Absolute Beginner's Guide to Microsoft Windows® XP Media Center®

Supported File Formats

Many types of audio files are available, and not

all are supported by your Media PC’s My Music

interface. The primary file types you can listen

to from My Music are shown in Table 13.1.

TABLE 13.1 Audio File Formats Supported

by Media Center

File Type (Format) Filename Extension

CD audio .cda

Windows Media audio files .asx, .wm, .wma, .wmp,

and .wmx

Windows audio files .wav

MP3 .mp3 and .m3u

Putting the Music into My

Music

As noted in Chapter 3, My Music relies heavily on

the Windows Media Player program in Windows

XP (see Figure 3.8). In fact, when you open My

Music for the first time, you will be prompted to

first use Windows Media Player to populate your

media library.

Like a media vacuum cleaner, Windows Media

Player scours your system and sucks in all the

audio files so that they’re available for playback

in My Music.

Importing Music from Your Network

One of the first places you may want Windows

Media Player to look for additional audio files is

on other computers in your home network. Here’s

how to do it:

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

tip

As with video files (see

“Watching Videos,” in

Chapter 9), Media Center

can support additional audio

file formats, but first you may

need to install a new

codec. The filename exten-

sions shown in Table 13.1 each

represent different codecs that are

already supported within

Windows XP Media Center

Edition.

Occasionally, Media

Center will display a

codec error when play-

ing back a digital audio

file. If this happens to you,

try opening the file in Windows

Media Player, launched from the

Windows XP desktop. You may

need to configure Windows Media

Player to automatically download

codecs, but if the correct codec is

available online, your file should

play.

caution

1. Close or minimize Media Center and open Windows Media Player from the

Windows XP Start menu.

2. Select Media Library from the tabs in the left margin (the Features Taskbar) of

the player.

3. Click Add, and choose By Searching Computer.

4. Click to the right of the Search On box and select <User-Selected Search Path>

from the drop-down menu.

5. Click the Browse button, and navigate to the network PC on which you want

to search for media. Then click OK.

6. Select any search options you want to use (see Figure 13.1), and then click on

Search.

CHAPTER 13 PREPARING YOUR MUSIC COLLECTION FOR XP MEDIA CENTER

183

FIGURE 13.1

Several useful

options are

available when

you view the

Add to Media

Library by

Searching

Computer con-

trol panel.

Importing Music from the Web

This is an area about which volumes could be (and, in fact, have been) written.

Millions of free audio files are available on the Internet, easily accessed free through

file-sharing services such as Kazaa, Morpheus, and iMesh.

Unfortunately, much of this music has been illegally copied and is being traded

without the consent of the recording artists, or the distribution companies that sup-

port their art. In the past few years, some commercial music download services have

emerged that allow you to acquire music files legally (see Figure

13.2). Unlike the earliest offerings in this space,

these services are backed by major record labels--

and, consequently, they offer access to major

music libraries. Prices are coming down and

selection is expanding, making these commercial

services a better value proposition for consumers.

Media Center’s My Music is also configured to

present you with commercial “pay to play”

download opportunities. Simply choose the Buy

Music menu item when it appears next to a song

in the My Music audio library (see Figure 13.3),

and you will be redirected to a Web search page

where you can find music files similar to the one

you were playing, offered for sale by an online

vendor.

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ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP MEDIA CENTER

When you select Buy

Music, you are redirected

to a Web page that pro-

vides search results for

media files you can buy

online. However, the Web pages

may not support Media Center’s

“10-foot experience,” that is, the

capability to view them from the

sofa and navigate using your

remote control. If this is the case,

Media Center will display the error

message shown in Figure 13.4.

When this occurs, you can either

move closer to the screen and take

control with mouse and keyboard

(choose View Now), or have Media

Center create a shortcut on your

desktop so that you can go back to

the Web page later (choose View

Later) using Media Center’s “2-

foot” user interface.

caution

CHAPTER 13 PREPARING YOUR MUSIC COLLECTION FOR XP MEDIA CENTER

185

FIGURE 13.2

Clicking on the

Premium

Services tab in

Windows Media

offers links to

content

providers that

have partnered

with Microsoft.

FIGURE 13.3

The Buy Music

option is dis-

played on the

Song Details

page, which you

reach by select-

ing a tune with

the remote con-

trol, keyboard,

or mouse.