For most Windows Vista users, Media Center is unknown territory. Unleashing Microsoft® Windows Vista® Media Center shows both newbies and experienced Media Center users how to use Media Center to experience music, photos, videos, movies, TV shows, and games in a whole new way. Windows Vista Media Center takes full advantage of the latest multimedia features: widescreen displays, HDTV, and Media Center Extenders. Mark Edward Soper shows you how to use these and other new and improved features to make the most of your Windows Vista multimedia experience. You won’t find a single book that devotes this much attention to Media Center. Unlock your PC’s hidden multimedia talents and turn your office, living room, and whole home into a multimedia paradise that will leave your friends drooling.
Unleashing Microsoft® Windows Vista® Media Center is your indispensable guide to Vista Media Center! Here’s a sample of what you’ll find inside
Complete coverage of every feature of Windows Vista Media Center
Learn how to import video, photos, and music to enhance your entertainment experience
Discover better TV viewing and recording with new support for HDTV signals
Share the fun of Windows Vista Media Center with Media Center Extenders
Create customized CDs and DVDs of your favorite videos, TV shows, audios, and photos
Feature checklists help you design the perfect Media Center PC or upgrade your PC for Media Center
Use your Media Center PC with Microsoft Windows Home Server
Troubleshoot common problems with Media Center
Tips and tricks to help you get the most out of Media Center
Introduction 1
Part I: Getting Started with Windows Vista Media Center
Chapter 1: Introducing Windows Vista Media Center 9
Chapter 2: Equipping Your PC for Media Center 19
Chapter 3: Setting Up Windows Media Center 53
Part II: Enjoying Media with Windows Media Center
Chapter 4: Viewing and Recording Live TV 85
Chapter 5: Watching and Recording Movies 137
Chapter 6: Importing and Playing Audio 165
Chapter 7: Importing and Viewing Photos 189
Part III: Beyond the Basics of Windows Media Center
Chapter 8: Enjoying Sports with Windows Media Center 223
Chapter 9: Playing Games and Enjoying Online Resources 251
Chapter 10: Creating CDs and DVDs 289
Part IV: Adding Windows Vista Media Center to Your Home Network
Chapter 11: Adding and Using Media Center Extenders 315
Chapter 12: Connecting with Windows Home Server and Other PCs 337
Part V: Enhancing Windows Vista Media Center
Chapter 13: Using Windows Media Player with Windows Media Center 375
Chapter 14: Creating Photo and Video Content for Media Center 393
Chapter 15: Extending Media Center with Third-Party Apps 435
Chapter 16: Troubleshooting Media Center 469
Part VI: Appendices
Appendix A: Using Windows Anytime Upgrade to Get WMC Features and More 499
Appendix B: Moving from Windows XP Media Center Editions to Windows Vista Media Center 503
Now you can enjoy all of your digital media on your PC or TV easily with Windows Vista Media Center! Filled with expert tips, this hands-on guide explains how you can watch and record TV shows, download movies and music, view your photos and videos, and so much more--all through one, integrated system. How to Do Everything with Windows Vista Media Center shows you how to configure this versatile tool for optimum quality and performance and how to make the most of all of its powerful--and fun--features.
Connect to a wired or wireless network, the Internet, and a TV signal
Configure your settings, including privacy, parental controls, and closed captioning
Watch, pause, rewind, and record live TV
Download and watch movies and other media
Set up a personal music library and buy or rent music online
Create playlists, burn CDs, synch mobile devices, and stream music
Customize, create, and manage pictures and videos
Access your media from an Xbox 360 or other Windows Vista PCs
Install a DVD, HD DVD, or Blu-ray disc drive for your PC or Xbox 360
Install and configure a TV tuner, a cable card, and an external hard drive
About this product: Get ready to discover your computerÂ’s amazing multimedia capabilities. Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition Fast & Easy offers step-by-step instructions for using your computer as a television, DVD player, photo viewer, CD player, and more! By the time you finish, youÂ’ll even cover multimedia file storage options and the Media Center remote control.
About this product: Microsoft Windows XP may be the latest in a popular family of operating systems, but that doesn't mean it's perfect. However, the designers of Windows XP have built enough flexibility into their product and provided users with a sufficiently large toolkit to overcome most shortcomings. In Windows XP Annoyances David Karp reveals his ideas about how to use Windows XP most effectively, for maximum fun and productivity and as little aggravation as possible. If you're comfortable working with Windows XP (or any of its recent predecessors) but find certain aspects of it, well, annoying, you'll find this book to your liking. Karp guides his readers through potentially risky procedures, such as editing the Registry and adjusting hardware device drivers, with skill and precision.
The author's tone is to the point and professional without being dry, without any of the phony, forced humor that appears in a lot of operating-system books. Though he inexplicably ignores the Windows XP Power Toys--some very handy utilities you can get from Microsoft's Web site--he does a great job of handling important questions. Case in point, the important issue of which files can be deleted to free up disk space, and which you shouldn't touch even though they look like pointless garbage. Similarly useful attention goes to the question of which background processes can be safely halted, and which are important. There's fine coverage of scripting with the Windows Script Host (WSH), as well. --David Wall
Topics covered: How to get the most out of Windows XP, even when it appears that the operating system is working against you. Troubleshooting techniques, hardware advice, Registry hacking, interface customization, and advanced networking subjects all find a place in this book.
