? Handbrake has the solution for you. Handbrake is a free, open-source program with more features for converting and encoding video than you’ll likely ever need. The interface, however, is easy enough to for basic users to jump right in.

To get started you’ll need to download and install a copy of Handbrake. It’s available for a number of platforms including Windows, OS X and Linux. Command line versions are available as well but for this we will be using the Windows GUI version. Once you’ve got Handbrake installed open up the GUI by selecting HandBrake from the programs menu.

Once inside the first thing we need to do is select the source video. To do this press the “Source” button in the toolbar then select “video file” from the drop down menu. Next set the output file in the Destination File input, you may either select the output type in the Save as type drop down box in the file save window or select the type in the main window.

After setting your source and destination files, make sure that the Format listed under Output Settings is set to the correct format. If you are converting videos to use on an extender it will most likely be necessary to select an MPEG-4 Codec on the video tab. Switch to the Video tab and select “MPEG-4 (FFmpeg)”. For converting to MPG4 to play on an extender these are the most compatible settings to use.

To begin converting a single file simply select “Start” from the toolbar. For multiple conversions you may want to setup a queue, which will allow you to add multiple source videos and output files to a batch process. Settings for each conversion can be set individually, simply press “Add to Queue” then go through the same steps for each video.

When you’ve finished adding videos to the queue, press the “Show Queue” button to bring up the queue listing. Check to make sure there are no errors in the listing, for instance non-alphanumeric characters in filenames will cause blank entries. These should be removed and re-entered so as to not cause problems in the process.

From the “Show Queue” window you have the option to begin the conversion process by pressing the “Encode” button. Alternatively, you can save or load Queues from the “Queue” drop down box. Also, you will be given the option to create a .bat file which can be executed from outside the Handbrake GUI. This .bat file can be used to run a scheduled task or for any other reason you may want to do a batch conversion without the GUI.

That’s all there is to doing some basic conversion using Handbrake. Simple to use with plenty of extra options, including advanced options for h.264 if you should choose to use a compatible codec. The ability to setup conversion queues and batch files for scheduled processing make the possibilities even greater. Include the fact that this is free, open-source software and there’s no reason to not give Handbrake a try.

You can use Handbrake to rip video from your DVDs too, check out this guide on Bringing DVDs to your Media Center with Handbrake!

Written by MHealy | 1 comments

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Tagged As: extender, handbrake, movie library, programs

Sometimes you just need a single Directshow filter, say an MKV splitter to use with the default Windows 7 codecs. Should you install a codec pack when all you need is a single splitter? Absolutely not! Maybe you just need an x64 video decoder capable of hardware acceleration. There’s no reason to download something you don’t need to get the functions you want from your current filter setup.

What you do need, is to get acquainted with a little resource on Sourceforge where you can download stand alone filters used in the popular Media Player Classic – Homecinema media player. This resource includes practically any splitter or decoder you might need in single serving sizes. No need to download that complete codec pack to get a single filter!

Finding the right filter for your needs can be slightly cryptic but not too difficult. First you should choose the correct platform, x86 or x64, or be sure to download and register both versions for maximum compatibility on x64 systems. You should be able to discern the type of filter from the filename of each download (especially if you’re looking for something specific). For instance, MPCVideoDec is the video decoder used in Media Player Classic which is capable of DXVA (GPU hardware acceleration).

Getting your filter registered can be slightly more difficult. You will need to extract the file to a location on your hard disk then open an elevated command prompt. To get an elevated command prompt simply open your start menu and type “cmd” then press ctrl-shift-enter. Once inside type the following: “C:\Windows\system32\regsvr32 FILELOCATION”, replacing FILELOCATION with the location of the extracted file. For registering x64 filters do the same except use: “C:\Windows\sysWOW64\regsvr32 FILELOCATION”.

To uninstall a previously installed filter follow the same steps to launch an elevated command prompt then enter “C:\Windows\system32\regsvr32 /u FILELOCATION” or “C:\Windows\sysWOW64\regsvr32 /u FILELOCATION” depending on the version.

