The Green Button

Podcast: The Media Center Show #265–Not the iPad show?

Iand — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:14:34 GMT

Joining me for another round table recording are Andrew Edney and Garry Whittiker. We discus some listeners emails including DVB-S, digital audio and talk about some of the weeks news including new Media Center apps, Windows 7 Tablets and my new toy the iPad. I am trying to integrate the iPad with my Media Center systems so Garry and Andrew have some app recommendations.

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

[mp3]http://traffic.libsyn.com/iandixon/TDL_MediaCenter_20100729_265.mp3[/mp3]

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Dell Inspiron Zino HD small form factor Review

Mike Garcen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:38:00 GMT

Anyone in the market for a small and sleek entry level home theater PC knows that there are many options. With so many systems at very different price points, finding the right balance between capability and dollars can be difficult. The Inspirion Zino HD from Dell certainly has the right look, and being based on AMD’s 780G chipset, the right lineage. Keep reading to find out if it can check the boxes on the feature list without busting your wallet and find a nice cozy spot next to your TV.

System Specifications:

Form Factor:	Ultra Small Form Factor (USFF)
Height:	89mm (3.4”)
Width:	197mm (7.8”)
Depth:	197mm (7.8”)
CPU:	AMD Athlon X2 3250e (1.5GHz)
RAM:	2GB (2x1GB) 800MHz DDR2 SODIMM (8GB Max)
Hard Drive:	SATA2 250GB 7200RPM (Western Digital - WD2500AAJ)
Optical Drive:	Hitachi-LG 8x DVD-RW
Graphics (GPU):	ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3200
Audio:	Stereo Analog / compressed 5.1 over HDMI
Network:	Broadcom BCM57780 (10/100/1000)
OS:	Windows 7 Home Premium x64

It has been a long time since my last OEM PC experience (a Dell Pentium 100) so it was a little weird and strangely nice to have a complete system show up in the mail, nicely boxed up with everything pre-installed.

Read the rest of the review at MissingRemote.com

How to Enable Concurrent Sessions Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Beta

Mike Garcen — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:35:00 GMT

Continuing MissingRemote's tradition of providing you guys the patches necessary to enable Concurrent Sessions, we've created a new thread for Windows 7 Service Pack 1. The process below has been confirmed working with the Beta versions of Windows7 Ultimate, Professional, Home Premium and Enterprise Editions, x86 & X64 build 7601, Service Pack Build 178.

One of the most popular articles ever at MissingRemote.com has been our guide on how to enable Concurrent Sessions for Windows Vista.For those unaware of what it is, enabling Concurrent Sessions allows you toRemote Desktop into a system that someone else is on, under a different user account, and access the system without kicking the user off. I, for example, use the feature to have MCE running on my Television, and then I remote into my main user account to access all my files without interrupting my MCE session. Special thanks to Mikinho for compiling the package below and making this all possible.

Read the rest of the guide at MissingRemote.com

Podcast: The Media Center Show #264 - Andres Echevarria

Iand — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 08:52:35 GMT

Joining me this week is Andres Echevarria a Windows Media Center Enthusiast to talk about his Media Center system, the apps he used and his Media Center blog. Andres has documented his experiences on his Media Center blog and he explains some of the decisions he made when designing his system

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

[mp3]http://traffic.libsyn.com/iandixon/TDL_MediaCenter_20100722_264.mp3[/mp3]

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

The Phantom Lapboard Review @ MissingRemote.com

Mike Garcen — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:25:00 GMT

When I first saw the Phantom Lapboard, created by Phantom Entertainment Inc., I was surprised to see it was advertised for Home Theater PC (HTPC) usage. The design, while aesthetically pleasing, is anything but your typical HTPC keyboard design. Needless to say, I was skeptical. I have had several weeks to evaluate the Lapboard and I believe the designers were influenced by American architect Louis Sullivan. Sullivan coined the phrase “form ever follows function,” or simply put form follows function. Read on to see why the Phantom Lapboard pays homage to Sullivan’s principle.

Read the rest of the review at MissingRemote.com

Podcast: The Media Center Show #263–Forced Perspective

Iand — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 11:08:31 GMT

Great show for you this week! Joining me for a roundtable are Garry Whittaker, Media Center MVP Andrew Cherry and WHS MVP Andrew Edney talking about the latest news and emails sent in including topics like Freeview HD DRM, PC specs for multiple Media Center Extenders, Divx, 3D TV and many more topics.

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Podcast: The Media Center Show #262–2nd User Group Meetup

Iand — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:02:41 GMT

This week I have the audio from the 2nd UK Media Center/WHS user group event last month. At the end of the event we had a Q&A session with a great panel including The Green Button’s Pete Brown, Andrew Cherry, Andrew Edney, Garry Whittaker, Simon May,Mark Lawson from DVBLogic and myself. We chatted about topics like getting Media Center and Windows Home Server working well together, Kinect with Windows Media Center, DVBLogic and streaming media around the home. It was a great event and we hope to start planning another soon.

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Vidabox RF Wireless Keyboard Review

Mike Garcen — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:21:00 GMT

I think at this point I take pleasure in posting these strictly for Pete Brown's amusement. That's right folks, another wireless keyboard review!!! :-)

Your wireless keyboard is the connection between you and your Home Theater PC. From extensive system configuration, to daily web browsing and media playback, to quick trouble shooting when your remote craps out your choice of keyboard can dramatically impact your user experience. Vidabox has updated their wireless keyboard offering so just click through to take a more detailed look at the Vidabox Premium Wireless RF Keyboard.

Vidabox is developer of digital entertainment and control solutions. The company was founded in 2005 with custom Media Center PCs and rapidly expanded their product offering from there. Today they provide solutions across the entire spectrum of digital home entertainment to include Media Center PCs, Media Servers, Multizone Audio, Home Automation, Media Extenders, Software, and Accessories.

The Vidabox Wireless RF Keyboard, Model ACC-KBLTB, is a midsize wireless keyboard with built in trackball mouse. Vidabox began to offer a wireless keyboard a couple years ago, and the company continues to iterate and improve its design. This latest version of the keyboard has a new color scheme, and uses a new trackball. The presentation is much cleaner than prior versions of the keyboard with more subtle media keys and mouse buttons up top. The hand rests carved into each side of the keyboard have been retained from the older model.

The keyboard is wireless RF (Radio Frequency) and operates in the 2.4Ghz range along with most of the other wireless devices in your home.This can lead to occasional interference depending on the number of and location of the devices in your home.

Read the rest of the review at MissingRemote.com

Guide: How to Replace the ArcSoft Splash Screen

Mike Garcen — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:18:00 GMT

If you have been a loyal ArcSoft user like many of us have for the past few years, you may have noticed the amount of logos on their splash screen continuing to increase. It has come to the point where when you want to play a Blu-ray movie you are forced to stare at these logos while it loads. Well that time is no more!

MissingRemote's very own Mikinho has developed a quick little application which allows you to remove ArcSoft's TMT3 default splash screen with a blank blue background.

Read the rest of the guide at MissingRemote.com

Actiontec Ethernet over Coax MoCA Network Adapter Review

Mike Garcen — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:32:00 GMT

Have you ever been in that situation where wifi just doesn't cut it, forcing you to try other network solutions such as Ethernet over power line and wanted tear your hair out in frustration? Whether you have a HTPC, a network media tank, or a video game console system you've been to that point where you just wish you could run an Ethernet cable, however due to constraints in your living situation you just can't hard wire that Ethernet cable like you want to. Today we look at the Actiontec Ethernet over Coax MoCA network adapter and run it through the paces to see if this adapter is just the answer to all your hard wired woes.

