While getting sleep to work reliably with windows 7 is much easier than it was in the days of windows XP, it still can take a little bit of work to get the settings rights. One thing that makes it easier is knowing when the computer went to sleep and then when, and what woke it up. There are […]
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A lot of us at Missing Remote are fond of the Microsoft Security Essentials anti-virus software. Not only is it free, it does its job without chewing up unnecessary resources and hides in the background until it is needed. In the HTPC environment, we can decrease the impact to the system and disk performance even more by defining a few […]
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Have you ever wanted to know more detailed information regarding your television tuners within Windows 7 Media Center? There is a lot of information that is stored within the operating system that is accessible via the 10′ Media Center user interface with just a few buttons. And it’s SUPER SIMPLE. While watching a channel press the following buttons on your […]
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If you have disk volumes that are devoted to holding large media files such as recorded TV or other large video files and you are looking to squeeze a little bit of extra performance out of the drive, there is a tweak we’d like to share with you. The result won’t necessarily be detectable in an immediate improvement in some benchmark […]
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It can be a challenge to provide a user friendly “CE” experience on the home theater PC (HTPC) while also requiring users to use a password to authenticate when accessing resources on another PC. So in this edition of the MissingRemote.com tips series we will walkthrough how to setup auto login for your HTPC and disable the other common password […]
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The question often comes up, “How do I change the default recording location of Windows Media Center (WMC)?” This quick guide will explain how, but before we get to that, let’s understand why and when you might want to do this in the first place. As Andrew points out in our HTPC Basics Beginner’s Guide, as the duties of a […]
Read moreIn my current Home Theater setup, I find myself switching between a direct DVI connection from my HTPC to the Pioneer Elite PRO-141FD 60″ Plasma Monitor and an HDMI connection through the Pioneer Elite SC-07 AV Receiver depending on whether I’m watching TV or a Blu-ray disc (BD) movie. I do this because when listening to music or watching sports, […]
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If you are a true home theater nut like I am then, without a doubt, you will have some form of a universal remote control in your home theater setup. Over the years, I have amassed a sizable collection of Harmony remotes. I probably have every single model of Harmony remotes besides the RF based Harmony remotes. One of many […]
Read moreThis tip is as much a friendly reminder as one that even the best technical people will forget–Don’t Assume the obvious has been done! Case in point, I was troubleshooting a friend’s TV setup. She has AT&T U-Verse TV which is connected via HDMI passthrough to her Onkyo stereo receiver and claimed that her dog sat on her remotes and […]
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This tip probably seems rather obvious, but sometimes the obvious can be forgotten or neglected. I was recently called into action to diagnose a system that was running warmer and creating more fan noise than usual. Upon opening the case, this is what I saw: All that dirt and dust on the heatsink, power supply, fans, etc. was creating a […]
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