Now that weve covered a handful of great plugins to improve your Windows 7 media Center, here and here, its time to go through a few programs and background plugins that can greatly improve your experience. These programs and plugins will improve on the Media Center interface as well as adding some missing options and features that are lacking in the basic Media Center installation. Add logos to the TV guide listings, create your own Media Center themes, put Caller ID on your TV and more.

Programs

My Channel Logos

My Channel Logos allows you to quickly and easily add channel logos to your Windows 7 Media Centers TV guide listings improving both the appearance and usability of the guide. The newest versions of this program even include sets of downloadable channel logos including color versions. Using the program is quite easy as well, once youve setup your TV guide listings inside Media Center just open the program and select your region then apply channel logos. My Channel Logos will search through your guide files and make the appropriate changes to add logos, just relaunch Media Center.

Media Center Studio

Media Center Studio, the successor to Menu Mender, is the ultimate in Windows 7 Media Center customization apps. Allowing you to design, create and distribute your own Media Center themes as well as customize and create your own start menu strips. Change the Media Center background, add a games strip and more all with ease using this handy program. This program makes it simple to create and rearrange your Media Center interface until youve got it just the way you like it. Make changes to the graphic interface by using your own images and fonts then just drag and drop start strip tiles to make your Media Center truly unique.

More Plugins

MC7 Sleep Timer

Though a sleep timer likely isnt one of the firs things to cross your mind as a missing feature, if youre used to having one on your television it can be a sorely missed feature. MC7 Sleep Timer is exceptionally easy to use as well. Simply install the plugin then use the plugin interface in the Extra Programs listing to set a sleep timer for any number of intervals. Quick buttons are available for 30 and 60 minutes as well as teh ability to create a custom timer button and even just turn off your monitor. This handy little tool is sure to make at least a few Media Center enthusiasts setups complete.

Refresh Rate Changer

There are plenty of movie and media enthusiasts that prefer to watch their content the way is was originally intended, which includes in the original refresh rate. By default Windows 7 Media Center runs in the default resolution of your monitor, typically 60hz, however much of todays HD media is intended to be played back at 24hz. Refresh Rate Changer will let you do just that. Just setup the resolutions and refresh rates for your monitor and media in the options file then access the plugin inside Media Center to change the refresh rate. Though not automatic and requiring an automatic restart of Media Center its a solution to the problem.

Vista Caller ID

Not just for Vista any longer, Vista Caller IDs developers have even create a plugin to allow you to harness the programs functions to get Caller ID right inside your Windows 7 Media Center. A feature commonly included in modern cable and satellite DVR boxes and sorely missed by many making the switch. As long as youve got a compatible analog modem, install the basic program and the Media Center plugin to get started. Then be sure to setup your preferences and youll be all set.

Finally, dont forget to subscribe to Hack7MC as we bring you the latest and greatest news from the Windows 7 Media Center community including plugins, hacks and programs to complete your dream Media Center setup. Hopefully youve found most of the plugins you need already in this guide, including the previous parts 1 and 2. Stay tuned to Hack7MC as we bring you even more!

In July, we told you about a new plugin for Windows Home Server called TV Manager. This plugin lets you copy your recordings from a Vista Media Center PC or XP Media Center 2005 over to your Home Server for storage and management. At the time we originally wrote about it, the plugin was still in beta. But now, the first version of the plugin has been officially released: TV Manager 1.0. With TV Manager, you can view your recordings stored on your WHS in Media Center as if they physically resided on your PC. Recordings can also be deleted from either the WHS Console or Media Center.

Since the beta, several fixes and additions have been added to the software, including the following, listed below.

Fixes:

• TV Manager Service setting permissions.
• Compatibility with limited user accounts.
• Launch recordings straight from the Windows Home Server Console.
• Changed how recordings were moved (to fix ghost file issue) but lost the ability to monitor progress percentage.

New Additions:

• Added Media Center Extender compatibility.
• TV Manager Add-In interface redone.
• Experimental ComSkip feature (disabled by default)
• Regenerate the Xml in case of cache corruption without tester.exe.

If youve been waiting for the final version before trying out this software on your WHS, you dont have to wait any more: you can download TV Manager 1.0 from here and the documentation from here.