Have you ever been in a situation where you absolutely needed to run an Ethernet cable and you just couldn't run one due to your living situation? Where you first tried wifi (802.11a/b/g/n) and quickly found that wifi, even N wifi, was not stable enough. Then you went on to try alternative connectivity solutions such as Ethernet over power line adapters and they too just didn't cut it? Well Ethernet over coax MoCA adapters might just be the solution for you.

I live in a newer home and the previous owner was 65 years old; she could have cared less about Ethernet cables or even coax for that matter. When I moved into my new home there were only two phone jacks throughout the house, and only one bedroom of the three had coax pulled. Needless to say not a single room in my home had Ethernet pulled. When I was just moving into my home was around the same time I started to get into HTPC's and into whole home audio and digital media. I quickly realized I liked to enjoy my content in any room in my home and wasn't willing to be tied to a single room where the content was. I wanted to be able to go to any room in my home and enjoy my digital media unrestricted. At that time Microsoft Windows Media Center was getting started and that is when the first Windows Media Center Extender was introduced and I quickly saw the need for having Ethernet in each bedroom where my TVs were located (Editor's Note: Those of you who ever tried the built-in wireless from the V1 Extenders will understand why Josh was so adament about ethernet--the wifi in those devices was, well, useless!).

Over the years I was able to strategically add Ethernet and additional coax drops to each of my bedrooms through access in my attic. My family room located on my main floor--between the upstairs where the bedrooms are, and my basement where my home theater is--was the only room left out of the loop for getting an Ethernet cable drop. When I finished off my basement, I ran literally miles of cable inside the walls and ceiling of my basement and attic no location was left untouched, except for my family room above my home theater room. I was so preoccupied with my basement build that when I started to drywall I forgot one thing, to run Ethernet and coax to my TV location in the family room! By the time I was done with the basement, it was just then I realized I forgot to run the cables for my Media Center extender on that TV.

Read the rest of the review at MissingRemote.com

Podcast:The Media Center Show #261– Andrew and Garry

Iand — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 10:27:39 GMT

On my travels this week again but I still have a great show for you. This week I am chatting about the Media Center and Home Server with Andrew Endey and Garry Whittaker, we talk about the new Xbox and Kinect, Windows Media Center in Windows Embedded, new Media Centers from Tranquil and how to silence the Vuvuzalas

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Vuvuzelas, the World Cup and Windows Media Center

PeteBrownMSFT — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:53:00 GMT

Hi TGBers:

This short thread from last week got me wondering if any of you are working some magic to reduce the sounds of the vuvuzelas while watching World Cup matches in Windows Media Center. How would you approach this? What are your ideas? (Update: Thanks to those of you who pointed me to Garry's tutorial to silence the vuvuzelas using FFDShow!)

Here's what I've tried out so far:

Let me set the record straight: I like the vuvuzela. I’ve liked them ever since my then six-year-old daughter blew one at a Columbus Crew match and then smiled in amazement at the big, rowdy sound her little lungs had created. I can’t help it, but I always think of that moment when I hear one played.

For many people, the vuvuzela’s unique appeal does not come across on broadcast television, prompting several enterprising developers to push out Vuvuzela-filters that attempt to reduce the impact of the vuvuzela-drone on the audio for this month’s World Cup games. There are a variety of homebrewed options that come up when searching the Internet on this subject.

Most of these, however, don’t consider a Windows Media Center use case. For example, the Vuvuzela-killer and SimonH’s Labview filters both are aimed at running an audio line from the TV into your PC’s Line in, and then back out to the TV, whereas the audio, in my case, is coming down the cable and into my TV tuner. This may be why neither of these apps worked for me. Neither did the Devuvuzelator, from Stardock labs, which – if I’m reading their site correctly, seems to be aimed at Internet-delivered broadcasts.

Does your audio device have an equalizer or offer sound enhancements?

I also read online how many more recent TV’s have built-in sound equalizers you can use to reduce the impact of vuvuzelas, and I guess this is where I had my “A-Ha, I’m an idiot!” moment. Because if a TV has a built in equalizer, surely the 5.1 sound card in my Windows Media Center PC has similar functionality? And sure enough, I discover a really nice RealtekHD audio manager. There were plenty of audio enhancements I could test on the fly while watching Cameroon-Netherlands today. (Best. Job. Ever.)

This particular program let me simulate different listening environments – from an Arena setting, which shook my room with vuvuzela goodness and deep, throttling bass, to “Padded Room” which seemed to drain the joy right out of the entire match, the audio equivalent of a couple of dementors materializing. I also had a number of equalizer presets to play with, each named for a specific type of music. After experimenting today, I discovered that while “Classical” seemed to reduce the vuvuzelas the most, it also made the announcers sound like they were shouting at me from inside a locked car.

I ended up going with Jazz, which I thought kept the pop in the announcers voice while taking the edge off of the Vuvuzelas in the background. (You can still hear them, but they’re just not as insistent as they were before.) I’m no audiophile, so there may be better options out there for you.

My all too simple advice is to see what equalizer features your sound card may offer. In Windows 7 or Windows Vista, select Control Panel | Hardware and Sound and then Manage Audio Devices. Then right click the audio device (speakers, for example) and select Properties.

Then check the Enhancements tab and see what enhancements are available. In my case, I could try different filters while watching live, making it easier for me to zero-in on my preference.

If all else fails, I recommend trying to embrace the vuvuzela and the spirit it represents. I can assure you that no vuvuzela within ten square miles of my home could have been heard yesterday over the ruckus my son and I made when Donovan scored in extra time, and the US moved on to the next round.

Now that's something else I'll always think of when I hear the vuvuzela.

Clubhouse Tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, media center-windows 7, audio, sound card, ausio enhancements, world cup, vuvuzela, tips

Moneual MonCaso 320 Low Profile HTPC Chassis Review

Mike Garcen — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 18:45:00 GMT

Finding the perfect case for your Home Theater PC (HTPC) when it is going in the A/V stack is hard. The system needs to blend in with the other components and pass the Spouse Acceptance Factor (SAF) all while having enough space for expandability and be easy to keep cool and quiet. From our earlier look at the MonCaso 312, we know that Moneual has what it takes to make a premium low profile, micro-ATX chassis at a premium price. Let’s take a detailed look at the MonCaso 320 and find out if it is the right case for your HTPC

Read the rest at MissingRemote.com

The Media Center Show #259 – Microsoft’s Mark Pendergrast

Iand — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 10:48:23 GMT

Returning to the show this week is Microsoft’s Mark Pendergrast talking about the inclusion of Windows Media Center into Windows Embedded Standard 7. Mark was involved with Windows Media Center and Windows Home server projects and he explains why Microsoft decided to include Media Center in Windows Embedded and what we may see OEMS do with the platform.

I also have a round up of the weeks news including new apps for Windows Media Center, new slates from ASUS and streaming TV over the internet

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

Agenda for the Windows Media Center/WHS User Group Meeting

Iand — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 09:05:56 GMT

I thought I would post the agenda for this weekends user group meeting. I am really excited about the line up for the event on Saturday with sessions on building Media Center Systems, Windows Home Server Vail, Media Center and Windows Phone 7 development, voice control remotes and network streaming.

