I just spent some time registering for a bunch of the RSS feed sites so that I can get a little more traffic.  One that stood out to me was rssHugger.  Unlike other feed sites, rssHugger doesn’t require a lengthy registration or hyperlink embedded on your front page – they require a review of their service.  I find this pretty unique considering I just signed up on more than a half-dozen of them.  They have an administration staff that manually reads all incoming review links and then decide whether or no they allow you in on that account.  Hmmm…now I’m curious as to whether or not I’ll even get accepted.  Ah well, if I don’t I’ll just delete this post :)

Anyway, I suggest rssHugger if you’re wanting to get a little more legitimate traffic to your blog.  Make me live guys!

This is the final installment in MyMovies default location ‘hacking’ – moving the FileStorage share to another location.

The FileStorage folder contains the Covers and Photos directories, which are pretty self-explanatory.  There’s also a SQL database transaction file in there, but we don’t need to concern ourselves with that (just don’t delete it).  The FileStorage folder is a share that is necessary for HTPC clients using the MyMovies plugin to read and write cover and actor images.

If you’re here reading this, then you have a reason to be reading it…you are interested in moving this folder somewhere else.  If you have a dedicated SQL server like I do, then it doesn’t make much since to force us to use the default location.  We probably have a faster drive or array available that is also backed up regularly.  The instructions I’m about to include will allow you to take advantage of that.  Coupled with my previous entry on moving the database, you might be introducing MyMovies to a nice performance gain.  My instructions will be using Windows 2003 Server, but I’ll try to use environment paths that should be about the same for all Windows OSes.  A couple of notes before we begin:

Let’s get started…

Backup your MyMovies database using Collection Management. When backup is complete, close Collection Management and then close the MyMovies Tray Application by right-clicking and choosing Exit. Right Click MyComputer on your Desktop and choose Manage (Computer Management). Expand Shared Folders in the left pane and select Shares. Locate the MyMoviesFileStorage$ share in the right hand share pane, right-click on it and choose Properties. Check the Share Permissions tab.  It should read Everyone/Full Control. Check the Security tab.  Mine says Everyone\Modify and SYSTEM\Full Control.  If yours says something different, WRITE IT DOWN. After you are positive that you have recorded all share and user/group permissions, close the properties box, right-click on the MyMoviesFileStorage$ share and choose Stop Sharing.  It will ask if you are sure, so go ahead and click on Yes.  The share will disappear, so don’t freak out. Next, open an Explorer window and browse to %ALLUSERPROFILE%\Application Data.  Right-click and Copy the My Movies folder.  DO NOT cut it…we want to maintain the original folder structure in case you screw this up.   Browse to the new location you have chosen (preferably a faster drive than you are moving from) and paste the contents.  Depending on the size of your collection, this may take a little bit (mine is around 1GB). Now that the folder is moved, we are going to do some registry editing, so go to Run and type regedit.  The registry editor should open. We want to browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\My Movies. Once there, left-click on the My Movies key and look over in the right pane.  There will be  FileStorage string value.  Double-click on the FileStorage string value and this is where we will put in the path to your new FileStorage location.  Put in the full address of the new location for your FileStorage directory.  If it is a network path, use a mapped drive or you will not be able to complete these instructions.  I don’t recommend using a network location since you’ll be introducing latency (two network hops to get to the location).  Click OK to save the change and close regedit – you’re done with it. Go back to the Computer Management console (you didn’t close it, right?).  You should still be in the Shares pane. Right-click on Shares and select New Share.  The Share a Folder Wizard will begin.  Click Next and then browse to your FileStorage folder.  Click Next and for Share name put MyMoviesFileStorage$, click Next and for Permissions choose Use custom share and folder permissions and then click the Customize button.  Look familiar?  It should.  Make sure that Everyone\Full Control is in for the Share Permissions tab and then recreate your previous Security tab settings.  Click Finish, click OK and your share is now created. To ensure that you’re configured correctly, go back to %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Application Data and rename the My Movies folder to My Movies 2. Fire up Collection Manager.  Fire up MyMovies on one of your HTPCs.  If you have cover and actor images, then you’re golden.  If not, undo everything by reversing these directions and re-entering the default info because I’m not troubleshooting.

That’s it.  You should now have the MyMovies database and FileStorage folder at a new, preferably faster, location.  Enjoy!

By default, Video Browser doesn’t include any genre images.  It actually has some pretty ugly folder-looking-things with wrapped text indicating the genre within it.  For most of the day, I’ve worked on replacing those with something that is at least a little nicer to look at.

I’m no graphic artist, but I think I’ve done a little better than the given.  You’ll at least get an idea of what you can do with it.

All that you have to do is create a GenreImages folder in %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\ProgramData\Video Browser and put an image matching the genre in there (i.e. action.jpg, drama.jpg, etc.).  I’m sure those of you who are capable of creating custom images can really come up with some nice ones.

