HTPC

[Penti]

I just bought a new gaming rig, so I have an old 5 year set-up that's just sitting idle.. It's still a P4, but I'm thinking since some HTPCs now just use Atom, I might as well convert it into a HTPC so I can stream my videos to my TV. I initially thought of just plugging it in and leave it as such, but is there a way to make it run Media Center instead of having to click it after booting up? Or am I going at this the wrong way?

[Kash]

You can set Media Center to start automatically when Windows loads. It's in the Media Center settings

[hardnrg]

I run a HTPC in the lounge for all my TV, videos and movies... the satellite and tv tuners (4 tuners) are in the PC... 7MC set to auto-start

 

Hauppauge MCE Remote Kit (remote control + usb IR receiver

- get one of these

 

MediaBrowser

- download this plugin

 

pretty much everything else works automatically, 7MC is extremely well designed

 

 

the power button on the remote is like pressing the power button on your PC... so you can assign the function in Windows to make it Sleep (I think this is default), so I can basically standby/resume my HTPC in 1-2 seconds... this way, you don't need to startup/shutdown your PC, nor wait for it to load the OS, nor startup 7MC... also it prevents the PC going into standby if TV is being recorded, also the PC auto-wakes for scheduled TV recordings...

[Penti]

Oh, I didn't think it would be as straightforward as just changing the settings.. should have tinkered a bit before posting this.. anyway, thanks for the inputs..