We will also have a Ask The Experts/ Roundtable to wrap up the event so if you have suggestions for topics or question let me know and I will put them on the list

There is still time to register, its going to a fantastic day

	Room 1	Room2
10am	Introduction / Tour of Made for Media Center
10:30	Pete Brown – The Green Button
11:00	Break
11:15	How to build a great Media Center System	Windows Phone 7 Development
12:00	Lunch
13:00	Introduction to Windows Home Server Vail	Windows Media Center Development
13:00	Break
13:35	Streaming TV Q&A with DVBLogic	Amulet Voice Control Remotes
14:30	Coffee
14:45	Q & A Session / Roundtable
15:30	Prize Giveaways

Book now for the 2nd UK Windows Media Center Event

Iand — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 12:08:02 GMT

We have now finalised (finally) the details for the June 12 Media Center and Windows Home Server event!

Last year we had an evening event where we tried to get through as much as possible in a short amount of time – based on your feedback we’ve moved to a whole day event running from 10am through to 4pm, to give presenters a lot more time to talk, more time for questions, and to allow us to have more varied topics for you to hear.

We’re also inviting a number of vendors this year, to show off their Media Center and Windows Home Server software and hardware, plus other digital home technologies. We have some great prizes to be won too, including a Microsoft Zune HD worth around $200.00, TV Tuners from Avermedia and a Sonos multi-room music system S5 Zone Player, worth £349.00!

Entrance is free, coffee and muffins will be available at 9.30am for a 10am start, and the prize draw will be held at the end of the day. The event is being held at “the studio” in Birmingham, which is in Cannon Street, within walking distance of New Street railway station, and with an NCP car park nearby. For travel information, click here.

We have a limited number of places available, so register early to avoid disappointment. We look forward to seeing you there!

Click here to register

WMC Custom Installer forums and resources now available on TGB

PeteBrownMSFT — Fri, 28 May 2010 17:36:00 GMT

Today we’re happy to open to the entire Windows Media Center enthusiast community a set of forums dedicated specifically to discussions of issues faced by professional Windows Media Center custom installers. We're hoping to learn from the unique challenges and opportunities experienced by professional integrators, as well as provide a forum for the community and professionals in this channel to work with each other discussing designs, sharing insights and technical solutions.

We are also making available to the community a variety of resources initially released by the Media Center Integrator Alliance, including documentation, best practices, training materials, case studies and diagnostic tools.

Click here, or use the Forums tab and scroll down the Windows Media Center Custom Installers forums group to find the new forums and resources.

Podcast: The Media Center Show #258 – Tranquil PC

Iand — Fri, 28 May 2010 10:45:09 GMT

This week I am talking to Tranquil PC’s David Thompson, Tranquil are based just down the road from me in Manchester so I popped down to chat with David about them returning to developing Media Center systems as well as their Windows Home Server solutions. I also have a round up of the weeks news including new Windows Media Center remote control apps for WebOS and Windows Phone 7

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

A week off next week, back June 3rd

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

QNAP NMP-1000 Media Player Review

Mike Garcen — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:53:00 GMT

These days, small form-factor networked media players are all the rage. It seems that you cannot turn around without tripping over a device from another manufacturer trying to compete in this market. We recently had a look at the Box Office from Patriot and the O!Play HDP-R1 from Asus. Today I bring to the table the NMP-1000 from QNAP. Starting where others leave off, this unit offers similar specs as other units but with the addition of a 3.5" hard drive bay. Read on to see how it will fit into your home theater setup.

The NMP-1000 is a nice unit. While not quite as small as some other media players, this unit also supports the use of a 3.5" SATA hard drive internally so that media can be stored locally on the unit instead of being forced to stream everything over the network.

The unit itself is made up of lightweight hard plastic material found all over the place today. The front is has a smooth black finish to it while the rest of the unit is matte black - similar to the Patriot Box Office device. The side of the unit contains a removable panel which hides a tray that slides into the unit to hold the 3.5" drive which makes it very difficult to insert the drive improperly.

Read the rest at MissingRemote.com

Optimizing security for Windows Media Center Extenders

PeteBrownMSFT — Mon, 24 May 2010 16:24:00 GMT

By Ken Durigan, guest author

Ken Durigan is a Principal Consultant in Microsoft Consulting Services that focuses on design and implementation of Windows Server core infrastructure for large enterprises. He has been a Windows Media Center enthusiast since Windows Vista, and uses Media Center extenders as the foundation for his whole-house media distribution system. Here he describes how he enhances control over access to his media via extenders by using some of Windows security features.

Introduction

Over the years Microsoft has consistently delivered enhancements to its operating systems and applications. One primary area of focus has been improving security by limiting unauthorized access to files and folders thereby preventing malicious or accidental deletion of important data.

You may know that the default installation of Media Center Extenders gives them full access to many files and folders on the media center computer. The reasoning behind granting such a high level of access is to allow any user the ability to add or delete music and pictures or to setup television recordings as well as delete them after they have been watched. Although this is reasonable for recorded television, you may not want this level of access for other media types such as family photos, personal videos or music collections.

In my home, for example, I want to allow some content to be deleted and some to be protected. In the family room, children’s bedrooms and recreation room, I want controlled access to content since this is shared by the entire family as well as my children’s friends that visit. In my office I want total unrestricted access so I can view and manipulate all content.

Once you setup the controls you desire for your extenders, additional capabilities can be added. This post describes base security setup as well as allowing or disallowing content on the specific extenders and allowing or restricting content by time of day.

Operating System Variations

Installing an extender always requires administrative privileges. The reason for this is that during the setup of a new extender, device drivers are installed, user accounts are created and access permissions are assigned to directories on the Media Center PC. Standard non-administrative users are not granted those capabilities by default so an administrative account is required. If the extender installation code detects a non-administrative user during installation, a prompt will be displayed asking for administrative credentials to allow the installation to succeed. This is the case for all versions of Media Center, but how the permissions are used is different under Windows 7 than under previous versions.

Windows XP and Vista

In Vista and XP, installing a Media Center Extender simply creates a new local user account and adds that account to the local administrators group on the Media Center computer. After installing the first XBox or other dedicated MCE extender, a MCX1 local user account is created and added to the local Administrators group. Each additional extender creates another MCX account and adds that to the local administrators group as well. Membership in the Administrators group provides remote login permission, which is how the MCX accounts are granted access to logon. Membership in the Administrators group also grants full access to all files and folders on all drives on the system.

Under Vista and XP it is relatively easy to change the default access by removing the MCX1 user from the Administrators group; however this causes several problems – most notably the extender can no longer connect to the Media Center computer. By default, Windows does not allow just anyone to logon remotely, so when the MCX user attempts to logon from the extender after removing it from the Administrators group, it will be denied remote login access.

Removing the MCX account from the Administrators group also removes file permissions that are not explicitly granted. So even if the MCX user is granted the privilege to login remotely, it cannot access the file system to create recordings or play music files after being removed from the Administrators group. The goal in Windows Vista and XP is to remove the extender accounts from the local Administrators group and yet still allow remote logins and specific file and folder permissions.

Windows 7 Media Center

In Windows 7 Media Center, things are a bit different. The Windows 7 developers decided not to simply add the MCX accounts to the local Administrators group. During the extender installation, the right to log on remotely is granted directly to the MCX user account through the local security policy. You can see how this is done in Windows 7 by looking at the user rights assignments in the local security policy:

Unlike previous versions of Windows, where file permissions are inherited by being a member of the Administrators group, in Windows 7 permissions are directly added to files and folders. This is an improvement over adding the MCX accounts to the Administrators group; however, a scheduled task is created which runs under the context of the user that is logged in during the install. This scheduled task re-applies permissions to allow access to files and folders by the MCX accounts. If you have ever tried to change the default file permissions for MCX1-<computername> account under Windows 7, you will notice that eventually the access you set gets changed back, again allowing the extender full access. I will discuss this more a little later in this article, but this is the behavior that needs to be stopped to successfully use security groups to simplify the process of defining access permissions to content.

