Streaming Media from your PC to your Xbox 360

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08 - Using TV, Video, or Music apps on my console

Streaming Media from your PC to your Xbox 360

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How do I setup Streaming from my PC to my Xbox 360 console ?

This guide outlines troubleshooting for Windows Media Connect and Windows Media Center for Windows 7, Windows Vista And Windows XP. Windows Media Connect encompasses the libraries on your Xbox 360. They can be found under the My Xbox on your console when scrolling to the right, you will see Video, Music and Picture libraries. Select one of these libraries; select your computer, and then your media to stream. Windows Media Center is a digital video recorder and media player. Media Center allows users to view and record live television, organize & play music and videos. The application is included in various versions of Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows Visa Home Premium and Ultimate and all editions of Windows 7. The exception to this is the starter and home basic versions.
 

Are there any differences between the various operating systems?

Yes there are, we will outline the various steps on how to set up media streaming between the various operating systems.
 

Great, I use Windows 7. How do I set up media streaming?

Fantastic! Windows 7 makes it extremely easy to start sharing media with Media Center! The steps below outline how to complete this:
 

One of the most important things when setting up Media Center or Media Connect is to make sure your network is set up properly. To do this, you want navigate to the following path: Click Start > Control Panel  > Network and Sharing Center. Under View your active networks, make sure your network is set to Home Network. You are then going to want to select Choose homegroup and sharing options, then Change advance sharing settings. You want to make sure the following are set correctly:

  • ·  Network discovery is on.
  • ·  File and printer sharing is on.
  • ·  Public Folder Sharing is on.
  • ·  Media streaming is on.
  • ·  Password protected sharing is off.
  • ·  HomeGroup Connections: Allow Windows to manage homegroup connections.
     
If the above does not resolve your issues, the next thing you will need to do is check your services. To do this, you want to either open your run prompt (quickest way to open the run prompt is by hitting your Windows button and R button at the same time) and type “services.msc” (without the quotes, then hitting enter), or by hitting the Windows key and typing “services.msc”. This will bring up a list of services. What you will need to do is locate the services listed below ensure the service status and startup type are set as follows:

  • Internet Connection Sharing Service:  Stopped\Disabled
  • Media Center Extender Service: Started\Automatic
  • Network List Service:   Started\Automatic
  • Quality Windows Audio Video Experience: Started\Automatic
  • SSDP Discovery Service: Started\Automatic
  • UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) Device Host: Started\Automatic
  • Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service: Started\Automatic
  • Zune Network Sharing Service: Started\Automatic
  • If they are not set as above, simply double click on the service to makes the appropriate changes.

     
To set up Windows Media Player 12. Within the “Stream” drop down, check to see if you have the option to turn on Media Streaming. If this option is not there, it means it is already enabled and nothing more needs to be done for now. If it does show, select this option. Once done, again within the “Stream” drop down, go to “More Streaming Options” and make sure the 360 is set to allowed and hit ok.  You should now have “Automatically allow devices to play my media” selected.

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  • But what if I don’t use Windows 7 and am still using Windows Vista. How do I set up set up media streaming with that?

    Windows Vista was designed with media sharing in mind, so your in luck! With just a few quick and easy steps, we’ll have you streaming your media up in no time!
     

    Make sure your Network is set to private network click your Start > Control Panel >  Network and Internet > Network and Sharing Center. You should then see your network listed and you want to make sure it is set to private network for sharing to work with Windows Vista. After you have made sure the network is set to private network you are going to want to make sure the sharing and discovery are set as follows:

    • Network discovery is on.
    • File sharing is on.
    • Public folder sharing is on.
    • Password protected sharing is off.
    • Media sharing is on
       

    The next thing you will need to do is check your services to do this, hit your Windows button and “R” at the same time to bring up your Run command. Type in Services.msc and hit enter. This will bring up a list of services. What you will need to do is locate each service and double click on it to make sure the service status and start up type are set as follows:

    • Internet Connection Sharing Service:  Stopped\Disabled
    • Media Center Extender Service: Started\Automatic
    • Network List Service:   Started\Automatic
    • Quality Windows Audio Video Experience: Started\Automatic
    • SSDP Discovery Service: Started\Automatic
    • UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) Device Host: Started\Automatic
    • Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service: Started\Automatic
    • Zune Network Sharing Service: Started\Automatic
       

    When you have set your services up correctly, open Windows Media Player 11, double click on Library then click on media streaming. You will want to make sure the “share my media” option is selected and then on the next screen it will show your network devices. The Xbox 360 should show up in the list. You will want to make sure it is set to allowed. If it is not set to allowed, click on it until it has a green check mark beside it.

     

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  • Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

    What if I use Windows XP? How does media streaming work with that?


    Not a problem! Let’s look at how we can stream with Windows XP!

    If you are trying to setup Media Center with Xp it would have to be Windows Xp Media Center Edition 2005.

    First thing you are going to want to do is make sure your computer is up to date Click the Start button, click All Programs, and then click Windows Update. It should find any available updates that are available for your

    Windows XP machine.

    Next you are going to want to hit Start > Network Connections then right click on your current network connection. Make sure File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is selected. Then go back to your Network Connections screen and on the left hand side go to My Network places. Under Network Tasks select Show Icons for Networked UPNP Devices. If it says Hide Icons for Network UPNP devices then this wizard has already been run and you can close that window.