Those are all the steps to download and install individual filters from the Media Player Classic – Homecinema project for use in your DirectShow setup. As long as no errors occurred during the process the filters should be installed and ready to use.

Need more? Take a look at Clearing Up the Codec Confusion for a more complete guide to setting up your codecs and filters!

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Tagged As: codec, graphstudio, install

You probably want the best quality audio for your CD rips for playback on your Media Center setup, who wouldn’t? Ripping audio to FLAC is the preferred method for storing audio CDs without losing any of the original detail. FLAC is known as a lossless codec, meaning there is no loss in quality between the original CD and the FLAC file, unlike MP3 which can degrade the quality quite a bit.

How do we get that data off the disk and onto our drives though? Simple, a program called Exact Audio Copy. This apply named program will take the pure audio from your disk and encode it to FLAC without much hassle at all. It even includes the ability to retrieve disk information from freeDB and some fairly advanced error correction (for those less than new CDs).

Getting started is easy, just download and install Exact Audio Copy then run the program. An initial startup wizard will appear asking you to set some of the basic options. During this you should let EAC know that you’ll be encoding to FLAC not MP3. Also, entering your e-mail address is required to retrieve information about CDs from freeDB.

Once the initial setup has been completed insert a disk into the drive you setup as the default during configuration. After a few moments EAC should display a listing of al the tracks on the disk in the main window. You’ll notice that none of these tracks have any tag information and EAC will most likely want to process offset information on a first run. Go ahead and let that happen and any gap processing EAC would like to run.

Now to retrieve information for this CD automatically you can press the CD icon in the toolbar to access freeDB. As long as freeDB recognizes the disk you’ve loaded it should automatically retrieve artist, title and track information. Otherwise, you can edit basic information in the main EAC interface before ripping.

To begin ripping the CD to separate FLAC files you just need to press the MP3 button on the left. This slight confusion in the interface can cause some trouble for new users but the button will use your default compression mode, MP3 or not. There are also options available to rip the disk to a single or multiple uncompressed WAV file(s) with or without a cue file. Unfortunately, at this time WMP and Media Center do not support cue files.

During encoding you can monitor the process through a small dialog displaying the progress of the current track, the entire disk and any problems that arise in the Status box. You will also be able to monitor any error correction taking place through the small red grid box on this window. Any error processing will appear as a progress type display in the box.

Once the encode has completed that’s all there is to getting the audio from the disk to your hard drive. You’ll need to follow the guide on Playing FLAC Files in WMP and Media Center before you will have access to them in those programs. Then just sit back and enjoy your high quality lossless encoded audio!

Get more control over audio in Media Center with this guide on Using FFDShow Audio in Media Center!

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Tagged As: flac, music library, programs

Continuing to get your movie collection in order you may find yourself wanting to change order encodes such as AVI or MP4 files into an MKV format. For instance, the easiest way to bypass the new Windows Media Foundation framework inside of Media Center is to use a non-native format such as MKV. Of course, this will also break support on Media Center Extenders as most often they will not support the MKV format.

Converting each movie from it’s current format to another using traditional means can be a task that many would give up before even starting. The idea of converting each file one by one can be daunting for those with large collections. That’s where these files and guide can come in handy. This will enable you to do a batch processing of AVI and MP4 files into MKV files.

Get the tools

Before we get started you will need a couple of items downloaded and installed. The first of which is MKVToolnix, this set of tools will provide the command line program used by the .bat file to convert any AVI or MP4 files which don’t include WMA audio. Install the program using the installer provided on the MKVToolnix website.

Second, this zip file, which includes a .bat file and a directory which should be placed in your movies directory. Also, these files are marked “Hidden” by default and necessity, you’ll need to enable hidden items which you can find instructions for here.

Getting Started

Once you have installed MKVToolnix and extracted the zip file to your movies directory you will need to move all your AVI and MP4 files to the main directory if they aren’t there already. The simplest way to accomplish this is to enter a search in Windows Explorer for .avi/.mp4 and cut/paste into the main directory.

This is done due to the fact that the .bat file doesn’t use recursive directory codes. There are four different versions of the batch file included in the zip.

