Windows Tools, Help & Guides

This is the fourth and final part of Customise Windows 7 Media Center.  Please take a look back on what’s been going on.

• Part1
• Part2
• Part3

10.  Speed Up Media Browser Using USB Flash Drive

I have quite a large movie collection, and find that MB can take a while to load all of the DVD covers & backdrops for the entire library.

Using a USB Flash Drive should eliminate this problem as they’re generally a lot quicker than your hard drive, anything that’s good enough for ‘ReadyBoost’ should suffice for this.  You should see a big improvement immediately.

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Previously, we’ve covered how to add custom Libraries and assign a icon to them in Windows 7.

People seem to have mixed opinions about the new library feature and in this guide, i’ll show you how to open up Explorer in the ‘Computer’ view instead of opening into ‘Libraries’
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This is Part 3 to the series of Customise Windows 7 Media Center guides.  Please take a look back on what’s been happening previously. (Part 1) (Part 2)

7.  Change The W7MC Background.

One of the most obvious changes you’ll notice through this series is the changes in the background W7MC displays.

Rich has made a huge collection of wallpapers.  Have a browse through them and pick a new wallpaper for your media center.
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Those of you who followed Part 1 of Customise Windows 7 Media Center thanks for reading. I hope you’ve enjoyed W7MC with Media Browser and have had a good chance at playing around with it to suit your tastes.

For those of you who missed out last time, take a look here to catch up on whats been going on!

Let’s dive straight in and carry on from where we left off.

4a. Change The Genre Icon In MB

This will show you how to add an icon to the genres you see in MB.

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Windows 7 comes with plenty of new features.  Notably, Libraries.

In Windows 7, the Libraries are not individual folders by themselves. Each library folder is an aggregate of various different folders and each library view is tailored to specific content.

By default , MS have provided us with four libraries.  Documents, Music, Pictures & Videos.

What if you want to add a custom Library and assign a specific icon to it?

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HomeGroup is a great new feature in Windows 7.  Unless you have multiple Windows 7 computers on your network however, HomeGroup is pretty useless.

Disabling it will remove the HomeGroup link in the left hand pane of any Explorer window and stop the HomeGroup services.

If you’re not part of a HomeGroup already, skip to Step 2.

Step 1.

Start by clicking the Start Orb and hitting Control Panel

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This is an excerpt from the Windows Guides PC Security Handbook. To learn more or find out other security-related tips, download the PC Security Handbook now.

Data backup is essential. If you’d like to explore local backup options, download my Windows pocket guides. I strongly recommend using online (off-site) backups. Backing up your data online prevents data loss if your computer is damaged or stolen—or if your data is wiped by malware.

Online Data Backup

By far my favorite solution for online backup is Mozy. Mozy offers free online storage (up to 2GB with paid options too.) I’ve had Mozy installed on my laptop for over two years and it has saved me on more than a handful of occasions.

Setup is simple and after downloading Mozy, you can specify what you want to back up and when. Mozy will automate your backups and let you decide when it backs up (specific times), what causes it to back up (low CPU usage), and how often (one, two, three etc. times a day.)

I just let Mozy run and it alerts me after a successful backup:

You can specify what types of files to backup or specify folders— it’s up to you:

Mozy even integrates into My Computer so you can browse and restore your backed up files (even ones you’ve deleted from your computer):

MozyHome Features

• Open/locked file support: Mozy will back up your documents whether they’re open or closed.
• 128-bit SSL encryption: The same technology used by banks secures your data during the backup process.
• 448-bit Blowfish encryption: Secures your files while in storage, providing peace of mind that your private data is safe from hackers.
• Automatic: Schedule the times to back up and MozyHome does the rest.
• New and changed file detection: MozyHome finds and saves the smallest changes.
• Backs up Outlook files: Disaster-proof email protection.
• Block-level incremental backup: After the initial backup, MozyHome only backs up files that have been added or changed, making subsequent backups lightning fast.

Download Mozy for Free

Download MozyHome Free