How to View DVDs on Your Hard Drive with Windows Media Center

This page shows how to view DVDs that are stored on your local hard drive using Windows Media Center (WMC), Vista version.

If you have created, ripped or backed up DVDs on your hard drive and tried to play them in the Vista version of Windows Media Center, you will probably find that it doesn't work. When you try to play a DVD, WMC tries to open the folder and tells you that it's empty. This is because, unlike previous versions of WMC, this isn't how you play DVD folders in Vista.

Rather than playing DVDs from the Videos section, you need to use the DVD Library which is located in the TV & Movies section. If this is not enabled (i.e. you can't see it in the main menu), you need to edit the registry.

Warning: Editing the registry is for experienced users only. Inexperienced users can cause serious damage.

Here is the required registry edit:

Registry key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Settings\DvdSettings
Registry value: ShowGallery
Registry value data type: REG_SZ
Registry value data: Gallery = enable My DVDs; Play = do not enable My DVDs

Change the setting to "Gallery", reboot the computer and restart Media Center. You should now see "dvd library" in the menu. To add DVDs, go to the information menu (click "i" on the remote control) and select "Add Movies".

Pros and Cons of Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center (MCE) has a lot of pros and cons compared to traditional home entertainment setups — it can be a source of both great joy and desperate frustration. It pays to understand what you're getting into before you decide to invest in this system.

Pros

If you've never used a system like this before, be prepared to get excited. MCE, like other similar computer-based systems, will change the way you think about home entertainment. It's hard to describe just how good it is having all your media stuff in one place. Trust me — you need to experience it to understand why it's the biggest thing to hit the home entertainment market since the VCR. Here are just some of the things you can do:

• Access everything from one simple on-screen menu (and a single remote control): TV channels, radio stations, personal videos, music, photos and online media sources.
• If you like, use a wireless keyboard and mouse to control the PC from your couch. You can also purchase the purpose-built MCE keyboard/mouse-pointer combo which gives you everything in a small, tidy unit.
• Pause and resume live TV — phone calls in the middle of your favourite program are no longer a problem.
• Use the scheduler to automatically record programs daily, weekly or whatever — you never have to remember to record and your favourite shows are always waiting for you. Programs that are on in the middle of the night or while you're at work are just as easy to watch as any other program.
• Create custom playlists, video screensavers, photo slideshows, etc. You can even play music playlists with photo slideshows.
• Flick between watching TV and surfing the net. If you see something you want to investigate while you're watching TV, pause the program, do some surfing, then pick up the program where you left off.
• Add multiple tuner cards to record multiple channels at once (requires some computer expertise).
• With a bit of practice you can virtually eliminate ad breaks from your life.

This biggest overall advantage is the ease with which you can do all these things. For example, you can timeshift with your VCR but you could never do what the MCE scheduler does — it's in another league. Keeping control of what the kids watch is no longer a task. You will be surprised at how often you look at your home videos or photo albums when it's just another button on your remote. The list goes on — half the fun is in realising what you can do that you never thought would be practical.

Cons

If you are lucky enough to live in a country fully supported by MCE, and your installation goes smoothly, there aren't too many nasty surprises. However this is relatively new technology and things may not go quite as well as promised. For example, if you live outside the USA you may find that you can't easily program all your local TV channels or find a local programming guide.
The company which sells you your MCE system may not have the technical support needed to fix problems. For example, many shops may be happy to sell you a MCE PC but do not have staff trained to deal with configuration and tuning issues. I recommend that you make the terms of your purchase clear before you hand over the cash — you expect a fully-functional system tuned to all your channels and ready for viewing.
You may be disappointed in the quality of the video picture. This can be tweaked, but depending on your computer system and your skills, you may find it hard to get the same quality as your TV tuner or DVD player. This is becoming less of an issues over time, and it is certainly possible to get excellent pictures, but it's an issue worth noting.
Be warned: Many problems reported by MCE users are not easy to fix and may require measures such as editing the registry. This is not for the technically faint-hearted!