1. Just Convert – Will convert any AVI and MP4 files to MKV
2. Convert and Move - Will convert to MKV then move to a directory with the same name as the file's name
3. Convert and Delete - Wil convert to MKV then delete the original AVI/MP4 files
4. Convert, Move and Delete - Will convert to MKV, move to folders then delete the originals

During conversion, if the file is able to be converted by MKVToolnix’s MKVMerge it will be. This is the fastest method of converting the files to the MKV format as it simply re-muxes the file into an MKV. If the original file uses WMA for audio, however, the conversion will not occur with current versions of MKVToolnix. Support for these files is planned for later versions.

Also, included is a version named simply “avitomkv.bat”. This version includes the ability to convert files encoded with WMA audio by using the HandbrakeCLI from Handbrake.fr. This version is the most robust as it will re-encode all files, however, during this process the original files are deleted. This isn’t optional in this version and is irreversible, use with extreme care!

Stick with Hack7MC

Hopefully, this guide will get anyone looking to do a batch conversion of their media where they need to go. This little .bat file saved me much time recently converting a sizable collection of AVIs to MKV in order to circumvent Windows Media Foundation in Media Center.

Check out more Tips to Organizing Your Movie Collection on Hack7MC!

Written by MHealy | 3 comments

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Tagged As: codec, matroska, mkv, movie library, windows media foundation

Have a multipart video you’d like to merge into a single MKV file? MKVToolnix has just the tool for you! Using this handy little app you can pack those multipart AVIs, MP4s, even MKVs and more into a single MKV video file. Just choose the part and let it do it’s thing. MKVToolnix’s MKVMerge GUI takes what could be an otherwise painful task and makes it simple as can be.

To get started download and install the MKVToolnix program from the MKVToolnix website. This amazing little open source product comes in a variation for almost every platform. Once you’ve got it install run the MKVMerge GUI from the programs menu to open the merging program. The interface is simple for beginners but has enough features to satisfy most any user.

For the basic user, getting started is as simple as adding the separate parts of your video to the input files box using the “Add” button to the right. The file will be read by the program and display the track information below in the “Tracks” box. Separate video and audio tracks should appear for each part added to the input files. Currently, MKVMerge doesn’t support WMA audio however and can’t be merged. An error will appear in the tracks section if this occurs.

From here just set the output filename in the input at the bottom of the dialog and press “Start Muxing” to begin the merge. No flash, no fuss, this is one of those apps that just works and that’s the best kind.

For more advanced users (or perhaps just more demanding) there are also options to include attachments, split files, set chapters and more. All for the same basic interface you have the ability to attach subtitle files and set chapters for your MKV files. There really isn’t much you can’t do with MKVMerge if you have the time or desire to do so.

Once the process has started merging the files into a new MKV file takes almost no time at all since re-encoding isn’t required to create the new file. This narrows the time spent converting videos down from hours to mere minutes, especially nice for those with larger collections need work. In a matter of minutes MKVMerge will spit out your fresh new MKV file.

This really is one of the simplest programs available and the ability to simply remux videos into MKV as opposed to converting them frame by frame is a godsend. Time is precious, save yourself some time by using MKVMerge from MKVToolnix and you won’t regret it. Best of all it’s free!

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Tagged As: matroska, mkv, programs

Windows 7 introduces some additional functionality to a feature that was added in Windows Vista, Windows Media Foundation. The goal of the Windows Media Foundation is to ease control of media playback for developers. The idea is to remove the need for individual codecs and instead rely on a single Windows package for media playback, much like DirectX does for game platforms.

In Windows 7, as noted on Microsoft MSDN, there have been some additional changes made to the Windows Media Foundation framework.

What's New in Windows 7

Microsoft Media Foundation was introduced in Windows Vista as the replacement for DirectShow. Of course, DirectShow is still supported in Windows 7, but developers are encouraged to use Media Foundation in their new digital media applications.

The improvements to Media Foundation can be summarized as follows:

• Better format support, including MPEG-4
• Support for capture devices and hardware codecs
• A simplified programming model
• Improvements to the platform

We are all fairly well aware that Windows 7 includes native support for certain formats, such as H.264, and it does this through the use of Windows Media Foundation. Media Center and Windows Media Player have both been updated to use this new framework in Windows 7. The benefit is added support for a number of codecs out of the box.

