Get Windows Media Center Running On Windows 10 ollowing Windows 7, home-theater Linux built to support home-theater cobble, and kludge it back into working F PC fans haven’t gotten much love applications; run an old version of order—eventually. from Microsoft. When Win8 launched, Windows that still supports WMC; We’ve actually been testing out various many were dismayed that in order to get choose an alternative DVR utility such Win10 Windows Media Center fixes for Windows Media more than a year, Center onto the but we finally feel OS, they would confident that have to pay for the we’ve found one Media Center Pack, that will work for which was a $9.99 a majority of users. add-on unless you It probably won’t managed to snag work for everyone a free copy within (we’ve heard that, at a relatively short least in some cases, time frame. As of cable card users about this time last may not be able to year, however, the get some features Windows 8 and 8.1 to work), but this Pro Pack (which let fix has worked for you upgrade to Pro us on three separate versions of the OS) Win10 installations. and Media Pack Want Windows Media Center on Windows 10? Let’s do this. Read on to see if it’ll (which includes the work for you, too. all-important Media Center functionality) were taken down as Plex, Kodi, NextPVR, or one of those But First, Some Tuner Talk and are no longer available for purchase. awful bundled utilities that some TV Admittedly, there are plenty of reasons Citing Media Center’s declining usage tuners ship with; or go all-in on the to have a PC connected to your TV, numbers (hang on, people don’t like Apple ecosystem. Having spent varying including for video-streaming services, paying for stuff that used to be free?), amounts of time with each of these gaming, Web browsing, and more. In this Microsoft decided to completely scrub alternatives (except the last one), we can article, we’re most concerned with using WMC’s existence from Win10 and has say that none of them ever quite worked Windows Media Center to interface with offered no alternatives for those looking like WMC did on its native platform. a TV tuner for the purpose of accessing to take advantage of TV tuner-enabled Until now. OTA (over the air) ATSC (Advanced time-shifting, scheduling, and DVR Television Systems Committee) functionality that essentially defines the WMC Lives Again! broadcasts and clear QAM (Quadrature home-theater PC experience. To add One of the great things about Amplitude Modulation) content. The insult to injury, Win10 doesn’t even Windows, or the x86 platform as a first standard lets you connect an HDTV include support for DVD playback. whole, is the fact that software is fully antenna to get local channels and a democratized. If there’s a utility that a handful of public-access channels. Clear A Wasteland Of Alternatives large enough group of people want to QAM refers to channels that are broadcast In light of these developments, support, even if the original developer of over the cable line that’s likely already fellow HTPC fanatics, cord-cutters, that utility has abandoned it to the cruel installed in your home. Your local cable and OTA-aholics have a few options. whims of obscurity, that small army of provider makes this content available We can dump Windows altogether independent developers and rabid forum “in the clear”; however, the rest of the in favor of one of the many flavors of goers will often (but not always) patch, cable provider’s content is encrypted and requires a cable box to view. For us cord item and click Update Driver Software, cutters, this is what we refer to as “free then click Browse My Computer For TV” these days. The number of channels Driver Software. Next, click the Browse you get will vary based on your antenna button and navigate to the folder where strength, geographic location, and local you downloaded the driver and click availability of content. OK, then click Next to complete the That being said, there are a couple of installation. If you’re lucky, the process hardware constraints you need to consider will complete and Windows will properly if you are thinking of buying a TV tuner recognize the device. If not, you may find to give this tutorial a shot. The version success with another driver search online. of Windows Media Center that we’ll be If all else fails, you may need to spring working with is based on the one that was for a new TV tuner, which you can find offered as an add-on to Win8, so if you’re starting at about $50. shopping for a TV tuner, look for one that is compatible with that operating system at PCI/PCIe TV tuners and USB stick models both Antenna Advice minimum, and the existence of a Win10- work with Windows Media Center in Win10. If you’re new to the world of ATSC compatible driver would be a nice touch. TV tuners, there are a couple of useful Before pulling the trigger, do yourself a resources you can access to get a list of favor and check out the manufacturer’s local channels that you are likely to pick support page or browse forum posts from up, advice about what kind of antenna users of the device to read about how the you should buy, and where you should tuner performs in Win10. position your antenna for the best results. Keep in mind that these results may not An Oldie But Goodie be perfectly accurate, and factors that may If you’re repurposing an old TV tuner, impact your actual broadcast reception your options will be a little limited, but include the location of the antenna in your you might be surprised to find it performs home, the size and layout of your home, just fine in the unofficial Win10 Window as well as nearby obstacles and geographic Media Center. We tested this procedure features. Generally speaking, you can with two different TV tuners, neither of expect better reception if your home is which were currently being supported by located on a hill, without too much nearby their respective manufacturers. We used tree cover or too many large buildings. If an AVerMedia A188C PCIe Pure ATSC your home is within a low-lying area and/ and a Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick, or surrounded by tall obstructions, you model 800e. For the latter, after some may have access to fewer OTA channels. intense internet sleuthing, we found a Even weather can interfere with reception. beta version of the latest driver, designed One option is from Mohu, a company to be used in Windows Vista 64-bit. that manufactures and sells HDTV After we downloaded it and unpacked Finding the right driver can be a time-consuming antennas. To see a list of channels the compressed driver inside our trial-and-error process. available in your area, visit gomohu.com DOWNLOADS folder, there was no /xbox and put in your street address or ZIP built-in installer, so we needed to use the code to see a list of available broadcasts Device Manager to accomplish the task. Sound, Video, and Game Controllers. If using a handful of Mohu HDTV antenna If you find yourself with what appears to your tuner is there, you can skip ahead models. But you don’t need to use one of be the proper driver, but no clear way to and start working on getting WMC Mohu’s antennas to get similar performance. install it, follow this procedure. installed on your Win10 PC. The Leaf Metro, Leaf 30, Leaf 50, and Sky First, press Windows key + X and click If your device does not have a driver 60 that appear on the results page are about Device Manager. From here, if you have installed, it’ll usually show up right away equivalent to any similarly-designed HDTV a TV tuner installed, either in a PCI or as flagged and lacking a current driver. antenna with a 25-, 30-, 50-, and 60-mile PCIe slot or via an external USB port, These devices are typically in the Other range, respectively. The results page tells it’ll show up in one of two places. If Devices list, so expand it if it is not you the number of stations you’ll likely be the device magically installed itself and already expanded and locate the item that able to pick up as well as the channel names is working fine, then it’ll appear under refers to your tuner. Next, right-click the and numbers. that we’ll be using was based on the Win8 version of the plug-in, and its current status as a viable and highly functional download is largely due to the herculean efforts of a forum user named T-S on the My Digital Life Forums (forums .mydigitallife.info). Other forum users credited in the Readme.txt file as having had a hand in making WMC work include Graznok, abbodi1406, dejong12, and SuperBubble. To manually locate the discussion featuring the pertinent download, scroll down from the My Digital Life Forums landing page to the series of Computing Life posts, click the Windows 10 category, and then click “[DISCUSSION] Patch WMC To Run On Windows 10 Final & The “mud flap” HDTV antenna is perfect for receiving ATSC over-the-air channels.