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Page History: Installing, Configuring and Upgrading My Movies for Windows Home Server

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Page Revision: 2008/11/04 07:37


Introduction

My Movies for Windows Home Server is a special server version of My Movies that is created to operate on Windows Home Servers only. This server version does not come with a client, but holds configuration options in the Home Server Console. The Windows Home Server version comes with a folder monitoring service, a disc copying service for movies, as well as an automated cd ripper service, and can be used not only by My Movies, but any client that supports reading My Movies' XML files for movies, or for music, any client that can playback MP3, WAV or WMA files. It off cause also serves as an ordinary server software for My Movies clients.

Clients such as Media Portal, Open Media Library and Niveus Movie Library is all able to read My Movies' XML files for movies, and My Movies for Windows Home Server is therefore recommend for receiving movie meta-data for these clients.

My Movies for Windows Home Server also contains a tool to allow Media Center's DVD library to receive automated and localized meta-data directly from the Home Server.

Requirements

  1. Microsft Windows Home Server, such as an HP MediaSmart server, or any other pre-build or custom configured server running Windows Home Server software.
  2. Optionally, if you want to use the My Movies Disc Copier* or My Music Disc Copier, a DVD, Blu-ray and/or HD DVD drive connected either internally, or externally via. USB, Firewire or eSATA. Most Windows Home Servers are not shipped with an optional drive, and for these, an external USB drive with a DVD, Blu-ray and HD DVD reading combination is recommended. USB 2.0 cables can be 5 meters (16.5 feet) long, or even longer by using a USB repeater, allowing you to place the drive in an easy accessible spot.

Installation

  1. Download My Movies for Windows Home Server
  2. Copy the installer file to the "Software\Add-Ins" share on your Windows Home Server.
  3. Open the Windows Home Server console.
  4. Click "Settings", navigate to the "Add-ins" tab and select "Available" tab.
  5. "My Movies for Windows Home Server" should be listed in the list of available programs, clik "Install" to install it. After the installation you will be logged off the console.
  6. My Movies will automatically start downloading and installing the required SQL Server 2005 Express. You will get notices in your tray bar that this is happening. Please do not reboot your Windows Home Server while My Movies is downloading and installing SQL Server. You may use your Windows Home Server console for other things while this process goes on.

Upgrading

  1. If you upgrade from a previous version of My Movies for Windows Home Server, use the "Settings", "Add-ins" area to uninstall your current version, and after that, copy in the latest installer to the "Software\Add-Ins" share, and install the new version from the "Settings", "Add-ins" area.
  2. Users upgrading from a My Movies Server/Client installation must use Remote Desktop to connect to the server, and uninstall My Movies from the Add/Remove Programs area in the Control Panel. After that, follow the "Installation" instructions for My Movies for Windows Home Server above.
  3. Both upgrade situations will keep all your data.

Initial Configuration

If you have not yet re-logged on your Windows Home Server Console after installing My Movies for Windows Home Server, do so now. By navigating to "Settings", you will now see four "My Movies" configuration tabs, where some initial configuration is required.

1. On the tab "My Movies", you must log on to your My Movies WebService account. If you do not have a user account, you can create one by signing up on our forums at http://www.mymovies.dk.

2. Also on the tab "My Movies", you must select the country you are in, which will be the country My Movies downloads movie data for (music data is not country specific). Optionally, you can select if My Movies should download data from United States or United Kingdom if no data was found in your own country.

3. On the tab "My Movies Disc Copier", you can choose to start the My Movies Disc Copier service. My Movies Disc Copier does not copy protected discs - if you want to copy protected discs, you must install and registrer SlySoft AnyDVD (DVD's only) or AnyDVD HD (DVD, HD DVD or Blu-ray's). If you choose to start the Disc Copier, and/or install AnyDVD, you are yourself responsible for following local law. It is recommended that you install and registrer AnyDVD before starting the Disc Copier service using the "Install" button in the AnyDVD section.

4. On the tab "My Movies Monitor", it is recommended that you start the My Movies Monitor Service, which will monitor any folder containing movies that are copied to the monitored shares. By default, the "Videos" share is configured for monitoring when you start the service, but you may configure other shares too.

3. On the tab "My Music Disc Copier", you can choose to start the My Music Disc Copier service. You should also configure which target format you would like the Music Disc Copier to copy to - recommended is Windows Media Audio Lossless, since it does not decrease the audio quality of your music.

6. Congratulations, My Movies for Windows Home Server is now configured and running!

* Due to legality in several countries, the My Movies Disc Copier do not copy protected DVD, HD-DVD or Blu-ray titles. Users in countries that allow circumventing CSS and AACS copy protections when copying their movies to storage may install SlySoft AnyDVD (DVD's only) or AnyDVD HD (DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray's) to remove these copy protections at driver level.

Accessing Windows Home Server from Media Center Extenders

Since Media Center extenders run with special user accounts, MCX1, MCX2, ect., and these accounts is created with passwords that you do not know and cannot change, it is off cause not possible to create a user on the home server for the extender user(s). This means that extenders must access the server using the Guest account, which must be enabled and granted access to the share you store video files on.

From the Windows Home Server Console, open the "User accounts" area, right click on the "Guest" account, and choose "Enable account" - be sure to choose "No Guest Password" in the guide, and select which shares the account should have access to (the share(s) containing your movie and music titles). If the "Guest" account is already enabled, you can right click it, and choose "Properties" and "Shared Folder Access" to select which shares the account should have access to.

You can now access both your movie and music titles from the Media Center extenders. Notice that Media Center extenders cannot be connected directly to the Windows Home Server, but must be connected to a Media Center client such as Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate, or Media Center 2005.