There is, however, a downside to this new implementation. The protected pipeline used in this new framework doesn’t allow outside access to user installed codecs for native formats by default. For instance, if you wanted to use FFDShow to decode avi files, which are natively supported by WMF. This means much like the (often indefinite) wait for x64 codecs and splitters users will once again be put to the sidelines to wait for updated decoders that use WMF.

Current work-arounds for this situation have led users to renaming system files and other chicanery in order to get their favorite codecs working through Media Center. In more recent versions of Windows 7’s beta, however, the ability to accomplish this hack has been crippled. The consensus seems to be that as of beta 7057, the rename hack no longer works.

It seems that once again users may be forced to wait on new solutions to the codec problem that have already been hard suffered for Windows Vista Media Center users. It seems we may once again be at the whim of those gracious programs who take it upon themselves to better Microsoft’s meager implementations and give us a little more control of our media.

Expect updates on Windows Media Foundation and Windows 7 Media Center in the near future. Keep up to date on the situation by subscribing to the Hack7MC RSS Feed or by following on Twitter.

Written by MHealy | 6 comments

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Tagged As: ac3filter, codec, ffdshow, windows 7, windows media foundation

The ability to backup and restore your recording schedule and guide listings in Media Center is something that will be necessary at some point for almost anyone. Unfortunately, up to this point Media Center doesn’t make it easy for the end user. On the bright side it isn’t very complicated either, you just need to know where to look.

Back ‘Em Up!

To begin with, Media Center creates backup files every time you schedule a new show or make modifications to the guide listings, you just need to find them. To get to the files you will need to enable the viewing of hidden folders, then open Windows Explorer and navigate to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome (by default). Inside you will find a folder, or series of folders, for each tuner you have installed marked “mcepgX-X-X”. Inside each of these folders you will find a backup folder containing backup files for listings, recordings, and subscriptions.

For each type of backup there will be a number of files inside named with a timestamp. The timestamp format is as follows:" “year month day – hour minutes seconds”. This makes it very simple to locate your most recent files. Luckily the files aren’t large at all however and you could easily backup the whole lot in most cases. For restoring the recording schedule only the latest file in recordings is needed.

Put ‘Em Back!

Once you’ve completed your reinstall of Windows 7, open Media Center and run through the setup as usual. Assuming no hardware changes or driver changes between reinstalls we should be set to continue. Retrieve your backup recordings file and copy it to your hard disk.

The file doesn’t need to be anywhere specific but placing it in the backups folder in your new “C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\eHome\mcepgx-x-x\” directory is probably a best practice. Now we will need to tell Media Center we’d like to load the information from the file. This is done through a program included in Windows 7 called “loadmxf” located in the “\Windows\ehome\” directory.

You can either open a command prompt by typing “cmd” into the start menu box or create a shortcut with the following text: “C:\Windows\ehome\loadmxf.exe –i FILELOCATION”. Replace the FILELOCATION with the location of the file to be loaded.

If using a shortcut, double-click to execute the command before continuing. Otherwise the recording schedule should be loaded into Media Center now. Loading lineup and subscription data from previous installs breaks things currently, so don’t do it!

Load ‘Em Up!

Once you’ve loaded the files back into Media Center you can see that your shows will be listed under series’ in Recorded TV’s Scheduled Recordings but no shows will be scheduled yet. Before we can load these you should be sure to have your channel lineup completed in the Media Center TV Guide. To get the proper times for each scheduled show you will need to reload Guide data.

To do this go to “Tasks > TV > Guide > Get Latest Guide Listings” and wait for the guide data to finish downloading. Then re-check your scheduled shows in Recorded TV. You should now see shows listed on the schedule to be recorded.

Congratulations. You have successfully backed up and restored your scheduled recordings.

Rawhide!

