Creating a Digital Home Entertainment System With Windows Media Center 2006

We Want to Hear from You!

As the reader of this book, you are our most important critic and commentator. We value your opinionand want to know what we're doing right, what we could do better, what areas you'd like to see uspublish in, and any other words of wisdom you're willing to pass our way.As an associate publisher for Que Publishing, I welcome your comments. You can email or write medirectly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this bookas well as what we can do to make ourbooks better.Please note that I cannot help you with technical problems related to the topic of this book. We do havea User Services group, however, where I will forward specific technical questions related to the book.When you write, please be sure to include this book's title and author as well as your name, emailaddress, and phone number. I will carefully review your comments and share them with the author andeditors who worked on the book.For more information about this book or another Que Publishing title, visit our website atwww.quepublishing.com. Type the ISBN (excluding hyphens) or the title of a book in the Search fieldto find the page you're looking for.Email:feedback@quepublishing.com Mail: Greg WiegandAssociate PublisherQue Publishing800 East 96th StreetIndianapolis, IN 46240 USA

Introduction

Let me tell you about my new home theater system.About six months ago I replaced my 12-year-old home theater with all new components, a from-the-ground-up makeover that touched virtually every component. I started with a Sony 60" rear-projectiontelevision, added a B&K preamplifier and power amp, and topped it off with some really great-soundingRocket speakers from AV123. The system looks great and sounds great; it is a significant upgrade overmy old system.When people first see the system, they're impressed by the big screen and the high-definition picture.

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Then they notice the great sound, first on surround sound movie soundtracks, and then when listening tomy music collection. That's when they notice that there's no CD player to play the music; when they ask about it, I show them the most unique component of the entire system, my Media Center PC.It's the Media Center PC that's the brains behind my entire system. My intent was to digitize my entire1,000-disc CD collection, so I'd have the equivalent of a digital jukebox that could play any album orsong at the press of a button. To that end, I purchased a high-performance, high-capacity Media CenterPC from Niveus Media, with more than enough hard disk storage for my entire CD collection. Whenvisitors see how easy it is to sort and display my music collection, and to play any single track or album,they're really impressed. "I need one of those things," is the comment I most often hear.Indeed, most people would find "one of those things" quite useful. It doesn't matter whether your musiccollection is small or large, being able to organize it in this fashionand to do away with all those clunkyphysical discsis extremely attractive. Then, when I further show how the Media Center PC can displaydigital photo slideshows while an album is playing, how it can play back DVD movies, and how it canrecord television programming and then burn those programs to DVD, the deal is sealed. My MediaCenter PC is a multifunction digital entertainment device unlike anything we've seen before.My appreciation for the concept of the living room PC is why I've written this book. Creating a DigitalHome Entertainment System with Windows Media Center takes you from the discovery and educationprocess, through the purchase of a Media Center PC, all the way through the connection, configuration,use, and customization of a Media Center system. It's the same process I went through a scant sixmonths ago, so you're getting the benefit of my first-hand experience. It's real information from a realuserme.You're also getting the benefit of the experience of the dedicated Media Center users who both manageand visit The Green Button website. The Green Button is a community of and for Media Center users.These folks, like me, use Media Center every day, and freely trade advice and opinions with anyone whovisits. If you're serious about Media Center, I recommend you visit The Green Button site, located atwww.thegreenbutton.com; it's on my daily "must see" list.

Who Should Read This Book

If you're considering the purchase of a Media Center PC, this book is for you. If you've just purchased aMedia Center PC and are learning how to set it up and use it, this book is also for you. And if you'vebeen using Media Center for awhile and want to learn how to get more out of your system, guesswhatthis book is for you, too.In other words, your level of experience or expertise doesn't matter; if you're serious about putting aMedia Center PC in your home entertainment system, there's something in this book that you'll finduseful.By the way, I don't assume that you have any prior experience with Windows XP Media Center Edition,nor that you're a computer wizard. All the instructions and advice in this book should be easy enough fornontechnical readers to understand.I think the material in this book is particularly applicable for those of you who already have a decenthome audio or home theater system. In fact, that's the approach I tookthat you'll be adding your MediaCenter PC to an existing entertainment system. (I am not a big fan ofor believer inusing Media CenterEdition on a desktop PC.)

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How This Book Is Organized

To make this book easy for you to use, I've organized its 18 chapters into four major sections, eachfocusing on a specific group of tasks or operations. This way, you can turn directly to that part of thebook that contains the information you wantor you can read straight through, from front to back, to getthe whole Media Center story.

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Part I: Planning Your Media Center System is the section to read before you purchase a MediaCenter PC. You'll discover just what a Media Center PC can do, find out what types of MediaCenter systems you need for specific uses, and then get some purchasing advice. (I even coverhow to build your own Media Center PC from scratch!)

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Part II: Setting Up Your Media Center PC shows you how to connect your new Media Center PCto your existing home entertainment system, and how to configure Media Center for initial use.

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Part III: Using Your Media Center PC is all about the action. Here is where you'll find step-by-step instructions for using Media Center to store and play back digital music, to view and recordtelevision programs, to play and record DVDs, to view digital photos, and to perform computer-related tasks.

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Part IV: Extending Your Media Center PC shows you how to get even more out of your MediaCenter system, by using Media Center Extenders, the subscription services in Media Center'sOnline Spotlight, and dozens of third-party Media Center add-on applications. I even show youhow to customize your Media Center PC, and how to troubleshoot potential problems.Read the book straight through fromChapter 1toChapter 18, or dip in and out for specific information, whatever works best for you. You should find all the information presented quite useful, and directlyapplicable for how you're using your Media Center PC.

Special Features in This Book

Besides the main text in this book, you'll find several extra features that give you even more informationabout getting the most out of Windows Media Center.

Tips

These are pieces of advicelittle tricks, actuallythat help you use Media Center more effectively.TipMost newer TVs come with at least one HDMI connection. If your Media Center PC has only a DVIoutput, you can use a DVI-to-HDMI converter to un-mismatch the connection.

Notes

Notes provide information that is generally useful but not specifically needed for what you're doing atthe moment. Some are like extended tipsinteresting, but not essential.Note

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