Overall Setup Process

Due to the differences between Windows XP/Vista and Windows 7 Media Center, the process for controlling access to content is slightly different for each version. I have not even seen an XP media center machine in many years, and now no longer have access to a Vista PC either. I will identify the overall process that needs to be followed for these operating systems. It should be noted that all screen captures and detailed instructions included in this document were produced on a Windows 7 machine. The screens and processes between the older operating systems and Windows 7 are similar enough that this should not be a problem for XP or Vista users.

While this post contains specific instructions for securing directories, it is useful to look at the major steps first before diving into the details. In the discussion that follows, several security groups and user accounts will be used many times. Their names and purposes are:

Groups:

MCX Users - User accounts placed in this group are standard, non-privileged accounts with standard file access.

MCX-A - User accounts placed in this group will be granted additional file permissions over standard MCX Users.

Users:

MCX1 – A Media Center extender user account automatically added to XP and Vista during the extender setup

MCX1-<computername> - A Media Center extender user account automatically added to Windows 7 during the extender setup

MCXUser – A non-administrative user account used to set up an extender with Windows 7

MCXAdmin – An administrative user account used to set up an extender with Windows 7

Additional detailed instructions on setting up user accounts and security groups are provided later in this document.

XP and Vista Setup

Extenders are relatively easy to setup in XP and Vista as long as you remember to not set up media libraries until after you have secured the system. When setting up an extender, you will be given an option to add media to your library. When prompted with the question “Do you want to set up media libraries now?” the correct response is NO.

It is also important to turn off the extender per the instructions below. If you do not turn of the extender when instructed, it will still be running with administrative privileges which will allow it to make changes that you do not want. The trick is to let the extender install device drivers under an administrative account, then shut it down and remove its permissions. You can then grant exactly the permissions you want.

Step 1 - Setup Extenders

Login to the PC as an administrative user with the ability to create accounts and groups.
Start the extender install.
When prompted to add media libraries, do NOT set up media libraries.
When setup completes, shut down the media center extender.

Step 2 - Setup security groups and folder permissions (see below for details).

Remove the MCX user accounts from the Administrators group.
Create a new group for MCX “standard” user accounts. I named mine MCX Users.
Create a new group for MCX “privileged” user accounts. I named mine MCX-A.
Add the MCX user accounts to the Remote Desktop Users group – this grants remote login permission.
Add the MCX user accounts created by the extender installation to MCX “standard” and “privileged” groups. I add all of my extender accounts to the “MCX Users” group to grant base system access. I have one “privileged” extender user account that I also add to the MCX-A group to give it extra permissions.
Look at all of the permissions granted during the extender install using icacls.exe command. The checkacl.cmd in the appendix will show you how you can check permissions that have been granted.
Remove any permissions granted during installation that you do not want the extenders to have.
Delete permissions for extender UUIDs from key directories if they do not show up as “normal” user accounts.
Set specific permissions on folders and assign them to the MCX groups above.
Create scheduled tasks to implement time restrictions (optional).

Step 3 - Setup media libraries

Start extender.
Add folders to media libraries.

Note: You will only be able to add directories to which the extender has been granted permissions.

Windows 7 Setup

As previously mentioned Windows requires administrative authority to complete the installation of an extender. However, the key to controlling permissions in Windows 7 is setting up specific user accounts ahead of time, and then installing extenders using those accounts. Here is the basic set of steps:

Step 1 - Setup security groups and folder permissions (see below for details).

Login as an administrative user with the ability to create accounts and groups.
Create a group for MCX “standard” user accounts. I named mine MCX Users.
Create a group for MCX “privileged” user accounts. I named mine MCX-A.
Create a MCX “standard” installation user account and make it a member of the local administrators group. I named mine MCXUser.
Create a MCX “privileged” installation user account and make it a member of the local administrators group. I named mine MCXAdmin.
Add the MCX “standard” user account (MCXUser) to the MCX “standard” group (MCXUsers).
Add the MCX “privileged” user account (MCXAdmin) to the MCX “privileged” group (MCX-A) and to the MCX “standard” group (MCX Users).
Set permissions on folders and assign them to the MCX groups above.
Logoff from the account you used to create the above users and group.

Note: this is required or the extenders will still be able to access the administrative users folders.

Step 2 - Setup the “standard” extenders

Logon to the PC with the MCX “standard” account (MCXUser). This account is currently an administrator.
Start the extender install for all extenders that should have access to only “standard” content.
When prompted during setup, do NOT set up media libraries.
When setup completes, shut down the media center extender.
Disable the scheduled task (see below for details) that was created under the MCX “standard” user account.
Add MCX1- “standard” extender accounts to the MCX “standard” group (MCXUsers).
Remove the MCX “standard” user account (MCXUser) from the Administrators group.
Logoff the MCX “standard” user.

Step 3 - Setup the “privileged” extenders

Logon to the PC with the MCX “privileged” account (MCXAdmin). This account is currently an administrator.
Start the extender install for all extenders that should have access to “privileged” content.
When prompted during setup, do NOT set up media libraries.
When setup completes, shut down the media center extender.
Disable the scheduled task (see below for details) that was created under the MCX “privileged” user account.
Add MCX1-<computername> “privileged” extender accounts to the MCX “privileged” group (MCXAdmins).
Remove the MCX “privileged” user account (MCXAdmin) from the Administrators group.
Logoff the MCX “privileged” user.

Step 4 - Fix up groups and permissions and add time restrictions.

Login as an administrative user with the ability to modify accounts and groups.
Look at all of the permissions granted during the extender install using icacls.exe command. The checkacl.cmd in the appendix of this document will show you how you can check permissions that have been granted.
Remove any permissions granted during installation that you do not want the extenders to have.
Create scheduled tasks to implement time restrictions (optional).

Step 5 - Setup Media Libraries

Start extenders
Add folders to media libraries. Note: You will only be able to add directories to which the extender has been granted permissions.

Setting up User Accounts and Groups

1. Open Computer Management in one of several ways:

From the start menu, right mouse click on Computer then select Manage.
From the start menu, open Administrative tools and select Computer Management.
From the start menu, type compmgmt.msc

2. Select Local Users and Groups, expand the group.

3. Right click Users and select New User.

For Windows 7, create a “Standard” (MCXUser) and a “Privileged” (MCXAdmin) user account.

Set these accounts so their password does not expire.
Set the option so the user cannot change the password.
Clear the checkbox User must change password at next logon.

For all operating systems, create two new groups by right clicking on Groups and selecting New Group.

Create a “Standard” (MCX Users) and a “Privileged” (MCX-A) group.
Add the accounts to the appropriate groups.

When you are done, your standard user account should look like this:

Your Administrative user account should look like this:

After you have completed your extender installations, additional accounts will have been created. These are added to the appropriate groups. All users and extender accounts are added to the “standard” group, and only privileged extenders are added to the “privileged” group. After everything is setup, here is what my “standard” group looks like:

Finally, here is what the “privileged” extender group looks like:

Desired Content Access Levels

As I mentioned, in my home I want to allow some content to be deleted and some to be protected. In the family room, children’s bedrooms and recreation room I want controlled access to content since this is shared by the entire family as well as my children’s friends that visit. In my office I want total unrestricted access so I can view and manipulate all content. Access permission varies by content type, not just physical location.

