If you’ve got an X-box 360, setting it up as a Media Center Extender is easier than ever in Windows 7.

Microsoft’s Ben Reed showed Channel 9 how easy it is in this short video, and talks more about the synergy between these two products. Check it out!

Like many Media Center enthusiasts, I jumped on the Windows 7 Family Pack deal, which provides three upgrade licenses to Windows 7 Home Premium for about $150 bucks. Like many who preordered at Amazon, my Family Pack came on Oct. 21, the day before the big release.

My home network has gotten a bit wily over the past two years – different Windows OSs, different virus protection programs, different network connections, different sharing permissions on each PC, different program versions, you know the drill. It got to be this way organically, of course, because as our computing needs changed, we simply added in or downloaded what we needed. The arrival of Windows 7 lets me rethink some of these decisions and put together a high-level plan to make managing things easier and more direct.

High-level plan

Upgrading all three of our PCs to Windows 7 Home Premium (thank you, Family Pack) and setting up a Home Group will resolve a lot of the sharing/network issues we’ve had for the past year. The pictures, videos, recorded TV and music on our PCs will be shared for all. I’m also going to standardize us all on Microsoft Security Essentials for virus protection, and download Windows Live Essentials so that we all have Photo Gallery, Movie Maker and so on. Finally, I want to make sure that each PC has the latest versions of Zune software (we have a Zune pass and have multiple Zune’s in the family), as well as some of the non-Microsoft apps we use like Skype and Adobe Reader.

So here’s the situation in our house:

1. Dedicated Media Center PC connected via HDMI to our 50” LCD TV. This started life as a Dell low-profile Inspiron, but over the past two years, I’ve upgraded it a good deal as components went on sale: better OS, more RAM, TV tuners, better video card, additional hard drives, etc. I believe the best ten-foot Media Center experience comes with connecting the PC directly to the TV, and the low-profile case fits well in our cabinet.

Strategy:

The Media Center has been running the Win7 Release Candidate beta since March. Since there’s no approved upgrade path from the RC to Win7 Home Premium, I rolled it back on Wednesday night to the version of Vista Basic that it showed up with. I have the OS on its own drive on this PC, while all of my music, pictures, videos and recorded TV are on separate drives. This makes changing the OS much easier since it only affects one drive.

2. General Purpose Laptop – This is an old work laptop that I brought home last year for the teen-age foreign exchange student we hosted to use. Since she returned home, we use it for general web surfing and e-mail checking, and it tends to move around the house. There’s no tuners for live TV, but we have used to watch movies – either DVDs or streamed from Netflix. It was running Vista Business Edition.

Strategy:

There’s no in-place upgrade from Vista Business to Windows 7 Home Premium, meaning I had to do a custom install – one that would wipe away the existing OS and apps entirely and create a Windows.old folder for all the old stuff to live in. I have a 500 GB Western Digital My Book external hard drive with a lot of space on it, so on Wednesday night I backed up all the files to it.

Tip! See what versions of 7 can support an in-place upgrade and which require a custom install on this chart.

Basically, I plugged the drive in and then dragged-and-dropped all my user file folders onto it and let it work on its own. It took about 10 minutes to finish. In Vista Business and Ultimate versions, I also could have done a complete PC backup using the Windows Backup and Restore feature (Start | All Programs | Accessories | System Tools |Backup Status and Configuration, or simply type ‘backup’ into the Start | Search box.)

3. My Wife’s Laptop is, of course, the PC that gives me the most worry. It’s been a rock solid performer for her for the past year, so I’m worried about upgrading the OS when everything is going well (if it ain’t broke…). Still, I’m not crazy about the third-party virus protection she has, which frequently and inexplicably pops up messages that seem to be more about marketing a more expensive version of itself instead of actually protecting the PC, but they’re worded in such a way that she always calls me when one appears. And adding her to the HomeGroup will make it much easier for her when she wants to email pictures to her parents that are on the Media Center downstairs.

