Windows 7 : Windows Media Player - Taking Your Music and Video on the Go (part 3) - Sharing Media Throughout Your Home

Sharing Media Throughout Your Home

Before you begin to set up media sharing throughout your home, you will need to make sure you have all the required equipment. To enable media sharing, you need a home network and a networked digital media player. A networked digital media player, also known as a digital media receiver, is connected to your network and plays the content shared by WMP on your Windows 7 machine. Suitable digital media receivers include other Windows 7 PCs and the Xbox 360, as well as a number of standalone units that can be found by visiting microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/devices/default.aspx.

To connect a digital media receiver to your network, you can use an Ethernet cable or a wireless network adapter. Consult the documentation that comes with your device for more information on getting it connected to your home network.

After your device is connected to the network, turn it on and complete any configuration steps that may be needed to finalize the installation. After your device is fully connected and operational, complete the following steps to enable media sharing on your Windows 7 PC with your newly installed digital media receiver:

1.	Click the Stream menu and select Turn On Media Streaming With HomeGroup from the drop-down options.
2.	In the Media Streaming Options dialog, click the Turn On Media Streaming button, as shown in Figure 6. Figure 6. The Media Streaming Options dialog box is shown if media streaming is currently disabled.
3.	Select the types of media you’re willing to share among HomeGroup computers (for example, Pictures, Video, Music) and which computers to allow or block, then click OK. Caution Not all shared media will play back on your digital media receiver. Check your device’s documentation for information on supported media types. Also note that media obtained from online stores may be supported only if purchased and might not be supported if obtained from a subscription service.
4.	The first time through you are given an automatically generated HomeGroup password. Write this down and click Finish.

Figure 7. The Media Streaming dialog box shown if media streaming is enabled. Notice the addition of the device list.

After you have sharing enabled, you are ready to play your media on your new digital media receiver. For information on how to do this, see the documentation that came with your device. If your digital media receiver is another Windows 7 PC, the shared media will appear in the Navigation pane of WMP 12, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8. Accessible shared media appears in the Navigation pane of WMP. Remote library entries are named after the remote computer’s given name and appear after the Other Libraries entry.