Here is the desired level of content access I want to grant the standard extenders that are located in common family areas of the house:

Recorded TV – full access
Videos (temporary videos) – full access
Videos (permanent) – read-only access
Music library – read-only access
Pictures – read-only access
All other directories on all drives – no access

For normal recorded TV, there should be no difference in the way that Windows Media Center operates from the traditional default installation. TV shows are scheduled, watched and deleted without any restrictions. The same should be true for any video that is placed directly in the temporary videos folder as these are videos that come from a variety of sources such as Camcorders, DVD rips, Bit Torrents, YouTube or other Internet sites.

The Music and Pictures folders should be read-only for extenders and therefore protected from accidental or intentional deletion. The only way to manipulate these files should be by using an authorized account, either directly on the Media Center PC or from an unrestricted extender. If an attempt is made to delete any files in these libraries, an error message should be displayed on the extender.

An example of Media Center with security setup in this way is shown below. An attempt was made to delete a picture from a standard extender. A prompt was displayed that asked “Are you sure?” to which I answered Yes:

From a standard extender with restricted permissions, any attempt to traverse the directory structure is also blocked. For example, when trying to open the c:\users directory, the extender will be able to open only the folders to which that extender has access. Not only are files protected, but the ability to see the directory structure of the media center PC is also blocked. In the screen capture below, notice that there is no ability to traverse the “admin” user’s directory structure, but the Public directory can be traversed.

Specific Folder Permissions

Organizing your media properly is important to simplify the file and folder permission setup. A basic understanding of Windows Security is helpful to set this up properly. A few points worth noting:

The MCX user accounts are locally logged on user accounts that are connected via Remote Desktop (terminal services) – these are not remote users accessing file shares. Therefore, file and folder permissions are what you must assign, not share permissions. Share permissions are not used.
Use local security groups wherever possible. I NEVER assign user level permissions for files to the extender MCX accounts since they will change every time an extender is re-added to the Media Center machine. It is much easier to add an account to a group and get all of the correct permissions than it is to change permissions on many files or folders.
Permissions are inherited from the parent folder by all sub folders and files unless you specify otherwise.
Avoid giving “Everyone” broad permissions since that will inherit down throughout the directory structure. You may have to delete “Everyone” access from higher level folders or block inheritance to prevent unwanted access.
I start by shutting off all access (except Administrators and the SYSTEM account) at the root of all media drives, and then grant only the specific permissions to the directories below the root.

NOTE!!! Be very careful if your media is stored on the same drive as your operating system installation. Removing permissions at the root of the C: drive will have some very bad side effects! I keep my operating system drive separate from all media drives and do not change the default OS directory permissions for C:.

Restricting access to Media Drives

Administrators will be granted full rights at the root of the media volumes which will be inherited down to all subdirectories. The “Everyone” group is given List folder / read data to the root folder (“This folder only” option in the screen shot below). At the root of my T: volume, here are my security settings:

I create a T:\Media Folder where the rest of my media will reside. Access will be granted to a group that all extenders will be members of (MXC Users group). None of the other directories at the root of T: will be able to be browsed by the extenders since the Everyone built-in group inheritance has been restricted to only the root. Read-only permissions are now added so that all folders below the T:\Media level can be browsed and read, but not deleted. Here are the settings I have used:

You can see that Administrators and SYSTEM have inherited full control from T:\ whereas the “MCX Users” group is <not inherited> and has been granted Read & execute permissions for this folder and all subfolders. Any media placed anywhere in the T:\Media folder is now available to extenders and is protected from deletion.

Next we need to create a Read/Write folder for standard recorded TV to allow extenders the ability to create as well as delete files. I create this folder in T:\Media\Recorded TV and then add the appropriate extra permissions to that folder. You can see that read-only permissions were inherited, and then Modify and Write permissions were directly added for the MCX Users group:

I also add the same Read/Write permissions to T:\Media\Videos for MCX Users. The T:\Media\Videos directory is designated as read/write and is not for videos I consider permanent. Any videos that are permanent can go into another directory such as T:\Media\PermanentVideos. That is it – you now have a T: volume that has restrictions on what can be browsed, what is read-only, and what can be accessed for both read and write by any member of the “MCX Users” group.

I have several disk drives with media and apply the same principle to those drives. The screen capture below shows that the Everyone built-in group is inheriting read-only access to the M:\Media\Music folder – it is protected.

Creating Unrestricted/Less Restricted Access Groups

The process for creating unrestricted data access or for providing more access to specific security groups is similar to what is described above. One alternative for providing additional access would be to just use the XP and Vista approach and add specific extenders to the built-in Administrators group, but I do not recommend this practice. In general, you should allow unrestricted access to specific media folders, not to the entire computer.

Fine grained security can be applied to grant specific extenders a higher level of access. This is useful for a variety of situations – your teenagers may have access to more content than your younger children, or maybe you will apply different time restrictions based on their age. The key is to just create additional security groups and apply permissions to allow or disallow content access. I create a MCX-A group and grant it additional rights to specific directories. The extenders in this group have access to content that the normal extenders have no access to.

For example, normal users and extenders should not have the ability to delete pictures, but you may want to allow some users/extenders this ability. Here is the setting to allow this:

As you can see, any member of the MCX Users group has Read & execute access to T:\Media\Pictures which it inherited from T:\Media, but members of the MCX-A group have modify access to the T:\Media\Pictures folder and all of its subfolders. The members of the MCX-A group cannot delete content in other directories that were not specifically given permissions. This is the advantage of not simply adding the extender account into the built-in Administrators group. By placing Media Center Extender user accounts into one or more of these privileged groups you will give just the level of access you need, but no more.

Relocating the Profiles Directory

On my Media Center PC, I have several physical disk drives where I store media and have setup file access control in the way I have described above. I have also moved my user profile directories off of the C: drive and on to the D: drive. This is most easily done when setting up a new machine prior to adding local user accounts. To relocate the user profile directory, edit the ProfilesDirectory registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Currentversion\ProfileList

My setting looks like this:

Although this setting change is not mandatory, I find it useful to allow me to make security settings at the disk level and not affect operating system directories. I also like the separation of the operating system drive from data drives for backup purposes and to ensure that if the user disk fills up it does not affect the operating system. I always make this change after setting up a new operating system version, and then I create any local accounts. I leave the Default and Public user profiles with the operating system, since they are setup by the OS installation, and I do not modify permissions for those directories.

Removing the extender-specific scheduled tasks (Windows 7)

When an extender is installed on a Windows 7 media center computer, a new scheduled task is created for that extender. Every extender installation or reinstallation will create an additional task. The task is created to run under the context of the logged-in user at the time of the extender installation. The task therefore has whatever permissions the installation account has been granted. This is why it is important to remove permissions from the installation account as soon as possible, and certainly before adding media directories.

The purpose of the new task is to update media permissions for extender accounts. This task runs whenever event id 115 appears in the Media Center application event log. Event 115 is generated when a media center extender establishes a connection to the media center PC. When the scheduled task detects the event it runs the %systemroot%\ehome\McxTask.exe program and passes the extender account MCX?-<computername> as a parameter. McxTask.exe updates permissions directly on files and folders to include the MCX?-<computername> account. The task is created and runs as a non-elevated process so it can only make permissions changes that the installation user account can make. No additional file or folder permissions can be granted above what the installation account is allowed so security is not compromised.

However, since I want to use security groups rather than user-level permissions to grant access, I do not want the default behavior and must disable the scheduled task(s). I open the task scheduler by typing taskschd.msc from the run menu, navigate to the Media Center Extender tasks and disable all of them. There should be one for each extender.

Note that in the above example the task would run under the MCXAdmin user account context and would update permissions for the Mcx1-MEDIACENTER1 account. This would give the Mcx1-MEDIACENTER1 extender account the same permissions to the folders that the MCXAdmin account has. It is important to disable the tasks or the extender accounts will be defined directly as file and folder level permissions rather than just using group permissions.