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Written by MHealy | 5 comments

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Tagged As: featured, listing, settings, tv guide, windows 7

Though we’ve looked at this handy program for adding channel logos to your Windows Media Center TV Guide when it was first released, it has undergone a number of improvements and increased support since it’s release. Since it’s initial offering, My Channel Logos has added the ability to detect affiliate stations such as those associated with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX. Quite a few extra channel logos have been added for various countries, auto-populating logos has been optimized and support for Dish Network has been introduced as well.

To get rolling with My Channel Logos download the program from the website and install. This is also an improvement over previous version which didn’t include an installer. Once up and running, you’ll need to set the area your in from the “Edit > Preferences”. If you haven’t set up your tuner yet, you will need to do that as well prior to running My Channel Logos. Once set up the program practically runs itself.

Under most situations, hitting the Auto Populate Logos button will automatically assign logos to any stations it has logos for. This function has been improved over previous versions by checking for affiliate station information, allowing the program to detect the proper logos for those cryptic call-signs used by local stations. Assigning custom logos to any station is as easy as clicking the black box area and selecting an image of your choice.

This version of My Channel Logos even includes options to set the default location of channel logos in the guide via the preferences. Buttons on the right will also allow you to clear logos from any station or even remove all channel logos as before. Removing all channel logos should reset your TV guide setup back to it’s default state. There’s no need to save once a logo has been assigned as this is done automatically by the program.

Getting setup with My Channel Logos is one of the easiest and most rewarding hacks you can do to your Media Center. With added support and logos for a number of countries and fixes to the program itself this new version is even better than ever. Be sure to check out this program today and add that missing something to your Media Center TV Guide.

Get even more from your Media Center with these 5 tips to refreshing your setup for the spring!

Written by MHealy | 3 comments

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Tagged As: plugins, programs, tv guide

The latest update to Media Browser, the popular movie library add-on for Windows Media Center, gives the plug-in a bit of a facelift. Though not enabled by default a new theme has been added to the options inside Media Browser. If you haven’t tried this wonderful program yet now is the perfect time to do so. Download the latest version of Media Browser from mediabrowser.tv’s forums.

Once you’ve got a copy of the latest version of Media Browser installed you will need to enable the new theme from inside the plug-in. At this point the configuration program included with Media Browser is fairly slim but hopefully at some point it will include more configuration options outside of Media Center. Instead, open up Media Browser inside Media Center’s Extras Library then click the small wrench icon to open the configuration then Navigate to the themes section and select Vanilla from the Visual Themes.

Once you’ve got your theme set to Vanilla you’ll notice a drastic difference in Media Browser’s appearance. This new theme adds quite a bit to the visual style of Media Browser’s various view options. All the view styles have been converted over to the new Vanilla theme including a new view specifically for Vanilla called Strip. Most of the options from the default Media Browser theme are available through the wrench icon in the Vanilla theme, however, to have access to the wrench from folder views you will need to enable it from the config options under Vanilla.

Under the new Vanilla theme, fan art is a much more prominent feature of each view. You will immediately notice that, while the default theme kept fan art fairly low key, this new theme displays fan art as a full screen background to each view. Though some of the views are much better suited to this new style than others such as the recently introduced Coverflow view.

To have access to the sort and filter functions you will once again need to have the wrench icon displayed on each view. This can be somewhat distracting depending on the view style though it is apparent that consideration was taken to custom tailor the wrench placement for each view. Once you have the icon displayed clicking it will bring up the options for sorting and filtering the current view.

This new theme definitely adds a lot of flair to the Media Browser interface and is a welcome addition to the default package. There are a few issues with the theme that I would like to see addressed, however. Adding a better integrated method of accessing the sort and filter options being first on the list. Secondly, on certain views the selection box contains a blue background which can be distracting. This is of course done due to the fan art backgrounds and to increase readability of the title, though simply shading the box with a semi-transparent dark background may be better suited to the theme.

The new Vanilla theme, included as the main feature in the eleventh beta release of Media Browser, is a definite win for Media Browser users. The slick new interface and prominent fan art placement adds much to the cool-factor of Media Browser. The few minor issues with this new theme are easily overlooked in favor of the hot new look and shouldn’t turn off many users of the plug-in. Be sure to go download Media Browser and give it a try if you haven’t already!