I have been looking for a way to prioritize my tuners in Vista Media Center. Why do I want dictate which tuner is used as the default? Mainly to avoid digital rights management. I currently use the HDHomerun as a QAM tuner to receive unencrypted HD channels on my computer. This tuner allows me to record HD channels with digital rights management.

I ultimately want to get a digital cable tuner (I mean buy a new machine that supports DCTs). Ideally, I want to incorporate the HDHomerun into that system. Digital cable tuners incorporate copy protection into anything they record. The HDHomerun does not. I want the HDHomerun to be the default tuner.

Luckily, there is a small application that sets priorities for you: Media Center Tuner Priority. This app basically shows you a list of your tuners and you set which one should be used first.

With Cyberlink’s PowerDVD Ultra no longer playing hard drive based HD movies from ripped HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, the only way to watch such movies is to “mount” an ISO image of the disc and then watch it using PowerDVD. Not an easy thing to do while in Vista Media Center. MyMounter, brought to you by the makers of MyTV, is a plugin designed to streamline the ISO process with VMC.

In order to use MyMounter, you need the following programs: Daemon Tools, AnyDVD HD, and Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra. Those programs let you rip, mount an image, and watch the movie. Basically, MyMounter scans your files looking for ISO images. Through VMC, you decide which one you want to load. As has always been the case, PowerDVD will be loaded outside of VMC, returning to the VMC interface once the movie is done.

Mounting ISO images has always been popular for gamers, allowing someone to play a game without an actual disc. I would love to see a MyMovies equivalent for video games using MyMounter.
I have not had time to test out this plugin. Once I have, I will post my thoughts.

Earlier I mentioned LastFMCE, an outdated plugin for Windows Media Center 2005 that allowed for Last.fm streaming via your WMC box. I pleaded for someone to please port this to Vista Media Center, and now, like an answer to my prayers, Damian Meher has done just that!

He created a new plugin for Vista Media Center, MceFM, which lets you stream music from the Last.fm online radio service through your Windows Media Center PC. To use MceFM, you type in the name of a song or artist, and like on Last.fm itself, similar songs to your entry will begin to play.

The plugin can also play similar tracks to songs already on your PC in your music library – just locate a track in your library, click on “More” and you’ll be able to search Last.fm for similar music.

While listening to the Last.fm stream, artist and track information will display, but you can also let the service run in the background so you can do other things in Media Center while still listening to your tunes.

You will need a Last.fm user account to use this plugin, so sign up for one first from the Last.fm site.

SageTV has been adding all sorts of media center features to its product line, including clear QAM support and HD media extenders. They are completely out-innovating Microsoft. With all the features they are delivering, there is one lingering problem: SageTV does not support digital cable tuners and CableCards (i.e. cannot watch.record premium HD cable content).

Currently, Vista Media Center is the only viable option for digital cable tuners (DCTs). Why is that you might ask? DRM, also known as digital rights management. CableLabs has made life very frustrating for the HTPC enthusiast by requiring all HTPCs with DCTs to be certified.

In order to buy/use a digital cable tuner, I have to purchase a pre-built system from an OEM vendor like HP, Sony, or Velocity Micro PC. Definitely a pain in the butt, not to mention expensive. This layer of DRM essentially has locked you into the Vista Media Center ecosystem.

No OEM is going to sell you a Sage product or BeyondTV product that can use DCTs. It currently does not exist and I will be very surprised if it ever does. HTPCs are definitely a niche market for nerds only. There is no market incentive for HP to offer SageTV on their machines when Vista Media Center is readily available. In order for SageTV to offer suport for DCTs, they have to be approved by CableLabs AND then convince an OEM to include them on their systems.

So what does this mean for Microsoft? Basically, they have a monoply of the digital cable tuner market (not including Tivo since it is not a PC-based solution). How many companies have the ability to deliver DVR software and convince vendors to supply their software? No matter what Microsoft does or how far they lag behind the market, you have to use Vista to watch cable premium content on your computer in HD. No competitor can match them on that important feature. All thanks to DRM. Not innovation or feature-sets, but content protection.

I wonder how much Microsoft has actually fought with CableLabs about its DRM-scheme. Publicly, they appear to be butting heads but privately, Microsoft has a lot to gain by being the only option on the block. Could Microsoft be using the iTunes/iPod model of vendor lock-in?