Overview of Windows Media Center

Windows Media Center Edition (MCE) is a special version of Windows designed to drive your home entertainment system. It's basically like a normal PC running Windows, but it uses your TV as a monitor and your sound system for audio.
These are the basic components:
 

• PC with TV tuner card and DVD drive, running Windows Media Center Edition
• Monitor or television set
• Sound system (optional — you could use the TV's speakers)
• Remote control
• Wireless keyboard & mouse (optional)

Features

MCE consists of 6 main areas, all accessed from the main menu:

1. My DVD
   Play DVDs using the PC's DVD drive.
2. My Videos
   Save your favourite videos on hard drive and organise them in folders for easy access.
3. My Pictures
   Save photos in folders, organise into albums and create slideshows.
4. My TV
   View live or recorded TV programs. Live TV allows you to pause, rewind and resume programs. Recorded TV includes a scheduler to automatically record and organise saved programs.
5. My Music
   Save music in folders, retrieve album information from the net, create playlists.
6. Radio
   Program your favourite radio stations.
7. Online Spotlight
   Get access to online content (not all countries are supported).

Remote Control

The official MCE remote control is the last remote control you'll ever need (well, maybe). Once you have your system set up you can control everything from here.
The remote control functions adapt to the area of MCE you are using, for example, the stop/play buttons work the same for live TV as recorded music. The up/down/left/right buttons have a whole range of functions depending on what you're doing, but it's surprisingly intuitive so there's no need to be intimidated.
Other common functions include:

• Direct access to all main areas of MCE.
• Manage recordings, playlists, etc.
• Enter text characters when necessary.
• Start up Windows Media Center, shut down the PC.

While the remote can control virtually every aspect of MCE, you will still need a keyboard if you want to use the computer's other features such as web browsing and running other applications.

Plugins & Additions

There are a range of official and unofficial add-ons for Windows Media Center. Common examples include picture enhancement, advanced scheduling, games, etc.
These applications are changing constantly — you should search the Internet for the current favourites.

Cost

The cost is around the same price as a decent home PC. Assuming you already have a suitable TV you don't need to buy a monitor — this compensates for having to include a decent amount of RAM and tuner card(s).

Encrypted Files in Windows

If you experience any of the following problems, you may be dealing with an encrypted file:

If a file name is shown in green in your Windows file manager, it's encrypted.

• One or more files have turned green in My Computer (Windows Explorer).
• You are unable to copy, move or otherwise alter a file.
• You get a message saying you do not have permission to open or edit a file, even as Administrator.

 

 

 

What is an encrypted file?

A file that has been encoded with a special "key" to prevent unauthorized access.

How to find encrypted files

To locate all encrypted files on your system, open a command prompt and type the following command, then press the Enter key:

cipher /u /n

How do I get control of this file back?

Warning: It may not be possible to recover the file. Try these steps:

1. Right-click the file and select Properties.
2. Select Advanced (in the General tab).
3. Uncheck Encrypt contents to secure data.
4. Click OK. With any luck, the file name will turn from green to black and you'll be back in control.

What if this doesn't work?

If you still see error messages telling you that permission is denied, and you are unable to remove the encryption, you have a more serious problem. Most likely the file was encrypted by someone else or you have copied the file to a new computer.
The next step is to open a command prompt and type the following command, then press the Enter key. This will find all the encrypted files on your system and attempt to update the file encryption key or recovery keys.

cipher /u

Read the output from the window to see if you've been successful. If not, the only remaining hope is to find the original encryption key. Hopefully you are able to use a backup of the key, but you'll need to know where it is.
Unfortunately, in some cases you won't have the key. For example, if you moved to a new computer without making a backup of the encryption key, and you no longer have access to the old computer, you're out of luck. In such cases the file is irretrievable.