I’ve also asked on the forum whether or not the default genre categories can be reassigned.  Some of them don’t make sense or seem a little redundant (action and action film?).  It seems to me as though it should read from the pre-existing XML files, but it doesn’t appear to work quite like that.

Also, I picked up a 4GB kit of Patriot DDR2-800 for my NETSVR system today.  It’s been a bit sluggish and since it’s 64-bit, I’ve been wanting to upgrade it a little.  I just have to remember to send out that rebate…

Forgot to write about it earlier in the week, but on Saturday we all piled up in the car and drove out to MicroCenter.  We have been wanting to ditch the Comcast Digital Voice for a while, but finally decided to do it since they had a nice Vonage promotion going on and T-Mobile wanted a 3-year contract.  We had Vonage in the past and it was OK.  No worse than Comcast’s offering, but it’s also $0 cheaper per month, so we were sold.  If you sign up for a 1-year contract and by a Vonage adapter (we already had one, but they had a $70 rebate on their $79.99 adapter), you get $250 off of any PC or laptop.  Since my wife is starting school soon, she was in need of a new laptop anyway.

We decided to do it and she picked the sub-compact notebook, the Acer Aspire One (150-1570 model).  I also grabbed a 2GB memory module to upgrade it with, but after cracking it open and getting to the mainboard, I decided it was too much trouble.  Some things weren’t coming apart like they were supposed to, so I decided to put it back together and make due with 1GB.  It’s enough for her usage anyway (it’s still on XP, so it’s enough).  I’m going to return the memory to Fry’s and get something else.

I cleaned up the installed junk and added a few things of my own and really enjoyed my time using it.  It’s very small, but not hard to use.  It’s not a speed demon either, but it was plenty fast enough for typical use, which is all that it will be used for (Office, web and email pretty much).  For $100 (we also got the $59 premium warranty), it was well worth it.  I wanted one for myself, but there’s no one for us to get on Vonage.  It’s worth $350, but not for me.

The number is set to transfer next weekend (29th, I believe) and then all we have is Comcast’s Internet package.  We won’t be able to get rid of that, but I’m pretty happy with it.  I’m just not happy with their charges.

I just need to get my rebate in…

OK, here it is…the guide many of you have been waiting for.  This guide will show you how to move the MyMovies database to another location.  However, before I begin, I want to make a few things very clear:

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move on to what you’ll need to get started:

If you have all of the above, let’s move your database!  The first step is to stop all of the relative services and processes that can cause the movement of the database to not happen.  I am doing my guide on a copy of Windows Server 2003, but you should be able to figure out the respective steps on other OS versions…they’re all similar enough:

Good, now we’re ready to start the SQL Management Studio Express, so find that in your Programs menu and start it up.  Once it starts, it’s going to want a server name, so hit the drop-down selector and you should have an entry that looks like ComputerName\MYMOVIES.  If you do not have this, put it in (ComputerName is the name you assigned the system you are doing this on).  For authentication, make sure that Windows Authentication is selected.

Hit Connect. If successful, you should get the Object Explorer pane and Summary tab screen show up.  If not successful, quit here – I’m not troubleshooting. Expand Databases in the Object Explorer pane. Right-Click the My Movies database and go to Tasks -> Detach. Choose Detach. Click OK in the Detach Database Window. The My Movies database will “disappear” if successful, so don’t freak out.

Good.  Now that we have successfully detached the database from the SQL Server, we can physically move the database.

Go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.1\MSSQL\Data. Confirm that you have a My Movies.mdf and a My Movies_log.LDF file in there.  If not, something is wrong, so reattach your database (you’ll see how further down) and reboot or something. Select both the mdf and ldf files (CTRL+left-click, for example), hit CTRL+C (copy) and browse to the new location you have picked for your database.  I choose copy so that if something happens during the paste operation, you still have the original copies untouched. Paste your mdf and ldf files to the new location.

Great!  Almost there.  Now we go back to MSSMSE to reattach the database at its new location.

Go to MSSMSE and right click Databases in Object Explorer and select Attach. In the Attach Databases window, click the Add button under Databases to attach and browse to the location in the Locate Database Files window. Click OK to add the My Movies.mdf in the new location. In the “My Movies” database details window below, the My Movies.mdf and My Movies_log.LDF should populate.  Click OK. The My Movies database should now be under Databases in the Object Explorer.  If so, you can close MSSMSE. Fire up MyMovies Collection Management (tray application will automatically start). Enjoy using MyMovies with your newly located database!

That’s it!  Hopefully you didn’t run into any issues.  There is one issue I will address if you encountered it on the way.  If after reattaching your database it shows up as (Read Only), contact me either by commenting here or emailing me.  I’ve had that happen before, but only when signing in under SQL Authentication using the login credentials that are located within the MyMovies log file.