About this product: Videographers can harness the potential that WM9 offers to deliver high-quality video and multimedia via DVD and over the Internet. Illustrated examples and tutorials demonstrate the basic functionality of WM9 as well as the options available to advanced users who wish to design new applications with the software development kit. Professional videographers will find this book to be a practical way to learn how to set up players, encoders, and servers and how to capture and compress video so they can use WM9 with the applications they use every day, including Powerpoint, Premiere, After Effects, and Avid.
Get insights on how to most effectively set up the Windows Media 9 Series player, encoder, and server, plus tutorials on using established programs and peripheral devices to create, import, and output WM9 files, and much more.
The fun and easy way to get up and running quickly with Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition, the new operating system version specially outfitted for TV, DVD, video, music, and digital photo applications
Media Center PCs are the first PCs to feature an easy-to-use interface and all preconfigured hardware and preloaded software needed to create a complete integrated home entertainment system
Explains how to integrate a home computer network with a home theater system, control connected TVs with the Remote Control Interface, record TV programs using a TiVo-like recorder, acquire and play back music files, organize digital videos and photos, play DVD movies, and much more
Written by the authors of Home Theater For Dummies (0-7645-1801-1)and Wireless Home Networking For Dummies (0-7645-3910-8), who worked closely with Media Center Edition product management at Microsoft to complete the book.
About this product: "The Developer's Guide to Windows SharePoint Services v3 Platform" teaches developers how to build solutions that leverage the WSS v3 platform. Many developers are not yet familiar with this platform and its capabilities, so the first few chapters focus on the out-of-the-box experience and how to secure solutions built on top of it. From there, the book explores some of the key aspects of the WSS v3 platform and how to leverage them for building applications. Throughout the book, practical programming solutions using real-world examples are used to illustrate the possibilities of SharePoint and to teach developers how to build their own applications. Some application components covered include Features, Site Definitions, Web Services, Web Parts, Events, and Workflows. The book also teaches how to migrate from 2.0 to 3.0 and to work with the object model and built-in WSS Web Services in various settings. Developers who want to usurp the fundamental capabilities of WSS v3 rather than building those facilities themselves will find everything they need. The book doesn't attempt to cover the capabilities of Microsoft Office Server System 2007 (MOSS), but MOSS is based entirely on WSS v3 so all the examples found in this book can also be used in that environment too. In fact, everything covered in this book equally applies to WSS v3 and MOSS. While this book attempts to bring developers from the ground up, any Web-based .NET programming experience will prove helpful in understanding the concepts presented within. The C# language is used exclusively in the text but there are comparable VB.NET code listings on the CD-ROM.
About this product: Learn how to develop and deliver ultrafast, ultracool digital media solutions using the powerfully enhanced Windows Media 9 Series platform. Created by a digital media on Microsoft s Windows Media team, this guide walks you through platform architecture architecture and components providing inside insights, real-world programming scenarios, and reusable code samples to help power your own streaming media solutions. You get step-by-step instructions on how to create applications to encode Windows Media files and streams, serve and receive audio and video streams, create customized players, and even build a complete broadcasting system your own Internet radio station.Discover how to: Develop 20 complete applications that use Windows Media to create, distribute, and play digital media over the Internet Create a custom version of Windows Media Encoder to convert MP3, WAV, AVI, and other multimedia files to the Windows Media format Program the server that runs on Windows Media Services to publish files on demand, broadcast unicast streams, and multicast to all listeners at once Develop unique UIs for Windows Media Player using banners, borders, embedded Web pages, and the skin programming language Add the Player to a Web site and a Web site to the Player Make the encoder, server, and Player work together to create end-to-end multimedia applications Build an Internet radio station with dynamic playlists that respond to listener requestsGet sample programs, music files, utilities, and more on CDCD features: Programs and forms for all the book s examples Sample music files to encode, serve, or play Essential Windows Media utilities, including Windows Media Encoder Complete Windows Media 9 Series Jumpstart CD contents, including demos of multichannel audio, high definition video, and fast streaming Fully searchable eBook
About this product: The definitive reference for planning and deploying Windows Media technologies on the Microsoft Windows® .NET Server family—straight from the source. This official Microsoft RESOURCE KIT provides in-depth technical guidance plus must-have tools for IT professionals who need to implement streaming media solutions for corporate communications, training and education, e-commerce, commercial broadcast, and other uses. The book provides a detailed deployment road map that covers all related Windows Media components, including Windows Media Encoder, Windows Media Services, Windows Media Player, and Microsoft Producer, as well as cache/proxy servers, routers, and other third-party networking software and hardware. In addition to providing expert installation advice, the authors—members of Microsoft’s Windows Media team—share their insights on how to build custom streaming solutions using samples from the Windows Media software development kit (SDK). They’ve also packed the RESOURCE KIT CD-ROM with essential tools, including Windows Media products such as the encoder and a load simulator; test content including audio and video files; SDK code samples; and scenario-based topologies, plans, and checklists.
BOOK