Keep up to date on new developments and Media Center plug-ins by subscribing to the Hack7MC RSS Feed! Also, be sure to become a member of Hack7MC Friend Connect from the top of any Hack7MC page.

Written by MHealy | 3 comments

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Tagged As: media browser, movie library, plugins

Converting MKVs to DVR-MS is the best way to guarantee full compatibility with any extender. Since DVR-MS is the default file type for all pre-Windows 7 (and TV Pack 2008) TV recordings, the file format will have no problem with playback on any Windows Media Center Extender. The DVR-MS file format will also preserve surround sound and full resolution of the MKV files being converted.

Get the Tools

To do this conversion we’ll use DVRMSToolbox which can be downloaded from Andy VT’s Blog. The latest version of DVRMSToolbox will include all the programs we need to do the conversion from MKV to DVR-MS for our Media Center Extender.

The profile for DVRMSToolbox was developed by Ben of Engadget HD with help from Warren Wiltshire of Seagull Consulting. Be sure to head over there and check out Engadget HD as they have lots of great home theater related articles each day.

Let’s Get Started

Once you’ve downloaded and installed DVRMSToolbox launch DVRMStoMPEGSettings from the start menu programs. We will need to tell the profile that we aren’t just working with TV series files and instruct it to not send all the files to Recorded TV.

Since we aren’t exclusively using TV series’, locate “Convert MKV to DVR-MS – mencoder” in the profile listing then press the “Edit Profile” button. Select the line that reads “Read metadata from TvDB and build Sage XML file” and click “Configure”. Check the “ContinueOnFail” checkbox and click OK.

Next locate the line reading “Move file specified in Context(‘OutputFile’) to …” and select it then hit “Configure”. Uncheck the “UseRecordedTVPath” checkbox and double-click the DestinationPath dialog box to set the output directory. This will prevent each converted file from being moved to the Recorded TV directory. Alternatively, you could also simply remove this step from the conversion profile. Once this is done, save the profile and exit DVRMSToolbox Settings.

After saving the conversion profile you should be able to convert non-TV series files to DVR-MS. Open DVRMStoMPEGGUI from the start menu programs. Once inside, double-click the Input File dialog box and select the MKV file you want to convert (you will need to change the file types dropbox to “All Files (*.*)”). Then set the output file name by double-clicking the Output File dialog box and setting the “Save as Type” dropbox to DVR-MS.

Inside the main window set the Process Priority, the higher the priority the faster the transcode should take place. Setting the priority to “Realtime” is not suggested, however, as this can cause system instability. In the Profile dropbox select the “Convert MKV to DVR-MS – mencoder” profile and make sure the “Use Selected Profile” checkbox is marked.

Press “Run” to begin the conversion. This process can take quite a bit of time to complete and doesn’t scale well with multiple core systems. The resulting DVR-MS file will most likely take up more space than the original MKV file as well. Any MKV files that have been converted can be deleted after the process is completed.

That’s all there is to converting your MKVs to DVR-MS using DVRMSToolbox. You should now be able to play the converted file on any Windows Media Center Extender.

Be sure to leave a comment on your experience and tips for using DVRMSToolbox and Media Center Extenders below or in the Google Friend Connect at the top of each page!

Written by MHealy | 5 comments

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Tagged As: dvrms, extender, matroska, mkv

Getting your movie collection into order, especially when you’ve got a rather large one, can be quite the chore. Each movie needs to have it’s own folder, cover art and synopsis information. Getting these to cooperate with Media Center’s native AMG information grabbing can be equally tricky. These tips can get you on your way to a great looking movie collection inside Media Center’s native Movie Library as well as the popular movie plug-in Media Browser.

Get some structure

The first step to getting your collection into shape is to get your folder structure together. If all your movies are just clumped into a single folder there’s a simple .bat file that can get things into top shape. Just download this movie organizing .bat file and place it in your movie folder. It will take the filenames of your movies (and any extra subtitle or similar files), create a directory with the same name and place all the files inside.

Find cover art and details

Finding cover art and synopsis information for each of your movies is going to be slightly trickier. There are several tools which can assist in getting the proper files downloaded, though many of them don’t quite work as well as they did in Vista Media Center.

