Well I finally decided it was time to give Vista another go (cus the first three times I tried it weren’t enough fun) and to my surprise it actually runs quite well now Microsoft have pulled their finger out and released some decent updates (still don’t think they care too much, given that XP’s death date keeps getting pushed back and Windows 7 rumors keep floating out into the world, sounds like their just trying to keep Vista out there).
Primarily, I was only really interested in Vista for use on my Mini Mac as a replacement for my current Windows Media Center 2005, which had a few small problems, mainly with the guide not updating or getting random errors about not being able to read the guide and missing my scheduled recordings (dammit, now ill never know who was number 1 in the Miss World competition).
Well, Vista seems to of taken care of this problem, the guide (so far) hasn’t missed a beat, everything loads, shows and records when I tell it too and with the new Vista version of WebGuide I can even schedule my TV recording experience from anywhere in the world (and hopefully on my new iPhone, when it actually arrives).
Vista still seems to still like hogging as much memory as it can get its hands on, so a small upgrade of 1GB RAM was added this morning, which does seem to of helped quite a bit. as for everything else, even the graphics card seems upto the challenge of throwing around the MCE interface, with a few minor stutters every now and then.
Down to Business, one of the only problems I had found so far was a issue with the ’so called’ Media Library, this is truly a pain in the ass, on the 2005 version of MCE, registry entries were added as shortcuts to allow MCE to simply browse the folders where you media was shared (locally or networked). Vista MCE, seems to take a more intrusive approach with ‘ Watched Folders’ which it insists on scanning and cataloging (least I think that’s what its doing). Which seems fine, having everything optimized is a nice thing, but not when it doesn’t work.
Adding folders to these watched lists often takes time for the MCE system to scan the directory, and if there are a lot of things in their and you have a slow home network (aka wireless), then you might have to wait a while (unlike 2005 which just opened the directory as if you were in explorer). Well, getting around this is a simple enough procedure, but not as obvious as you might expect.
In 2005 MCE, removing watched folders was a case of opening library manager and unticking the folders u didn’t want appearing in the list any more, presto they were gone. For some reason vista leaves these folders in your videos list, even after removing them from the watched list (great eh !).
Well, to kill them, follow these steps !
- If you are having a problem getting rid of folders you don’t want in the Library of Media Center, the best way to clean it out so far I have found is to delete all of the files in the “C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Media Player” folder, replacing [username] with the account showing the extra folders (Xbox 360’s and extenders come up as MCX1, MCX2 etc.) and then reboot. This only removes the Library Database - not the files so this is safe to do.
If you also have those pesky ‘ Sample Files’ which no one ever wants (PLEASE MICROSOFT, STOP GIVING US RUBBISH ROYALY FREE MUSIC, NOBODY WANT IT, SERIOUSLY).
- They reside in C:\Users\Public\Public Videos folder, so feel free to SHIFT+DEL these to your hearts content, in fact go nuts and so a search for ‘Sample’ using the wonderful vista search facility and delete the lot, sample music, sample videos, sample porn… the whole lot !
Right, now you have a blank slate, lets try getting Vista MCE to act more like its poor cousin, (no I don’t mean incest). Getting some shared folders into you movies folder is simple, and done completely without the use of the ‘Media Library Wizard’
- Make some shortcuts (right click, create shortcut) of the folders on your network share containing your Videos - this is important - DON’T make shortcuts of mapped drives in Vista - make them of the folders on the Network Shares (ie under Start/Network) otherwise they won’t work.
- Place the shortcuts of these folders into the “C:\Users\Public\Public Videos” folder, then reboot.
NOTE : This shortcut method also works for Pictures, simply create the shortcuts and place them in the Public Pictures folder instead !
And there you have it, all your media, with non of the VISTA !
Enjoy !
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Okay, iv seen two girls one cup (strangly didnt affect me that badly), iv seen the vid of the girl being thrown through a basketball hoop, iv seen a kid trying to scare his mate by jumping out of a bin, only to get smaked in the face and knocked out…. But all of these things didnt quite prepare me for finding an online application which ’supposedly’ tracks your sex live and gives you insights into your bedtime activities.