Strategy:

Luckily, this is a direct Vista Premium to Windows 7 Home Premium upgrade – meaning it can be done while keeping her files and apps in tact. Still, I copied her files to the external hard drive, just in case, and then I did a complete PC image backup with Backup and Restore, too. Overkill? Probably. But when you’re working with your wife’s PC, you can’t be too careful.

10.22.09: Windows 7 Upgrade Day

With all of the PCs backed up the previous evening, I started the upgrade process Thursday morning just after getting the kiddo’s on the school bus. Here’s how it went down:

9:31 am     

I begin with general purpose laptop, dropping in the Upgrade DVD. Windows tells me I have to do a custom install, which will replace the OS entirely. Bring it on, I say.

10:20 am    

Windows 7 finishes the installation and restarts itself. I take the DVD and get the upgrade rolling on the Media Center PC before returning to this laptop and entering my product key and finishing the upgrade – setting my time zone, setting up the HomeGroup, and some other housekeeping tidbits.

10:20-10:50 

I download and install Microsoft Security Essentials and Windows Live Essentials on the laptop.

10:55 am   

On the Media Center, Windows 7 has detected the HomeGroup set-up when upgrading the laptop. I enter the HomeGroup password to join.

11:00-11:15 am   

I download and install Zune 4.0 software and the latest versions of Skype and Adobe Reader on the laptop. Then I attach the external hard drive and begin copying my files back over.

11:20 am

Windows 7 installation completes on the Media Center PC. I take the DVD to my wife’s laptop, say a little prayer, and begin the upgrade process there. I select in-place upgrade, and Windows begins examining everything on my wife’s laptop.

Also, I start wondering if it’s possible that I will complete all my tasks by lunchtime.

11:25-11:50 am

On the Media Center PC, I download and install Microsoft Security Essentials, Windows Live Essentials and the Zune 4.0 software.

11:52 am

On the laptop, all of my files have been copied back in good order. I delete the Windows.old folder that was created in the upgrade, which frees up a ton of space.

12:00 noon

The upgrade on my Wife’s PC is still running. It’s given me a list of potential issues with programs/drivers that the upgrade to Windows 7 may cause, but these are minor items that I anticipated. I tell it to go ahead.

Back on the Media Center PC, I run Media Center Express Set-up and then TV set-up. I know from experience that scanning for channels is the longest part of TV set-up, so I want to get it going before breaking for lunch.

The only hitch to this process is that I have to have Windows go look for and reinstall drivers for my AVer Media Tuner card before I can run setup in Media Center.

Check out “Compatible with Windows 7” tuner cards here. There’s even an AQ (Advanced Qualification) certification for Media Center that tuner cards can earn.

12:15

There’s no bread! Why is it every time I want a danged sandwich, there’s no bread in the house. Lunch consists of Cheez-its and dry cereal (yeah – we we’re out of milk, too).

12:30

TV setup completed on the Media Center, I edit the guide listings, looking for more channels (as described in Ben Reed’s post, here). I find about 15 additional channels, but once I rule out the shopping and foreign language channels, have about seven. These are mostly ClearQAM digital versions of channels I am otherwise receiving via analog cable, so I combine them with the analog listings.

1 p.m.

I wrap up Media Center setup by installing the Internet TV and Netflix apps and logging in to my Netflix account. I also change where Media Center will record TV (directing it to the 1TB hard drive I put in for this purpose) and add additional locations to the picture, video and music libraries.

1:15 p.m.

On my wife’s PC, I join the HomeGroup. Shortly thereafter, her in-place upgrade is done, and I have to admit, I am amazed. It took the longest of the three, but for all intents and purposes, on the surface, her PC seems exactly the same – down to the wallpaper and icons on her desktop. (I even do an aero shake just to make sure the upgrade actually worked).

1:15-2:00

Maintenance stuff on my wife’s laptop – uninstalling the old virus protection and replacing it with Microsoft’s Security Essentials, installing Windows Live Essentials, Zune 4.0 and removing a few other unused programs. This lappy is feeling lean and mean when I’m done.

2:00-2:30

I set up Media Center on both laptops; although neither has TV tuners, I want them to be able to access recorded TV on the main Media Center PC. Also, install Internet TV and Netflix apps on both and log in to our Netflix account.

