Software for Windows 7 Media Center - the Ultimate but Affordable Installation

Here is the software that I have installed on my Media Center PC thus far. I am constantly testing software and I am finding that about 50 percent of all the software that I have tested is too buggy to run. This list of software seems to be very stable and dramatically enhances the look at functionality of Windows 7 Media Center. I will update this list as I test new software.

O.S.
Windows 7 Ultimate 32 or 64 bit (both tested) - currently using 64 bit (I highly recommend due to its ability to rip and stream at the same time. Windows 7 32bit did not perform as well while doing multiple tasks within MCE)

MUST HAVE SOFTWARE:

shark007 codecs: x32 and x64 (free)

• http://shark007.net
• (adds support for many audio and video formats within Windows Media and MCE)
• Install the registry hack to allow MCE 7 to play mkv files (supported by Shark007): http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/01/playing-mkvs-in-media-center.html
• Must install Windows 7 codecs and then the X64 Components using the website above
  

PowerDVD Version 9 (Pay)

• Install this if you wish to play Blu-ray discs or Blu-ray .iso files
  
• http://www.cyberlink.com/products/powerdvd/overview_en_US.html
• This or a similar player is required to play Blu-ray movies within MCE. There is currently no support within MCE for Blu-ray, which uses Windows Media Player

Radiotime plugin (free)

• A must have. Thousands of radio stations, talk radio and police, fire etc.
  
• http://radiotime.com/
• You must install the plugin for MCE: http://radiotime.com/partners/mediacenter.aspx
  

Hulu Desktop from hulu.com (free)

• Thousands of free movies and TV - another must have for MCE
  
• http://www.hulu.com/labs/hulu-desktop
• You must install the plug-in for MCE: http://secondrun.tv/

Anydvd (pay)

• I purchased a lifetime subscription. Great price for what you get.
• Integrates with Mymovies, which is another must have for MCE
  
• The best solution to rip DVDs and Blu-ray discs (I will discuss my ripping methodology in a later post)
  
• http://www.slysoft.com/en/anydvd.html
  

'Virtual Clone Drive' (free)

• http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html
• Mounts DVD/blu-ray as virtual drive
• If Mymovies is used, this is required to mount .ISO image files for DVD or Blu-ray playback
  
• If native Movies is used, will interface with the MountImage plugin

MountImage Plugin (free) (only if using native MCE Movies application. Do not use with MyMovies)

• Mounts DVDs and bluray within MCE's native Movie application
• Requires Virtual Clone drive to be installed
  
• http://www.mikinho.com/wmc/mountimage/MountImageSetup.msi
• MountImage Plugin information - http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/09/mounting-isos-in-the-native-movie-library.html (information on MountImage plugin)

YAMMM (free) (only if using native MCE Movies application. Do not use with MyMovies)

• Adds cover art and metadata to ripped movie images - use with native MCE Movies application
• http://www.hack7mc.com/2009/06/yet-another-media-meta-manager-from-mikinhosoft.html
• YAMMM info - http://mikinhosoft.blogspot.com/2009/05/yammm-yet-another-media-meta-manager.html
• YAMMM info - http://www.mikinho.com/wmc/yammmsetup.msi

file2folder.zip (free)

• Used to move DVD isos to their own folders to prepare for integration with MCE Movies or MyMovies
  
• http://www.sevenforums.com/attachments/tutorials/12135d1243394321-media-center-setup-movie-library-file2folder.zip

Weather Plugin (free)

• A must have weather plugin
• http://www.vista4cast.co.uk - (must login to forum to download)

Homeworld theme (free)

• An awesome theme. Works flawlessly in Win7 MCE 32 and 64bit
• http://www.theme7mc.com/

MyMovies (free)

• A must have replacement for the built-in Movies MCE application
• 'Once installed, use Media Center Studio' to remove the built-in menu strip for Movies and re-arrange your menu strips.
• http://mymovies.dk

Media Center Studio (free)

• Customize menu strips
• http://adventmediacenter.com
• Media Center Studio Docs - http://www.xpmediacentre.com.au/community/media-center-studio/

TESTED SOFTWARE - DOES NOT WORK WELL IN MCE - OR NOT AT ALL

deamon tools Pro Standard (pay)

• mount iso images to be played with powerdvd Worked great but no mounting within MCE!
• http://disc-soft.com

Heatwave weather plugin (free)

• Im not even going to give you the URL
• DOES NOT WORK in Windows 7 MCE at the time of my test

media browser

• www.mediabrowser.tv
• Complicated
• did not work on MCE7

OTHER NON-MCE SOFTWARE INSTALLED

• VLC Media Player - http://www.videolan.org/vlc/
  
• AVG Anti-virus (disable auto scanning) - http://free.avg.com/us-en/homepage
  
• CCLEANER - http://www.ccleaner.com
• Firefox - http://www.firefox.com