Configuring Media Center to Look for Recorded Shows on a Network Share on Windows 7

Personal network attached storage devices are becoming more and more common in the home environment. I recently purchased a 1TB NAS (Network Attached Storage) that I use to back up all my personal documents as well as store recorded TV shows. I have my Media Center recording shows all the time, so the hard drive on my desktop fills up very quickly. For the shows that I want to keep, I move the file from my record folder to a special folder on my NAS that I have configured Windows Media Center to watch and play files from. This is possible with a few setting changes within Media Center.

Follow these steps to configure Windows Media Center to watch for recorded shows in locations other than the main record folder:

1. Click on the Start Button, type in Media Center, and hit Enter to start up Media Center.

2. After it has started navigate to Tasks with arrow keys and then select Settings and hit Enter.

3. Click on Media Libraries.

4. Select the Recorded TV media library and click Next.

5. Select Add folders to the library and click Next.

6. Select Let me manually add a shared folder and click Next.

7. Type in the shared folder path such as \\Server123\SharedFolder and also a username and password that has access to the shared folder. Click Next when ready to connect to the share.

8. Click Yes, use these locations on the confirmation screen and then click Finish.

After you have added the new network share to your library you can click the green button in the top right of the Media Center window to return to the main menu. You are now able to watch recorded shows that are stored on another computer.

Source of Information : Windows 7 Tweaks 2010

Configuring Media Center to Look for Recorded Shows on a Network Share on Windows 7