2:30-3:00

Still plenty of time before the kids get home from school, so I head back to the Media Center PC to install some of my favorite plugins for weather, Internet radio, Hulu desktop and so on.

(Not sure how long hulu will be part of my life after today’s news – charging? Hulu? Really?)

3:05

In the new Internet TV, I immediately get involved in an episode of The Love Boat, season one. In it, both Isaac’s Mom and girlfriend come for a cruise on the Pacific Princess when- surprise! Isaac’s Mom also brings her new boyfriend – some Dentist that Isaac does not like one bit. Also, Gopher sneaks a pet baboon onboard and almost gets fired for it. Best quote was by Captain Stubben: “Kids these days – when they do the Bump or the Hustle, it’s fun, but when we do them, we’re being silly and immature.”

 

Above: This new Internet TV content is going to pose a serious threat to my productivity this year.

So there you have it – in one day I’ve upgraded all of our PCs, created a Home Group, re-set-up my main Media Center (and gained some digital channels in the process), am sharing content among PCs, have standardized our virus protection and removed the various apps and downloads that accumulate over time but aren’t being user or adding any value.

So of course, it’s time to start thinking about…MORE! What’s next? A netbook with 7 would be nice downstairs, and of course there’s my recurring dream of moving the PCs out of the media room entirely and into a dedicated AV rack…

I hope your upgrade experiences are as smooth as mine. Here’s the basic checklist I used for our house:

1. Run Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor on each PC you plan to upgrade, checking for potential issues.

2. Back-up files and/or do a complete PC backup using Vista’s Backup and Restore center.

3. For in-place upgrades, remove any unused programs and applications.

4. Run Windows 7 upgrade from provided DVD.

5. Set-up/join HomeGroup.

6. Download and install Microsoft Security Essentials.

7. Download and Install Windows Live Essentials.

8. Download and Install Zune 4.0 software.

9. Run Media Center set-up. For PCs without TV tuners, be sure to add recorded TV location to media library.

10. Install any additional, missing programs (Skype, Adobe Reader, Media Center plugins).

Want more? I learned a lot from Lifehacker’s Complete Guide to Windows 7.

- Pete

If you have a PC that you’re planning to upgrade to Windows 7 (and really, why wouldn’t you be doing this?) and you’ll be watching a lot of TV and movies on it, one thing you want to check out is your graphics card, which, Wikipedia tells us, is…

A video card, video adapter, graphics-accelerator card, display adapter, or graphics card is an expansion card whose function is to generate and output images to a display.

I moderate Media Center chats every other month over on Microsoft Communities website, and a common symptom people report there is seeing some stuttering or frames drop while watching TV – particularly high definition TV. The experts in the chats always start with the graphics card.

Back in the old days, by which I mean just a few years ago, graphics cards didn’t have their own on-board memory or processor. Many were built right into the motherboard and had a simple VGA out to the monitor.

Nowadays, graphics cards have their own processor (often called a GPU) and on-board memory – anywhere from 128MB up through 4 GB. That means a lot of work in processing and presenting the images is taken off the CPU and handled by the card, which can output to a variety of formats – S-video, DVI, HDMI, and so on. Some have their own fans on-board, too.

When I first hooked a PC up to my 50” LCD TV, this was the component that I needed to upgrade. Cards tend to run from $75 up through $200. I invested about $100 in a card with 512 MB onboard, and could not be happier with the results. Playback has been Billy Dee Williams-smooth and the picture sharp and crisp ever since. No stutters. The card itself has DVI and S-video output. I use a DVI-to-HDMI dongle and then connect it to my TV’s HDMI port.

Installing a Graphics Card 

I’m not usually an open-the-case kind of PC user, but this time, even I was able to install it myself.

After disconnecting the power from my PC, I opened the case and removed the old graphics card, which had no on-board memory to speak of. I took it with me to the store so I could make sure the new one was the same size and shape and would click into the spot occupied by the old one.

(There are terms for these slots and card connections and what not, but as I said, I’m usually not an open the case kind of guy. Luckily, the Tuner Guy is:)

L to R: PCI, PCI-e and AGP slots for graphics cards. Mine was PCI-e and it seemed like most of the options at the store were also.