Testing Access Permissions (Windows 7)

There is an easy way to test access levels by logging on to the Media Center computer with the MCXUser and MCXAdmin accounts. These accounts were used to install the extenders, but then they were removed from the local Administrators groups as part of the installation process described above. These accounts now get their permissions from the same groups that the extenders do. By logging on to the computer with the standard MCXUser account you should only be able to access files and folders that standard extenders can access and you should not be able to add or delete content from protected directories. The MCXAdmin user account should have additional rights that the MCXUser account does not but it should not be able to traverse other user’s directories, nor should it be able to access other directories that it has not been granted access to. This is the best way to test your security definitions and ensure that everything is correct.

Allowing different content on different extenders

From the previous sections you can see that controlling access to content in media center is really just an exercise in assigning folder permission to groups, then making sure that the extender accounts are assigned to the right groups. The primary focus was to prevent accidental deletion of content such as pictures, music or permanent videos. The same concept can be applied to allow or prevent access to any content from specific extenders. This may be useful for situations where some extenders should have NO access to specific content. For example, if your children have Xbox 360’s in their bedrooms you can prevent them from getting access to age inappropriate material by assigning their Xboxes to restricted security groups. Unlike parental controls, this method lets you control the types of media they can access, regardless of how a show or movie was rated by someone that may not share your view of what is appropriate.

Setting up time restrictions

Time restrictions can be enforced through a combination of scheduled tasks and utilities that can set and remove permissions to files and folders. You can create a schedule where content is available to your children’s Xbox extenders until their bed time, then automatically disallow access after that time. Or, an extender that has normal access to content during the day can be elevated to a privileged extender in the evening after the children go to bed. The icacls.exe command included with the operating system allows manipulation of security permissions to allow this level of control. In the batch file below I use the icacls command to grant or remove access to the d:\media\restricted directory and all of its subdirectories for the MCX-A group.

@echo off

setlocal

set opts=/remove:g %computername%\MCX-A /t

if /i (%1)==(grant) set opts=/grant:r "%computername%\MCX-A":(OI)(CI)(RX)

echo %date% %time% >%~dpn0.log

icacls d:\media\restricted %opts% >>%~dpn0.log

endlocal

Copy the above batch file into notepad and save it as file setmcxacl.cmd. You will run this batch file in your scheduled task. It produces a log file named setmcxacl.log in the same directory as the batch file so you can see what permissions were actually changed. The batch file simply sets some common options used by the icacls.exe utility, then either grants or removes access to the directory specified (the d:\media\restricted folder in the above batch file).

To set up the schedule, open Scheduled Tasks using the taskschd.msc command.

I have created two tasks: one to enable content later in the evening for any extender that is in the privileged extenders group (MCX-A) and one to remove that access in the morning. During the day time, the extender can be used as normal, but in the evening additional content becomes available. Here is how you define the task to enable access every night at 9:30 PM:

Note that the command is running under the context of SYSTEM which has full rights to set file and folder permissions. Also note below that the parameter passed to the command file is “grant” which instructs the batch file to grant access to the folders at the given time.

Here is how you define the task to disable access in the morning. Again this runs under the local SYSTEM account so it has rights to change file and folder permissions.

The command line below specifies to “revoke” access at 8:00 AM every day.

Conclusion

This post provides instructions on how you can change the default permissions and rights granted to Media Center extender accounts under Windows XP/Vista and Windows 7. By making these changes you can confidently place different types of media on your Media Center computer and know that it is protected from accidental or intentional deletion. You can allow specific extenders access to some content while disallowing it from others. You can also enable time restrictions on content to enable some or all content to be available or unavailable from specific extenders at specific times of the day or week. Although the setup steps are not simply point-and-click within the Media Center user interface, they are not difficult if you have an understanding of Windows Security.

Appendix

Checkacls.cmd command file

This batch file will check permissions granted to a user or group on all drives on the Mediacenter computer. Copy the batch file code below and paste it into notepad, then save the file as checkacls.cmd.

@echo off

setlocal

if (%1)==() goto ERROR

set log=%~dpn0.log

echo %date% %time% >%log%

for %%i in (c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z) do call :chkacl %%i:\ %1

notepad %log%

goto end

:chkacl

echo ------------------------------------------------------------------------>>%log%

echo Checking %1 for ACLs for account %2

echo icacls %1 /findsid %2 /t /c 2>nul >>%log%

icacls %1 /findsid %2 /t /c 2>nul >>%log%

echo.>>%log%

goto :eof

:error

echo Syntax %0 Userid

goto end

:end

Endlocal

Running the Checkacls.cmd batch file

To run the command, type:

Checkacls.cmd {group or user name}

When the command completes it will display the results in notepad. This will show you exactly what file permissions have been granted to a specific user or group on all drives and in all directories on the computer. If the group name has a space in it, enclose it in quotes. For example, to check all the file permissions granted to the group “MCX Users” type the following command:

Checkacls “MCX Users”

To check all of the file permissions granted to the extender account MCX1-MEDIACENTER1, type the following:

Checkacls mcx1-mediacenter

***

DISCLAIMER:

The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer.

This document is provided on an “as is” basis. You bear the risk of using it and Microsoft does not provide any support services. Microsoft gives no express warranties, guarantees or conditions to the fullest extent permitted by law. Microsoft disclaims all warranties, express or implied, and in particular, disclaims all warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non infringement and warranties related to this document. Microsoft shall not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential damages or costs of any type arising out of any action taken by you or others related to this document. You may copy and use this document for your internal, reference purposes. You may not modify and redistribute this document.

Of Media and Mojo

JonDeutsch — Sun, 23 May 2010 15:29:00 GMT

It was another Apple Moment for me. Another moment when a vendor is so impressed with itself that it convinces throngs of people that what it's doing is revolutionary, magical or <insert-an-astonishing-adjective-here>.

This time, it wasn't Apple. This time, it was Google's announcement of Google TV.

I admit, I'd heard a lot of rumblings about Google's TV initiative over the prior months, and as a stalwart Windows Media Center user (and critic), I was hesitantly optimistic that there might be an even better solution than what I used for connected entertainment in the future. After all, it's Google, right? Google knows how to keep things simple, and they love using "the cloud" as their center of innovation. I've long complained that Microsoft is late to the cloud party (especially with regards to integrating web content into Media Center). I had also heard that Google was partnering with Sony and other TV manufacturers to build the functionality right into the TV. That would seem easier to setup and use than a Windows Media Center solution.

Yet, when I started reading reports on the announcement and demonstration of Google TV, I was both underwhelmed and annoyed. Let me start with why I was underwhelmed: From what I gather from the dripping of information currently available, Google TV is essentially a glorified video content portal. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's frankly a lightweight solution that more or less looks right past digital cable content streams. Just like Apple TV does. Both Google TV and Apple TV are more optimally designed for 2025, when digital cable transmissions will be in the pile of technologies past. But for 2010, digital cable is the elephant in the room, and to ignore it is to ignore reality.

Ninety-five percent of the content I watch is still transmitted via digital cable. Sure, I can go to Hulu or other content portal to watch a re-run or pick something up as an archive. But the quality really isn't there yet, and frankly, the business models aren't set yet either. Which means that all these wonderful digital distribution platforms are still in the "dotcom bubble" stage where everything is free for now in an attempt to gain a tremendous loyal audience that they can eventually monetize. It reminds me of the roaring 90s, where I could get stuff only for 50% less than retail because every shopping site was trying to drive traffic - not revenues. Then the shake-out happened, and now online shopping is rational and usually within 10% of retail shopping prices.

