Here is small tips on how to use an Xbox 360 on Windows Media Center. You can use the same on your home network to stream your videos and music. It is really very easy to connect and get a multimedia platform. For this below are the steps. Along with this I had also provided some settings for XMBC server if you want an open source solution. If you do not have any Media Center operating system then this can help you to create your own.
What you will need :
- A computer
- An XBOX 360
- WiFi Internet access
- Windows Media Player 11
How to Setup Xbox 360 -
- First make sure your Xbox 360 is connected to the Internet through the same wireless router or modem as your computer. To connect with the console, you must be registered to Xbox Live. Check that your computer is also connected to the Internet.
- Download the Windows Media Player 11. It is logically installed by default with all versions of Windows, but you do not necessarily last update. You can find it easily on the Microsoft website. If you do not have Windows Media Player 11, you can use Windows Media Connect or Zune. The result is the same.
- Turn on your computer and your console Xbox 360.
- Turn on your Xbox 360
- Then go in My Xbox and click on Windows Media Center.
- When click it, there will be a code displayed. Click on Continue.
- Once done just leave your Xbox Screen as it is so that the connection can be established properly.
- After that open Windows Media Player on your system and then click on the library section.
- Then you will get some options in your library for media sharing. In that look for the tab Media Sharing. In this you will have to check both boxes saying Search media files shared by other users and Share my media.
- When you check those boxes you will receive a poppup on your Xbox screen.Click on Allow.
- Then click on Apply and OK.
- After that in your system go in Start > Control Panel and then click on Windows Firewall. You have to provide an open access to the gaming console. So that you can view your files from system.
- For that you can see option Enable or Disable Firewall. Turn it Off.
- After that go in the Exceptions tab and then in that add an exception for Media Center Extender Units.Click on Apply and then OK.
- Now you can finally open Windows Media Center. In that go in the section Tak and then click on Settings.
- At that click on Extender and then click on Add Extender.
- Now there is not much help needed here. You will be able to configure yourself the rest. All you have to do is just add the code what you got on the Xbox. You can also tick yes to any of the options that you want.
XMBC
There is another solutions for Media Center PC. This is just what you want. There are lots of support and plugins provided with this. This wonderful software and easy to use also. It works very quickly to the needs of any user, no matter what their level of computer knowledge. It allows directly from its main menu to read your videos, music or view your photos while keeping an eye on the weather. Maybe because XBMC includes its own video player, as it requires no setup or adding codecs so complicated to master, or because it takes less than 5 minutes without any knowledge to start your first video.
What can you with XMBC
- Files allows the user to manage his files.
- Media Center allows the user to browse the files when administered via the user files.
- The sections are the entry points to content, they are present on the home page. (Weather, movies, TV shows, ect)
- The views are different display mode of a section (there are several levels of navigation section).
- Fanarts are the image files to illustrate as your wallpaper sections
- The decals are the posters of movies.
- Labels are the icons at the bottom of the interface when a selected film.
In XBMC, you can play almost any type of audio and video media. No need for codecs, the software is doing alone. This is one of the roles of file mode. It allows you to add sources (pointing to files) define the nature of the content present in it.
As its name suggests it works as a file manager in Windows or MacOSX to navigate the tree of your disk. It's simple, powerful but frankly not elegant.
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