When I got home, I clicked the new one into place, connected it to my display and powered it up. Windows installed the drivers and I’ve been golden ever since.

Here are some more resources I found online if you’re thinking about upgrading your graphics card. For me, it was swift, easy and well-worth the time and money.

• How to change my graphics card (video)
• Gamespot’s How To Article
• The Tuner guy on Graphics Cards

I’ve been seeing more and more blog posts about people getting ready to ditch their cable TV service. Like me, they are occasional TV watchers. They enjoy a good show, but aren’t fanatical viewers. With more and more content being made available online and my Media Center Pc connected directly to my TV, the case for monthly cable bills gets weaker and weaker in my house.

Over on the technology blog Gizmodo, Sean Fallon has a lengthy write-up of his experiences ditching his Direct TV service in lieu of an Over-the-Air antenna and various Internet TV services.

For a month, I simply used easily accessible, generally legal alternatives like Netflix, Hulu Desktop and network websites, plus Windows Media Center, which comes "free" with most PCs these days. The idea here is to prove that you don't need to spend tons of money, use complicated software or go to extreme measures to watch what you want.

As you might guess, Windows Media Center played an important role is his experiment. He used it to tune OTA channels and watch a variety of on-demand programming.

…with Windows Media Center, having Netflix and other plug-ins makes finding and watching on-demand shows a whole lot easier

I know I’m not the only one who thinks this is the way entertainment delivery is heading. In Windows 7, Internet TV content is integrated into the TV guide itself, putting Media Center ahead of the game.

As more and more content becomes available, Media Center seems poised to be the one place to bring it together in an interface that is elegant and simple to use.

Fallon points out that HD streaming is still in its baby steps, and details the types programming he wasn’t able to get, including a good deal of sports. College football is what seems to be holding me back from cutting the cable entirely, although Fallon points out a number of ways to get sports coverage without cable (including Media Center’s Sports Lounge).

Overall, for a casual TV watcher, Fallon concludes that

I found my experience without standard cable television to be more liberating than anything else. Sure, streaming video isn't always HD quality, not all of my favorite shows are readily available, and I have to search around a bit more for the things I want to watch—but I didn't suffer and I didn't feel like I was missing out.

Me? I’ve just started the conversation about cutting the cable with my wife. How about you?

Remember watching a movie on VHS and wanting to skip forward or skip back? You would push the rewind or fast forward button and listen to the motors whip into action to move the tape forward or back.

For a long time, digital controls functioned basically the same way (only without the motors). Then came the clickable seek bar. In Media Center, for recorded TV, you can click on a spot on the bar and the video playback will jump to it.

Above: a clickable seek bar is great if you’re using a mouse, but many MCE enthusiasts (myself included) mainly use a remote control. 

Here’s a great Windows 7 tip I learned from the Media Center community for remote control users:

Enter a number of minutes and seconds on the remote control keypad, then hit the Fast Forward or Rewind buttons and playback will jump forward or back (as the case may be) that amount of time. For example, to jump 30 minutes ahead, enter 3000 (30 minutes, 00 seconds) and press the Fast Forward button.

If you’re just starting a video, you can also enter a number of minutes, then press Play and it will jump to that point in the video for you as well.

Above: I’ve just entered 1500 and can jump ahead 15 minutes and 00 seconds by pressing Play or Fast Forward on the remote.

Skip forward and Skip back

Be sure to use the play, fast forward and rewind buttons. If you use the Skip Forward or Skip Backward buttons, the behavior is different. It takes the number you entered and multiplies it with the setting for the skip buttons.

Above: the skip forward and back buttons on your remote usually have symbols like these on them.

For example – the skip forward and back buttons typically default to 30 seconds, meaning the jump that far ahead or back when pressed. If you press 5 on the remote, then skip forward, it will jump 2 and a half minutes ahead (0:30 x 5).

Once you start using this feature, you’ll wonder how you ever did without it.

• Read more on The Green Button or on The Digital Lifestyle.