Just wanted to leave a quick notice of a few popular Vista Media Center plugins that have ramped up as of late and introduced new versions with some excellent features.

There are other plugin updates, but these are all that I really use and follow.  I did notice that there is a little spark of life back in the OML project.  There were a few SVN changes during the week, so that’s reassuring.  I believe the volunteers’ real lives have interfered a bit, so hopefully things will progress in the coming weeks.  Keep an eye on them though…it’s eventually going to be a very nice plugin.

I’m planning on posting instructions on how to relocate the default location of the MyMovies database soon.  I’ve come across some interest in that and thought I’d share how to do it.  It’s not a supported “hack”, so I didn’t want to post it on the MyMovies Forum.  I know Brian doesn’t want to deal with any complications that it may bring, so it will be at your own risk.  It’s also a bit involved (if you’re a typical user), so be prepared for some moderately scary stuff if you’re not comfortable with SQL tools.

I’ve never really had this issue since first using  Vista Media Center, but thought I would pass along this little tidbit of information since I’ve seen it on a few different forums lately.

The issue involves the Video Library in Media Center and the inability to remove video locations that you have added (or even default locations).  If you find yourself in this predicament, you may need to refresh your Windows Media Player database.  I don’t want to repeat a good set of directions, so head on over to the Microsoft Knowledge Base and check out KB925718.

A few months ago I posted the culprit that was causing Media Center to resume playback once the screensaver kicked in or after minimizing the Media Center window.  It was KB950126 – the cumulative update for June. Well, on October 14th (I believe), Microsoft released KB955519, which was supposed to fix the mess that KB950126 caused.  However, I have found that if you removed KB950126 and then let KB955519 install, it reintroduces the same damn problem.

So, if for the past few weeks you have issues with videos starting back from the beginning after pausing them (or even if they’re completely stopped) once the screensaver kicks in, or if you minimize your Media Center window – KB955519 is the culprit.

I uninstalled it on my living room HTPC client this morning, but have yet to see if that actually solved anything.  I can only assume that it will.  It did work when I started a video, paused and then minimized the window, so that is a bit reassuring.  I’m going to try a test run and wait for my screensaver to kick in, then I’ll update what happens here.  Check back if this affects you!

Ever since I started using Media Center (even MCE), I’ve felt that the video library plugins available have just been missing something.  MyMovies filled in perfectly in the pre-Vista Media Center days, but it appears when a MCML version for it shows up, Windows 7 will be knocking on our door and who knows if it’ll be compatible.  Then came OML and their open-source offering that got everyone excited.  While it looks great and has features to dream of, it still leaves some of us lacking.  It doesn’t support layered folder structures or TV collections.

I don’t want to take anything away from MyMovies or OML.  They’re both great in their own rights and have huge followings of loyal users.  However, I can’t really wait any longer.  I have a huge collection of movies and TV shows that are folder-based and in a layered directory structure.  It used to not be folder-based, but I changed in order to use a plugin that, at first, I hated to love – Sam’s Video Browser.

Video Browser is a very simple folder-based plugin that requires a folder.jpg image (poster) and mymovies.xml file (metadata) to be present in order to work properly.  A series.xml file and metadata folder (containing individual episode images and xml episode metadata) are used for TV episodes.  It is currently the only plugin that I know of that actively supports both movie and TV collections.  As of late, development has really ramped up to provide some absolutely fantastic features and display options.  I’ve included just a sneak peak of a few of their views below.

Poster view

Poster view with title label

Poster detail view

TV detail view

There are more views available (including a new beta strip view), but I don’t want to give away everything.  You can also change the poster sizes to accommodate more, or less, posters on the screen (less makes them larger).

Other new features include the display of TV show metadata (not just individual episodes anymore), director sorting, separated caching folders (so you can refresh image cache without wiping out your settings) and more.  One of the things that really set Video Browser apart from the others is what most users find most important – they lack a collection management system.  That’s right – Video Browser doesn’t have a single data file, database or any other centralized form of managing your collection.  This is really the beauty of folder-based video collections, however.  When you get a new movie, you throw it in a folder of the same name, generate your metadata, grab your poster, throw it in your library and you’re done!  Video Browser automatically finds it and caches it for your.  The problem I find with plugins that rely on a backend is that if you forget to add the movie or incorrectly link it, you may never notice it’s not actually there or not configured properly (especially if you have a very large collection – even a new movie can easily get lost in the crowd).  If you ever want to remove a movie, it’s as simple as deleting the folder.

Aside from everything I’ve mentioned, Video Browser looks great and is lightning fast.  Initial caching of my top level folder (nearly 900 images) took just seconds.  I highly recommend you take a look at this plugin and drop by their forums to offer your suggestions…I’ve already had two of my recommendations included simply by asking.  The developers are all about providing a plugin that users want.

Great job Video Browser team!