Being underwhelmed is not hard when it comes to connected home entertainment, but you might be wondering why I was annoyed.

I was annoyed on several fronts, which I think can be summed up with the following statement: Google is ignoring a reality that already exists, and Microsoft created a reality that nobody knows exists.

Let's start with Google's audacity to copy Steve Jobs' approach of blatantly bending reality in order to become a technology savior. Exhibit A: In their online introduction video, they have the nerve to assert that in the age of DVRs, people still need to "adjust their schedules to fit their TV schedules." By saying this, Google is essentially bypassing a decade of massive digital video recorder expansion in the marketplace, and claiming to introduce a solution that will finally allow you to watch what you want to watch, when you want to watch it. Really Google? Ever hear of a DVR?

Of course they have. And this is where mojo comes into play. Like Apple, Google is focusing like a laser on the fact that most people are not super-smart technologists like the ones surrounding themselves at the GooglePlex. And, Google is looking right past the 30% DVR users out there (not to mention the 75% mindshare), and saying that for most of the users out there, DVR technology does not yet exist in their lives. So, they're not building upon existing innovation, they're taking a long, hard look at reality beyond the savvy and introducing something "new" and essentially ignoring all of the middling solutions (TiVo, Cable DVRs, Apple TV, etc.) that occurred along the way. They're playing the ignorant card, and it's a smart card to play for a mass-consumer solution. But it still annoys me.

When Apple did this with the iPhone announcement, it annoyed me as well, because Steve Jobs was announcing "amazing" things his new phone could do that I had been doing with my Windows Mobile phone for years already. It didn't matter, though. I represent a small fraction of tech-savvy and tech-aware consumers. He could skip right by my reality and focus on the reality beyond the savvy - which he did to great effect and subsequent success.

The Google TV announcement also made me annoyed at Microsoft. Yes, Microsoft, the company that is so smart that it actually bridges the gap between real technology (digital cable) and emerging technologies (Internet TV) and embeds this elegant solution for free into the bulk of operating systems that get installed throughout the world. The team that does all this great work just to assume that everyone is as tech-savvy as they are, and will instantly understand the value of Windows Media Center, and be able to figure out what the heck to do with it. The team that is so surrounded by high IQs that they think that everyone is so smart and savvy that they'll just figure out that their Xbox 360 can "extend" the Media Center experience right to their TVs throughout the home, magically. Oh, and if you can find a discontinued digital cable tuner from ATI on eBay, you can DVR and stream digital cable anywhere in your home! C'mon - it's all drop-dead obvious, right? Right? Hello?

Microsoft's Media Center team, I've said this before, and I'll say it again: You appear to suffer from a savvy echo chamber where you presume too much of your users. You assume that good technology will do the marketing for you. You assume it's still 1991 where your user base needed to be tech-savvy to even engage in your brand. Of course, many in Microsoft know better than this. But they're in charge of successful consumer franchises like Xbox 360 and perhaps the forthcoming Windows Phone 7 OS.

And yes, Microsoft, I know it's more complex than that. I know you're trying to transform TV distribution with the whole Mediaroom IPTV strategy, which integrates seamlessly with existing clients. You're going deep and wide in an effort to be instrumental to the entire ecosystem. Meanwhile, you continue to lose mind space in the minds of the digital consumer and tech press, and you continue to let a now-five-year lead in superior connected home entertainment on the table.

Most of my friends and family who have seen my Windows Media Center setup in action actually put the effort into getting one setup for their homes, too. Their incomes range from middle-class to upper-middle-class. They tend to be savvy enough to dive into buying a system, finding CableCard tuners on eBay, and dealing with the pain of dealing with Comcast installers balking at a PC consuming a CableCard. Of course, this is all because I offer my free support services whenever there's a question or problem (and there's always a question or problem - which, of course, is the biggest hurdle for mass-marketing home media solutions).

Now back to yet another reason for me being annoyed with Microsoft with respect to this Google TV preview: It's been like pulling teeth to get Microsoft to give us easy access to web content via our otherwise-superior Media Center user experience. "Internet TV" on Media Center reminds me more of AOL (walled garden of safe, pre-approved content) than of even MSN or the Internet. Thank goodness for the excellent Macrotube application, which brings YouTube, DailyMotion, and other content sources to Media Center fairly elegantly. And thank goodness for oldie-but-goody apps like Big Screen Headlines 2, which allow me to stream audio podcasts via the big-screen interface. And even though the experience isn't ideal, I still get a lot of utility out of having Miro download video podcasts as they arrive and store them on my Media Center video library for on-demand playback.

But all of these apps and work-arounds don't fit the bill for a next generation Media Center for the home. This is where Google's got Microsoft beat - and beat bad. Google starts with the cloud and tries to weave in other stuff. Microsoft starts with the integration and tries to weave in the cloud in a careful way as not to veer too far from how much engineering effort and investment was made in getting digital cable through the PC in the first place. Yeah, I get that getting digital cable working through the PC was the heavy lifting. And Microsoft does deserve credit for that work. But they're never going to get the credit they desire. That integration is the invisible magic that will never make consumers or the media swoon. Unfortunately for smart engineers, most of their amazing integration, reliability and testing work will go under-appreciated, while a simple and slick app that pulls down YouTube content will get people crying "magic!"

Which brings us back to mojo. Microsoft has a major mojo problem. When it has a conference or a keynote address, they are almost always uninspired, uncomfortably-scripted and lacking the punch of an Apple - and now Google - keynote. At the 2010 CES keynote, Ballmer talked about his MediaRoom 2.0 IPTV strategy as if that was going to jazz people (other than AT&T and Microsoft's Finance department). Microsoft probably still has the best vision of technology for consumers in the long-run, but they are lacking the communications and marketing savvy to put their best foot forward when it comes to media relations, reputation management, and product announcement design. And from a product development perspective, there seems to be a bias toward the long-term that seriously affects investment in technologies (think developer network) that focuses on the now. Microsoft needs to think more about now and how without a relevant and compelling now, the later really might not even matter. Don't get me wrong -- I believe that Microsoft's future-focus is critical and strategic. But it doesn't buy you mojo. Mojo is about the relevance of now.

Google TV is an interesting yet underdeveloped idea that will get crazy amounts of press and industry interest due to mojo. Meanwhile, Windows Media Center -- a still awe-inspiring connected entertainment solution for the home -- tragically remains just a strange green icon on the Start menu in millions of consumers' PCs.

Microsoft, if you let Google beat you to this space, you deserve every bit of egg that will be on your face. You've had over a ½ decade to blaze a trail here, and while your product is elegant and still has remarkable potential, your marketing and communications strategies are literally suffocating your hard work and innovation.

