Microsoft removed Windows Media Center from Windows 10, and there’s no official way to get it back. While there are great alternatives like Kodi, which can play and record live TV, the community has made Windows Media Center functional on Windows 10.
The All-in-One Media Keyboard is the perfect device for your living room or home office. With an integrated multi-touch trackpad, customizable media hotkeys that put the web and your favorite music, photos, and movies at your fingertips. Historically, Microsoft’s dominance in the market used to create an almost continual rumble of disquiet but over the past few years that righteous indignation seems to have tailed off.
This isn’t an official trick. As far as Microsoft is concerned, you can just keep using Windows 7 or 8.1 if you want Windows Media Center, although that’s becoming more and more difficult. Microsoft isn’t interested in supporting Windows Media Center any longer.
Step One: Download the Unofficial Windows Media Center Installer
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We feel it’s important to reiterate this warning: this isn’t officially supported by Microsoft. This process involves downloading a modified Windows Media Center application from an unofficial source, so if you’re uncomfortable with that, this may not be for you. We tried it ourselves and ran into no problems, the file shows up as clean on multiple malware scanners, and other big sites have reported on this application. But that’s all we can say.
If you’re ready to give it a try, head to this thread on the My Digital Life forums. You normally need to register to see the latest download links, but here are the latest ones as of June 2016:
Microsoft Media Center Radio
Download the appropriate installer, depending on whether you’re using a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows 10. Just click the “Download through your browser” link on the download page.
Step Two: Install Windows Media Center
The downloaded archive is a .7z file, so you’ll also need to download and install 7-Zip to open it.
Once you have, you can right-click the downloaded .7z file in File Explorer and select 7-Zip > Extract Here.
You’ll get a WMC folder. The included readme file recommends copying this folder to a short path with no spaces to avoid problems. For example, you could place it directly inside your C: drive.
Open the folder, right-click the “_TestRights.cmd” file, and select “Run as Administrator”. A Command Prompt window will open, and you can close it.
You can then right-click the “Installer.cmd” file and select “Run as Administrator.”
You’ll see the progress of the installation in a Command Prompt window. Don’t close the window until you see the “Press any key to exit” message.
Best antivirus software 2019. If there’s a problem, you may need to try running the _TestRights.cmd file again and rebooting before running the Installer.cmd file once again.
If you’ve previously installed this pack–or if you upgraded from Windows 7 or 8.1 and previously had Windows Media Center installed–you may need to right-click the “Uninstaller.cmd” file and select “Run as Administrator” to remove any leftover bits of Windows Media Center before it will install normally. This is also the file you need to run if you ever want to completely uninstall Windows Media Center.
Step Three: Run Windows Media Center
After you successfully install Windows Media Center, it will appear in your Start menu as a normal application you can launch. It should run normally, just as it did on Windows 7 and 8.1.
Help, I Have Another Problem!
If you encounter another problem, open the Workarounds.txt file for more information. This file contains a list of problems people have encountered and fixes known to work.
For example, it recommends installing the Shark007 codec pack if you encounter a “Decoder Error” while playing some types of media. It also provides instructions for issues with Windows Media Center finding TV tuner cards and setting up live TV.
While Windows Media Center currently works, it’s possible that future changes to Windows 10 might break it.
For example, we saw reports that Windows 10’s November update–build 1511–automatically uninstalled the Windows 7 version of Solitaire and other old Windows desktop games if people went out of their way to install them. We wouldn’t be surprised if a future Windows 10 update uninstalled Windows Media Center. If this happens, the community will hopefully find a workaround once again.
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Microsoft killed off the much-loved Windows Media Center years ago, which is bad enough for home theater PC enthusiasts. But it gets worse: you’ve also got a now-useless MCE remote gathering dust somewhere…or do you?
Get that MCE remote out of the drawer, because it’s still useful. If you’ve already found an alternative to Windows Media Center, a free piece of software called Advanced MCE Remote Mapper Tool lets you remap the buttons on your remote to keys or keyboard shortcuts. This means you can use the remote to control any media center software, or even to browse your start menu and launch apps.
You’ll be controlling your media center PC from your couch, as the TV gods intended, in no time.
This program works with RC6 remotes, so if you see that on your remote somewhere, you’re good to go. Otherwise, plug the receiver into your computer, head to “Device Manager”, then look under “Universal serial bus controllers”, which lists all connected USB devices.
If your infrared reciever shows up as an “eHome Infarared Receiver”, as shown above, your remote will work. Re-map away! If your remote isn’t supported, you might be disappointed, but you’re not out of luck: you could use Flirc to control any media center using any remote. You’ll need a $20 dongle, but it’s really easy to set up.
Microsoft Media Center KeyboardHow to Remap Your MCE Remote Buttons
You can download Advanced MCE Remote Mapper Tool on the Kodi forum (though the app works for more than just Kodi). This portable Windows program lets anyone re-map all the buttons on their RC6 remotes to keys on the keyboard or keystrokes. Just download the EXE file and run it–you can store the executable anywhere you like, including “C:Remote Mapper” if like.
The “Key” dropdown works for numbers, letters, and other keys; the checkboxes let you add modifiers like Control, Shift, Alt, and the Windows key. The “Key Stroke” column will show you the complete combination of keys you’ve selected. You can also assign buttons to act like the system-wide “Multimedia Keys” offered on some keyboards, which in theory should allow you to control almost any media player (though your mileage may vary).
So, to remap keys, just start checking boxes and picking keys from the dropdown for each remote button!
Which Keys You Should Map
Advanced MCE Remote Mapper Tool gives you a lot of freedom, which can be overwhelming. There’s a chance you know exactly which keyboard shortcuts you want to map to which buttons, but if not, here are a few we think everyone will find useful.
This is just a start, of course: you can assign all sorts of specific things. Which shortcuts you’ll want depends on what media center program you tend to use on your computer, because they often use different keyboard shortcuts. Here are a few resources to check out for various programs:
Whatever your media center application of choice may be, there’s a bunch of keyboard shortcuts you can use to control it, meaning with enough time you can set up a compatible MCE remote to control any program.
When You’re Done: Write Changes to the Registry Restart Your Computer
When you’re done assigning keys, click the “Apply To Registry” button in order to apply your settings to the system. Then restart your computer for the changes to take affect.
Because Advanced MCE Remote Remapper re-assigns keys using the Windows Registry, you don’t need any software running in the background for your remote to work–not even Advanced MCE Remote Remapper. You only need to open it to change the configuration.
Unfortunately, there’s a downside to this: you can’t really assign keys on the fly. Because you have to restart every time you make a change, it can be time consuming to try out new shortcuts or combinations. You’ll need to do some trial and error to get things just right, but it’s worth it.
If you decide to change things later, be sure to click “Load From Registry” when you first launch the remapper. This will load the keys you’ve already set up, so you don’t need to start re-mapping from scratch every time.
There’s something really satisfying about making a seemingly useless piece of hardware you already own useful again. Anyone concerned about the security implications of letting a program modify their registry can check out the source code on GitHub. Alternatively, you can learn to re-map the remote manually, but that’s going to take a lot more effort on your part.
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