The first such tool, DVD Library Manager, works fairly well for retrieving cover art and even editing the details of each movie. DVD Library Manager can automatically retrieve movie information from Amazon or IMDB, including the ability to save cover art as a folder.jpg file to each movie’s folder. This handy little tool can save quite a bit of time but the xml files created aren’t compatible with all features of Media Center, such as AMG information retrieval.

To get the most out of the native Movie Library you will need to use a resource like DVDXml.com. Sign up for DVDXml.com to be able to search for and download Movie Library compatible XML files for each of your movies. Downloading one of these XML and placing it in each movie’s folder will allow Media Center to automatically retrieve cover art and movie details, including AMG information. Though this method does produce better results in the native Movie Library it does not allow you to edit the details. Choosing the right solution for you, or a combination, is key to getting the best of your collection.

Extra tips for Media Browser

For those of us using Media Browser for our movie collections there are a few additional steps we can take to beef up our collection’s display. For instance, add actor images to the movie actors display inside Media Browser using ImagesByName and the collection of images already compiled by the group on Google Code. Go even farther and add encoding information to Media Browser by using the MediaInfo project and adding the right .dll to your Windows system directory.

While you’re at it you may also want to take a look at your TV series  collection inside of Media Browser. Take a look at MediaScout, this handy program will help you retrieve all your series information in one easy to use application. Recent build of MediaScout even add support for movie collections, though it’s not as beefy as some other options.

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Once you’ve gone through these steps you should be well on your way to having a more enjoyable movie collection on your Media Center. Restart Media Center to find your newly organized movie collection along with cover art and synopsis information. Media Browser users of course will have a few added features over the native Movie Library. Either way you go you’re movie library will be looking good from now on.

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Written by MHealy | 2 comments

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Tagged As: featured, install, media browser, movie library

  If you’ve been reading Hack7MC regularly you’ve probably noticed that a number of tools are used quite frequently. This quick list will get you on your way to doing some Media Center Hacking of your own in no time.

Find those Hidden Folders

By default, many of the folders Media Center uses to store data are hidden from the user. To get instant access to these folders in Windows Explorer, open Control Panel then Folder Options. On the View tab, scroll until you see the Hidden Files and Folders Section. Set this option to Show Hidden Files, Folders and Drives.

Take Control of Your Files

By default, Windows will lock the user out of access to certain system files, including many of those that affect Media Center. To get around this we can use the “Take Ownership” registry fix which allows us to right-click any file and take control. Just download the fix and double-click to apply it to your machine.

Always Make Backups!

Before getting into the programs used to hack Media Center’s system files it’s important to note you should always make backups. There is absolutely NO REASON to not take the time to place a copy of those files you’re editing in a safe folder. This can save you more time and headaches than all the others Media Center hacks combined.

A Few Good Programs

Now that we have access to all those hidden and locked files and folders let’s get a few programs to let us into the meat of those files. First we need to open a few .dll files to get to the good stuff inside.

Restorator is the perfect program for editing Media Center’s dll files. This program gives you the ability to extract the image and xml files contained inside each dll. Although there are many other choices in resource editing programs, Restorator is a perfect choice for it’s ability to work natively with PNG files used frequently in Media Center.

Once you’ve extracted those files from the dlls using Restorator, you’ll need a few good tools to edit them as well. One of the main types of files besides PNG files, which can be edited in most any image editor, are XML files. These can be edited in notepad but there’s a better way.

XML Notepad 2007 is a program from Microsoft that is free to download from the Microsoft Download Center. This program will simplify the way you work with XML files by breaking them down into an easy to navigate tree view. This setup is perfectly suited for edit Media Center’s XML files and the price tag can’t be beat.

Once you’ve got the tools you’re ready to set out on your own to try out a few Media Center modifications of your own. To find the bulk of Media Center’s files make your way to \Windows\ehome\ in Windows Explorer. The database and packages for Media Center are typically stored in \ProgramData and Users\Username\AppData folders. Just poke around, make sure you’ve got backups and have fun but remember who sent you! Let me know if you come up with a great new hack at mhealy@hack7mc.com and share it with the community.

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