All windows shortcuts - exclusive

Command Prompt:
ANSI.SYS Defines functions that change display graphics, control cursor movement, and reassign keys.
APPEND Causes MS-DOS to look in other directories when editing a file or running a command.
ARP Displays, adds, and removes arp information from network devices.
ASSIGN Assign a drive letter to an alternate letter.
ASSOC View the file associations.
AT Schedule a time to execute commands or programs.
ATMADM Lists connections and addresses seen by Windows ATM call manager.
ATTRIB Display and change file attributes.
BATCH Recovery console command that executes a series of commands in a file.
BOOTCFG Recovery console command that allows a user to view, modify, and rebuild the boot.ini
BREAK Enable / disable CTRL + C feature.
CACLS View and modify file ACL's.
CALL Calls a batch file from another batch file.
CD Changes directories.
CHCP Supplement the International keyboard and character set information.
CHDIR Changes directories.
CHKDSK Check the hard disk drive running FAT for errors.
CHKNTFS Check the hard disk drive running NTFS for errors.
CHOICE Specify a listing of multiple options within a batch file.
CLS Clears the screen.
CMD Opens the command interpreter.
COLOR Easily change the foreground and background color of the MS-DOS window.
COMP Compares files.
COMPACT Compresses and uncompress files.
CONTROL Open control panel icons from the MS-DOS prompt.
CONVERT Convert FAT to NTFS.
COPY Copy one or more files to an alternate location.
CTTY Change the computers input/output devices.
DATE View or change the systems date.
DEBUG Debug utility to create assembly programs to modify hardware settings.
DEFRAG Re-arrange the hard disk drive to help with loading programs.
DEL Deletes one or more files.
DELETE Recovery console command that deletes a file.
DELTREE Deletes one or more files and/or directories.
DIR List the contents of one or more directory.
DISABLE Recovery console command that disables Windows system services or drivers.
DISKCOMP Compare a disk with another disk.
DISKCOPY Copy the contents of one disk and place them on another disk.
DOSKEY Command to view and execute commands that have been run in the past.
DOSSHELL A GUI to help with early MS-DOS users.
DRIVPARM Enables overwrite of original device drivers.
ECHO Displays messages and enables and disables echo.
EDIT View and edit files.
EDLIN View and edit files.
EMM386 Load extended Memory Manager.
ENABLE Recovery console command to enable a disable service or driver.
ENDLOCAL Stops the localization of the environment changes enabled by the setlocal command.
ERASE Erase files from computer.
EXIT Exit from the command interpreter.
EXPAND Expand a M*cros*ft Windows file back to it's original format.
EXTRACT Extract files from the M*cros*ft Windows cabinets.
FASTHELP Displays a listing of MS-DOS commands and information about them.
FC Compare files.
FDISK Utility used to create partitions on the hard disk drive.
FIND Search for text within a file.
FINDSTR Searches for a string of text within a file.
FIXBOOT Writes a new boot sector.
FIXMBR Writes a new boot record to a disk drive.
FOR Boolean used in batch files.
FORMAT Command to erase and prepare a disk drive.
FTP Command to connect and operate on a FTP server.
FTYPE Displays or modifies file types used in file extension associations.
GOTO Moves a batch file to a specific label or location.
GRAFTABL Show extended characters in graphics mode.
HELP Display a listing of commands and brief explanation.
IF Allows for batch files to perform conditional processing.
IFSHLP.SYS 32-bit file manager.
IPCONFIG Network command to view network adapter settings and assigned values.
KEYB Change layout of keyboard.
LABEL Change the label of a disk drive.
LH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LISTSVC Recovery console command that displays the services and drivers.
LOADFIX Load a program above the first 64k.
LOADHIGH Load a device driver in to high memory.
LOCK Lock the hard disk drive.
LOGON Recovery console command to list installations and enable administrator login.
MAP Displays the device name of a drive.
MD Command to create a new directory.
MEM Display memory on system.
MKDIR Command to create a new directory.
MODE Modify the port or display settings.
MORE Display one page at a time.
MOVE Move one or more files from one directory to another directory.
MSAV Early M*cros*ft Virus scanner.
MSD Diagnostics utility.
MSCDEX Utility used to load and provide access to the CD-ROM.
NBTSTAT Displays protocol statistics and current TCP/IP connections using NBT
NET Update, fix, or view the network or network settings
NETSH Configure dynamic and static network information from MS-DOS.
NETSTAT Display the TCP/IP network protocol statistics and information.
NLSFUNC Load country specific information.
NSLOOKUP Look up an IP address of a domain or host on a network.
PATH View and modify the computers path location.
PATHPING View and locate locations of network latency.
PAUSE Command used in batch files to stop the processing of a command.
PING Test / send information to another network computer or network device.
POPD Changes to the directory or network path stored by the pushd command.
POWER Conserve power with computer portables.
PRINT Prints data to a printer port.
PROMPT View and change the MS-DOS prompt.
PUSHD Stores a directory or network path in memory so it can be returned to at any time.
QBASIC Open the QBasic.
RD Removes an empty directory.
REN Renames a file or directory.
RENAME Renames a file or directory.
RMDIR Removes an empty directory.
ROUTE View and configure windows network route tables.
RUNAS Enables a user to execute a program on another computer.
SCANDISK Run the scandisk utility.
SCANREG Scan registry and recover registry from errors.
SET Change one variable or string to another.
SETLOCAL Enables local environments to be changed without affecting anything else.
SETVER Change MS-DOS version to trick older MS-DOS programs.
SHARE Installs support for file sharing and locking capabilities.
SHIFT Changes the position of replaceable parameters in a batch program.
SHUTDOWN Shutdown the computer from the MS-DOS prompt.
SMARTDRV Create a disk cache in conventional memory or extended memory.
SORT Sorts the input and displays the output to the screen.
START Start a separate window in Windows from the MS-DOS prompt.
SUBST Substitute a folder on your computer for another drive letter.
SWITCHES Remove add functions from MS-DOS.
SYS Transfer system files to disk drive.
TELNET Telnet to another computer / device from the prompt.
TIME View or modify the system time.
TITLE Change the title of their MS-DOS window.
TRACERT Visually view a network packets route across a network.
TREE View a visual tree of the hard disk drive.
TYPE Display the contents of a file.
UNDELETE Undelete a file that has been deleted.
UNFORMAT Unformat a hard disk drive.
UNLOCK Unlock a disk drive.
VER Display the version information.
VERIFY Enables or disables the feature to determine if files have been written properly.
VOL Displays the volume information about the designated drive.
XCOPY Copy multiple files, directories, and/or drives from one location to another.
TRUENAME When placed before a file, will display the whole directory in which it exists
TASKKILL It allows you to kill those unneeded or locked up applications

