Hacking Windows7 MediaCenter

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

  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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Tagged As: featured, install, programs, settings, windows 7

Currently, in Windows 7 Media Center, there is no way to edit the default start menu items. In previous versions you were able to add items to the existing strips using a third party program, which made sense when adding a movie or TV plug-in. Unfortunately, Microsoft has gone to some lengths to disable this ability in 7MC. It is still possible to create a couple of custom strips in the start menu though.

The first step to getting your new menu strip is to choose what programs you want to be on it. These programs have to be already entered into the Media Center’s Extra Programs. You can find a guide on adding new entries to the Extra Programs using Media Center Launcher and Configurator right here. Once all the programs you want to launch from your new bar are installed open a registry editor (start > “regedit” > enter).

Once inside navigate to the following location in the left hand tree view:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Entry Points]

Listed under this key will be a number of id numbers. Each program inside Media Center will have a couple of unique keys to identify that particular program. To find the program(s) you want to add to the menu go through each entry and find the id that matches the title of the program. The title should be listed on the right hand side under an entry named “title”.

Create and Name the New Menu Strip

Once you’ve found the correct program entry select AppId, right-click and select “Modify..”. Now copy the AppId from the text box and close the box without altering anything. Now locate the following registry location:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Start Menu\Applications]

Then right-click and select “New > Key”. Paste the AppId we copied earlier into the Key name. Next, in the right hand window right-click and create three new strings: “Category, OnStartMenu and Title”. Also create one DWORD named “TimeStamp”.

Right-click to modify each value, setting Category to the name of your new strip and Title to the name to display in Media Center. OnStartMenu should be set to “True” and TimeStamp is a number value determining the position of the new strip in Media Center.

Add New Programs to the Menu Strip

Once this new strip has been created we need to add entries to it. Locate the following key:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Extensibility\Categories]

Right-click the key and create a new key under “Categories” with the same name as the Category you set in the last steps. Now go back to the proper key under “Entry Points” as we did above and copy the correct key (not the AppId, this time get the key by selecting Rename and copying from the text box). Then create a new key under your new category with the same name as the program’s Entry Point Id number. I know it sounds confusing, take a look at the image below for an example.

Set the Program Information

Under this new key we need to create five new string values: “AppId, Context, Description, Enabled and Title”. Also, create one Dword entry called “TimeStamp. Copy the AppId from the program’s Entry Points listing (AppId value in the right pane) then fill in the Title, Description and Context with any values you want. Title and Description will appear in Media Center while context seems to go unused at this time. The “Enabled” string should be set to “True” so that the item appears in the menu strip.

TimeStamp will control the position of each item in the menu, for example one (1) would be listed before two (2) in the strip. To enter Dword values as a regular number select the “Decimal” option on the right of the dialog.

Then Repeat!

To add more entries to your new menu strip simply add a new key under the category for each program you want to add and repeat the steps above. Each program should have a different AppId, Title, TimeStamp and Description.

If your new menu strip doesn’t appear double-check the Entry Point and App Id numbers for each entry. An improper number in any of these will cause the menu strip to not be shown.

Hopefully someone can create a little program to allow this to be done without all the registry mucking but until then this will do the job. If you do create a program be sure to drop a note in the comments so we can let the rest of the community know!

Stay tuned to Hack7MC for upcoming reviews on plug-ins to add to your new menu strip!

Written by MHealy | 5 comments

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Tagged As: configurator, featured, install, launcher, programs, settings, start menu, windows 7

The sheer number of media formats and codecs available today is enough to make anyone just turn around and walk away from Media Center for good. Luckily there are a few guides on Hack7MC that can help steer you in the right direction.

Ripping Your DVD Collection

The first step is choosing how to rip your DVDs from those annoying plastic donuts that get scratched up, banged up and lost. The MKV file format is one of the most popular for HTPC users. One of the best programs around for ripping your DVDs to MKV is Handbrake. Handbrake is a free open-source program that will never cost you a dime but is priceless to those of us ripping large DVD collections. Check out the Hack7MC guide on Bringing Your DVDs To Media Center to get started.

The MKV format isn’t playable through extenders however and if you plan to use one you may want to look at another option. Although Handbrake can encode in a number of popular formats, BitRipper can encode your movies into any format you have a codec installed for. This can make it one of the most valuable tools in your arsenal, giving you the ability to encode in any number of formats while future-proofing itself as well. This guide to Ripping DVDs with BitRipper should get you going.

Playing Your Collection – What Codecs?

Once you’ve chosen your ripping method, however, you still need to get those files to play nice with your HTPC setup. Finding the right codecs can be even more difficult than finding the right ripping software. The sheer number of choices is unbelievable. Fortunately, there a few that stand out above the rest.

For people looking for the simplest solution, generally they are looking for a codec pack. Shark007’s Codec Pack has become one of the most popular solutions for HTPC users. The benefit of this solution is that it just works. There is little to configure after installation and it plays all the most popular codecs right out of the box. To get started read the article on Playing MKVs in Media Center and your setup will be running in no time.

Many enthusiasts are adverse to using codec packs however, due to the lack of control over what is being installed. Many less worthy codec packs are bloated and can severely impact performance. The most popular solution to the bloated packs is to use FFDShow Tryouts. These small packages can play nearly every format and you have precise control over what is used. Installing these compact codecs is covered in MKVs for Minimalists on Windows 7. 

Configuring Your Codecs

The next step can be just as daunting as the first two for beginners. Configuring your codecs to perform properly is just as important, if not more so, than choosing the correct codecs.

For those that chose the FFDShow route, there are a few guides here on Hack7MC to get you going. This guide on Simple FFDShow Audio Settings can get your audio playback up to par. After looking that over you can move on to video settings with this guide on Using FFDShow Video in Media Center.

But what if something goes wrong? Well you should Check Your Codecs Using GraphStudio and if that doesn’t work you can always post a comment on Hack7MC!

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Tagged As: codec, dvd, programs, settings, windows 7

This tweak actually comes by way of MCEWorld. Sometimes you want the ability to tweak your skip interval settings, after all the average commercial break lasts about 2 minutes not 30 seconds. Maybe you’re obsessed with never overshooting your target and want to fine tune the length to something smaller. Perhaps you want the ability to rewind your half hour show to the beginning with just the touch of a button (probably a bad idea). Whatever the reason to tweak is fairly simple to employ.

First step is to open RegEdit, Window’s built-in registry editor, in administrator mode. To do this open your start menu and type “regedit” into the search box then press “ctrl+shift+enter.”

Once you’ve got the program open navigate to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\VideoSettings”.

To change the Skip Forward interval located the “SkipAheadInterval”. Double-click to open the dialog to modify the setting and select the “Decimal” option under “Base.” Change the value to whatever time you want.  The time is measured in milliseconds, default is 29000 or 29 seconds.

To change the Skip Backward interval locate the “InstantReplayInterval” and follow the same steps as above. The default for this setting is 7000 or 7 seconds.

Once you’ve finished setting the values to your desired amounts simply close the RegEdit program and restart your Media Center. That’s all there is to it!

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Tagged As: install, listing, settings, tv guide