Archive:Run XBMC as a user and other Windows tips

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This page or section has not been updated in a long time, no longer applies, refers to features that have been replaced/removed, and/or may not be reliable.

This page is only kept for historical reasons, or in case someone wants to try updating it.

This guide is outlined for use of any Windows version, but screenshots are created from Windows Vista, as this is the minimum platform recommended for XBMC on Windows. This is mainly because of DXVA2 (DirectX Video Accelleration 2.0) which is only available in Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or Windows 7 Note that DXVA is still experimental and only available in the latest builds of XBMC. If you run Windows XP, you need to run the DSPlayer build which you may find by searching the forums. Some steps of this guide are still relevant for Windows XP, so keep on reading.

As an alternative for other articles, this wiki-page try to set up your HTPC (Home Theatre PC) as a living-room PC where you also might need to run other programs at the same PC, leaving Linux and other setups non-relevant. E.g. some TV channels have started streaming Silverlight-streams which is not yet an alternative on Linux, and some programs might not be fully compatible on Linux.

Initial setup

First, go on and install your favorite Windows version. I guess you can run the Home version as this is the cheapest alternative for Windows. When your Windows is installed check that you have the latest drivers and latest BIOS installed.

Speed up startup in BIOS

Be sure to change the boot order of your drives to start at your hard-drive instantly. An article I can recommend reading is this, that explains the most significant BIOS changes.

Connecting the computer to your living-room TV

There are lots of options here. There is a HowCast that display a nice Video that explains this. From my experience, you can use any cables and combinations as long as your TV has the corresponding input. E.g. if your PC has a DVI output, use a

Display settings

In Control Panel > Personalization you can change the display resolution, and other display settings.

Display resolution

First, select the Display Settings. Select the best available resolution. Most modern HDTVs can display 1920x1080.

Zoom font-size

Introduced in Windows Vista, the font size can now scale a lot better than in Windows XP. This means that you might be lucky and actually read the font from 3 metres away, sitting in your couch. In Windows XP, you could only resize fonts using normal windows controls. In Vista and above, more programs get their fonts resized by this setting. Note that this setting do not affect XBMC.

Notes:

  • Static IP
  • Font size
  • control userpasswords2
  • autorun
  • start xbmc as high priority
  • autoruns (clean graphics drivers)
  • set default zoom in internet explorer
  • remote setup
  • reaching shared files from another Windows computer
  • link to tips for DTS sound in vista
  • http://code.google.com/p/cmediadrivers/wiki/Bitperfect
  • Troubleshooting
 * Playback issues, rollback graphics driver
 * overscan
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