Because I don't want to end on a negative note (I'm an optimist at heart with an odd soft spot for Microsoft), let me pivot from rant to recommendation -- a recommendation for Microsoft that might not only make sense, but provide an alternative interaction model that would differentiate Microsoft's strategy from that of the rest of the competition (small plug - recommendations like these are what I provide my clients through my firm Capital D Design):

Buck the trend of full on-screen integration that forces people to type in keywords on their TV. Instead, further extend the "send to" functionality that you've just launched in the Windows 7 ecosystem. Imagine, if you will, an omnipresent "send to..." button on Internet Explorer (and plug-ins for other browsers, please) where I as a web content consumer can decide to send a bit of content online to my Media Center for immediate -- or future -- viewing.
Here's a use case example: I'm surfing the web and I find a YouTube video, Vimeo video, MP3 file, or most any kind of rich media that I want to play back on one of my home TVs. When I land on the page that contains the content I want to experience on my TV, I click on the "Send to my TV" button on my browser toolbar, which adds this media to an "ready to play" queue in the Media Center interface. From there, I can instantly play back this on one of my home TVs, or play it back later when my family sits down for some evening entertainment. I can also store these in a personal library of favorites for future playback when my friends come to visit next weekend.
This surfing + media center connection would leverage the existing (and disparate) usage patterns of the respective PC and TV experiences, and as a result, reduce complexities in each device's interface design. Imagine a future where Microsoft was the firm that linked the web and home entertainment together in the simplest way possible. And then think about all the even more clever ways to extend and expand upon the "Send to" metaphor for the Microsoft ecosystem (the cloud, Windows Phones, Xbox's, etc.).
In contrast, Google TV's approach to the next generation of TV requires a lot of typing (in the form of searching) on the TV interface itself. Sorry, Google, I don't think the future of TV is search.

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Postscript: I know I don't blog as much as I should here (and I apologize for that), but it usually takes something substantive to get my juices flowing. And Google's announcement did just that. If you want me to blog about anything specific, please feel free to reach out to me with a request: jon [at] jondeutsch.com

Podcast: The Media Center Show #257 – My Media Center

Iand — Thu, 20 May 2010 07:25:00 GMT

Welcome to another edition of The Media Center Show and this week I am talking Martin Milmore the developer of TunerFreeMCE and the new My Media Center Addin designed especially for kids. Martin’s new add is a great way to make sure your kids are watching only the content you want them to watch but at the same time being a fun UI. I also have email and a round up of the weeks news

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

No CableCARD in Windows 7 Embedded (yet)
TDL Mobile Show #37
Tranquil PC Preview the AVA Media ixVL Media Center
Microsoft launch Media Center forums in Microsoft Answers
Netflix HD comes to WIndows Media Center
MSN Video Player hits Windows Media Center in the UK

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

IOGEAR GKM561R Wireless Keyboard Review

Mike Garcen — Tue, 18 May 2010 18:34:00 GMT

Much to Pete Brown's pleasure, MissingRemote is proud to have another wireless keyboard review for your pleasure! ;-)

Finding the right wireless keyboard and mouse for your HTPC can be a huge chore. For me the ideal solution has to have a wireless range greater than 10’, good battery life and combines a compact keyboard with a pointing device in the same chassis. The IOGEAR GKM561R has the looks and specs to get it in the door; let’s take a closer look to find out if it has the capability to make it a keeper.

Specifications:

Wireless Frequency:	2.4GHz
Connector:	USB
Range:	Up to 10m (33’)
OS Support:	Windows XP, Vista (32/64), Mac OS X (multimedia keys not supported)
Trackball Resolution:	400/800/1200 DPI (user selectable)
Battery Type:	2x AA
Size:	14.125” (W) x 6.5” (H) x 1.5” (D

The GKM561R is an averaged sized compact USB keyboard operating at 2.4GHz. This is a very crowded slice of spectrum also used by 802.11b/g/n, microwave ovens, cordless phones, etc. so it is not surprising that the range is “Up to 10m (33’)”. In distance testing I had a hard time reliably going beyond 4-5m (12-15’) and infrequently had difficulty within 2m (6’) of the HTPC with the dongle plugged directly into the I/O panel. The HTPC is located in the bottom slot of an A/V cabinet so I suspect that my environment is more challenging than most. Every 2.4GHz keyboard I’ve tested (except my ancient Gyration – RIP) struggles in this scenario (e.g. my VidaBox is only reliable within 1.5m) so while wireless performance was not flawless, the IOGEAR’s range is good enough that “PC” tasks (i.e. web surfing or programming) are quite possible from the coffee table without frustration. After inserting a 1m (3’) USB extension cable (A Male to A Female) between the I/O panel and the dongle which allowed it to be mounted in a higher location outside the cabinet range increased dramatically in line with IOGEAR’s 10m (33’) claims.

Read the rest at MissingRemote.com

The Digital Media Zone Weekly Update

MolsonFLMCE — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:55:00 GMT

As it's becoming more difficult to post all of The DMZ's weekly shows individually, you'll now find all of our content listed here each week. We feel our shows add something to the Media Center community and there's something for everyone!

Podcast: The Media Center Show #256 - Jim Collison

Iand — Thu, 13 May 2010 10:12:31 GMT

This week on The Media Center Show I am talking to Windows Home Server and Windows Media Center enthusiast Jim Collison about Windows Home Server Vail, Windows Home Server addins and using WHS and Windows Media Center together. Jim is a part of the Home Server Show an excellent podcast on WHS so its great to be chatting with Jim

I also have news including new a Media Center box from Tranquil and and new Windows 7 compatible devices

Listen Here (download mp3) - Subscribe via iTunes - Subscribe via RSS - Subscribe with Zune

Vote for the show on podcast Alley - Join The Media Center Show Group on Facebook - Join the Windows Live Group - Follow me on Twitter

Links from this weeks show:

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show

Music by Ian Dixon

Clubhouse tags: clubhouse, media center, windows media center, how-to

The Green Button

Podcast: The Media Center Show #265–Not the iPad show?

Dell Inspiron Zino HD small form factor Review

How to Enable Concurrent Sessions Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Beta

Podcast: The Media Center Show #264 - Andres Echevarria

The Phantom Lapboard Review @ MissingRemote.com

Podcast: The Media Center Show #263–Forced Perspective

Podcast: The Media Center Show #262–2nd User Group Meetup

Vidabox RF Wireless Keyboard Review

Guide: How to Replace the ArcSoft Splash Screen

Actiontec Ethernet over Coax MoCA Network Adapter Review

Podcast:The Media Center Show #261– Andrew and Garry

Vuvuzelas, the World Cup and Windows Media Center

Moneual MonCaso 320 Low Profile HTPC Chassis Review

The Media Center Show #259 – Microsoft’s Mark Pendergrast

Agenda for the Windows Media Center/WHS User Group Meeting

Book now for the 2nd UK Windows Media Center Event

We have now finalised (finally) the details for the June 12 Media Center and Windows Home Server event!

WMC Custom Installer forums and resources now available on TGB

Podcast: The Media Center Show #258 – Tranquil PC

QNAP NMP-1000 Media Player Review

Optimizing security for Windows Media Center Extenders

Introduction

Operating System Variations

Windows XP and Vista

Windows 7 Media Center

Overall Setup Process

XP and Vista Setup

Windows 7 Setup

Setting up User Accounts and Groups

Desired Content Access Levels

Specific Folder Permissions

Restricting access to Media Drives

Creating Unrestricted/Less Restricted Access Groups

Relocating the Profiles Directory

Removing the extender-specific scheduled tasks (Windows 7)

Testing Access Permissions (Windows 7)

Allowing different content on different extenders

Setting up time restrictions

Conclusion

Appendix

Checkacls.cmd command file

Running the Checkacls.cmd batch file

DISCLAIMER:

Of Media and Mojo

Podcast: The Media Center Show #257 – My Media Center

IOGEAR GKM561R Wireless Keyboard Review

The Digital Media Zone Weekly Update

Podcast: The Media Center Show #256 - Jim Collison

Tranquil launch new Media Center box, the T7-MP2

Welcome to an updated TDL

WD TV Live adds “Play To” features

DVBlogic adds Internet TV streaming to DVBLink

Introducing myself-What should an ebook reader be?

Don’t forget the other TDL Podcasts: TDL Mobile and The Custom Integrator Show