I just set up a Windows XP HTPC from an old Dell 260 Optiplex. I wanted to run Media center as that is what my wife currently uses on our other computer, however I cannot get MCE to work on this machine. So I stumbled upon VLC player and so far have been blown away. The problem is that it isn't point and click for my wife. So I am looking for some advice on how to set this up so she can watch stuff on our TV without too much effort. We have a LAN in our house and our DVD's are stored in a folder system on our office computer. Media center 2005 was on this and when she should go to the video section she could click on the movie she wanted and it would start just as if you had dropped in a DVD (menus, extras, etc. were all available). She also would watch recorded TV shows that the computer had stored. Just so you know, we have a lot of videos such as all the South Park, X-files, Friends, Seinfeld, and LOTR, and Starwars on our computer, so I am hoping to not have to convert them all to DIVX or other format.
Now the HTPC is hooked up to the LAN and if I navigate to the folder where the movie is (usually just the top folder, but sometimes the VIDEO folder) on our office computer I can open it using the open disc, it acts just like media center did. It looks and plays just as if you were using a stand along DVD player with the DVD.
The hard part is the navigation to where the files are and the not so easy initial interface for the un-tech savvy compared to MCE 2005 XP. Can I create some sort of short cuts that when clicked on will launch the movie?
Also is there a way to do the same thing with recorded TV shows (I'm using MCE 2005 XP to record them from my cable provider)?
Thanks for any help you can provide. If this question has been answered before and I missed it in a search, I would be happy if someone could just point me to the topic link.
Steve