Run Commands To Access The Control Panel

Add/Remove Programs control appwiz.cpl
Date/Time Properties control timedate.cpl
Display Properties control desk.cpl
FindFast control findfast.cpl
Fonts Folder control fonts
Internet Properties control inetcpl.cpl
Keyboard Properties control main.cpl keyboard
Mouse Properties control main.cpl
Multimedia Properties control mmsys.cpl
Network Properties control netcpl.cpl
Password Properties control password.cpl
Printers Folder control printers
Sound Properties control mmsys.cpl sounds
System Properties control sysdm.cp

Run Commands:

compmgmt.msc - Computer management
devmgmt.msc - Device manager
diskmgmt.msc - Disk management
dfrg.msc - Disk defrag
eventvwr.msc - Event viewer
fsmgmt.msc - Shared folders
gpedit.msc - Group policies
lusrmgr.msc - Local users and groups
perfmon.msc - Performance monitor
rsop.msc - Resultant set of policies
secpol.msc - Local security settings
services.msc - Various Services
msconfig - System Configuration Utility
regedit - Registry Editor
msinfo32 _ System Information
sysedit _ System Edit
win.ini _ windows loading information(also system.ini)
winver _ Shows current version of windows
mailto: _ Opens default email client
command _ Opens command prompt

Windows XP Shortcuts:

ALT+- (ALT+hyphen) Displays the Multiple Document Interface (MDI) child window's System menu
ALT+ENTER View properties for the selected item
ALT+ESC Cycle through items in the order they were opened
ALT+F4 Close the active item, or quit the active program
ALT+SPACEBAR Display the System menu for the active window
ALT+TAB Switch between open items
ALT+Underlined letter Display the corresponding menu
BACKSPACE View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer
CTRL+A Select all
CTRL+B Bold
CTRL+C Copy
CTRL+I Italics
CTRL+O Open an item
CTRL+U Underline
CTRL+V Paste
CTRL+X Cut
CTRL+Z Undo
CTRL+F4 Close the active document
CTRL while dragging Copy selected item
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging Create shortcut to selected iteM
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word
CTRL+LEFT ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word
CTRL+DOWN ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph
CTRL+UP ARROW Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph
SHIFT+DELETE Delete selected item permanently without placing the item in the Recycle Bin
ESC Cancel the current task
F1 Displays Help
F2 Rename selected item
F3 Search for a file or folder
F4 Display the Address bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer
F5 Refresh the active window
F6 Cycle through screen elements in a window or on the desktop
F10 Activate the menu bar in the active program
SHIFT+F10 Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
CTRL+ESC Display the Start menu
SHIFT+CTRL+ESC Launches Task Manager
SHIFT when you insert a CD Prevent the CD from automatically playing
WIN Display or hide the Start menu
WIN+BREAK Display the System Properties dialog box
WIN+D Minimizes all Windows and shows the Desktop
WIN+E Open Windows Explorer
WIN+F Search for a file or folder
WIN+F+CTRL Search for computers
WIN+L Locks the desktop
WIN+M Minimize or restore all windows
WIN+R Open the Run dialog box
WIN+TAB Switch between open items