     

    Next you will want to determine what version of Windows Media Player you are using. To do this, click about on the help menu in Windows Media Player and note the version number below the copyright notice. If the help menu is not displayed hit Alt + H and then click about. If you are not running Windows Media player 11 you can go to http://www.xbox.com/en-US/pcsetup. This will bring you to the Xbox 360 Media Download Center. You will want to click on Windows XP and then scroll down until you see Windows Media Player 11. Step 1 is download Windows Media Player software. You will want to download and run that to install Windows Media Player 11. When you have downloaded and installed Windows Media Player 11, you will want to click on the library and go to media sharing. Click on the share my media and it should show your Xbox 360. You will want to make sure it is set to allowed.

     

    Next hit your Windows button and R button at the same time to bring up your Run command and type services.msc and hit enter. That will bring up your services you will want to double click on each one and want to make sure the start up type and service status for each are set as follows:

    Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

    • Fast User Switching Compatibility: Started\automatic
    • HTTP SSL: Started\Automatic
    • Internet Connection Sharing Service: Disabled\Stopped
    • Network List Service: Started\Automatic
    • Quality Windows Audio Video Experience:  Started\Automatic
    • SSDP discovery Service: Started\Automatic
    • UPnP (Universal Plug and Play) Device Host: Started\Automatic
    • Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service: Stated\Automatic
    • Zune Network Sharing Service: Started\Automatic
       

    To add folders for Media Connect, go to the “Organize” drop down in Windows Media Player, select "Manage Libraries" then select the library to which you'd like to add a folder to. Next, click the "Add" button to browse for a folder and add it to your Windows Media Player library. You can select a folder on your local computer or networked location like another computer in your homegroup. When you've chosen your folder, click the "Include folder" button and select "OK." It may take a few minutes for Windows to add and index the folder if it contains a lot of files. You've now added a folder and all its media files to your Windows Media Player 12 library. Continue to repeat the process to add more folders to your Media Player libraries.

     

    To set up Windows Media Center, load up media center on the Xbox 360 console. It will give you a set up key if the setup had not already been completed. If a setup key is provided, take the setup key from the console to the Windows 7 PC and run set up for media center. If it hasn’t been completed you will not be asked for a setup key and you can attempt to stream your media.

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    @Kiesey78

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  • If all else fails...

    If you have completed all the above steps and you are still having issues, there are a couple other things you can try to fix your streaming issues. Below are other steps you can take to try and resolve your issues:

    Run Windows updates and make sure your computer is up to date  

    Disable your antivirus firewall

    If this doesn't work, you can try to temporarily uninstall your antivirus to see if this is the cause of the issue. If it is, then there are 2 options you have. You can reinstall the antivirus and contact the antivirus company to have them set up the antivirus to work with media center, or the other option is to install a different antivirus.

    The next thing to try if you still are not able to connect to Media Center\Media Connect is to try a clean boot. It could be that a 3rd party program blocking the connection. Try the steps in the below article to perform a clean boot.

    Clean Boot Windows Vista\ Windows 7
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

    Clean Boot Windows XP
    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310353

    You will also want to make sure your time and date are set correctly on your computer as it could cause issues with media streaming if the time and date are not set correctly. To do this, you will want to click on the clock in the bottom right hand corner of your computer and click on the change date and time settings. Then click on internet time and you will want to synchronize with time.windows.com 

    This troubleshooting will work for most people, and most cases. There are going to be some people who will have computers that will need a little bit more work so in that case I would suggest contacting Xbox Support. I have listed below all the forms of contacting Xbox support, although forewarning, if your issue does not have a simple fix, most forms of support will direct you to the toll-free number to deal with the technical support experts.

    Xbox.com – go to www.support.xbox.com

    The Official Windows Media Center Community: http://thegreenbutton.com/

    Xbox Support Phone Number for the United Stated and Canada is (1-800) 469-9269. If you are outside of the United States or Canada please go to support.xbox.com and on the bottom of the page you will see an option for contact us. You can click on the contact us and then select call and it will give you the phone number for your region.

    Twitter – you can contact Xbox Tweet Fleet on twitter by tweeting @XboxSupport or @Xboxsupport1

    Xbox Xperts – To contact the Xbox Xperts team you will need to make sure your region is set to United States on Xbox.com. Once done, go to www.support.xbox.com and click on community. It will ask you to accept the terms of use and then ask your question. From there, a “msn” like chat service will come up with a live Xpert to try and assist with your question.

    Email - Go to www.support.xbox.com click on the contact us at the bottom of the page and then click on email us. When you do this you will need to select Hardware related as Media Center\Media Connect falls under hardware. Then fill out your name email and question and hit continue you will then receive a ticket number. Note: To make sure that you can receive a reply from Microsoft, add the "microsoft.com" domain to your e-mail "safe list". If you do not receive a response in your "inbox" within 2 business days, check your "bulk mail" or "junk mail" folders.

    To make sure that you can receive a reply from Microsoft, add the "Microsoft.com" domain to your e-mail "safe list". If you do not receive a response in your "inbox" within 2 business days, check your "bulk mail" or "junk mail" folders.

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