In my digital world Windows Home Server (WHS) was always going to be a logical partner for use with XP Media Center (MCE) and a media extender. At the moment WHS does not quite manage to integrate itself seamlessly between recording TV on an MCE and watching it using a media extender, this is in no small part due to some “missing” functionality in MCE.
MCE has always had a chequered history when it comes to recording directly to network drives or viewing TV recorded on the network drive. It has always been necessary to do some hacking to get it working. OK so you can use a media center extender like the XBox360 to stream stuff directly from MCE, but you don’t need WHS to do that, so where does Microsoft see the role of the WHS in their digital vision of the home? Well I think that’s why Add-Ins were made possible on WHS. Add-Ins allow creative individuals to develop a whole variety of modules that users can pick and choose according to their needs. So if you want to move recorded TV from your Media Center to WHS and manage your program series conveniently, then install the latest WHS Add-In Recorded TV Manager by Rick Drasch.
Rick’s previous offering, Recorded TV Manager 2 has been available for some time. This next version offers an improved interface and integration into the WHS Console as well as easy access to useful tools for managing recordings and excellent online help.
Recorded TV Manager comes as two separate applications. Installation of the WHS add-in is via a .msi file which is placed in the Add-ins folder within the WHS Software folder and is then run from within the WHS Console. A second file, the client application, is downloaded and run on the PC where the recording of TV takes place (XP MCE or Vista) or other PC where you would like to view your TV recordings.
The client application allows access to recorded TV files both on the MCE client and on the WHS and can be used for deleting/moving files as well as opening and watching recordings using Windows Media Player.
Using Recorded TV Manager will be familiar to those who have been using Recorded TV Manager 2. However the biggest change is in the WHS Add-In from where all Recorded TV Manager’s settings are accessed. Installing Recorded TV Manager on the WHS console means it can be accessed from any home computer and makes altering settings much more accessible.
Let’s have a look at the functions available within Recorded TV Manager:
Add
Used to identify the folder where TV is currently recorded to, this is usually on your MCE machine. This folder is then identified as a Media Centre Folder. Also used to identify specific folders on your home server where recorded TV is to be kept, usually within the default shared WHS Video folder.
Properties
Shows the location, number of recorded files and total file size of each folder added to Recorded TV Manager and is used to change the folder attributes to a Media Center Folder or Read Only.
Remove
Removes a folder from Recorded TV Manager. Importantly does not delete the folder or its contents.
AutoMove
This feature moves any new recordings on the MCE across to a specified folder on the WHS.
Collections
Controls the automatic moving of a recorded TV program within a specified series to WHS for later viewing after each program has been recorded. Once a complete series has been collected on WHS the first program in the series can be moved from WHS to a MCE folder. Once the current program in the series has been watched and deleted from the MCE the next episode is moved across automatically whilst keeping the whole series on the WHS intact if the read only attribute has been applied to the series.
Settings
The setting button on the Console opens the Windows Home Server Settings window with Recorded TV Manager selected. Within this window is access to some of the other features of Recorded TV Manager.
AutoCopy Service
AutoCopy is the function which moves recorded TV from the MCE to a specified folder on the WHS. This service can be set to move all recordings or specified recordings using the Advanced button here or the Collections button on the Console.
The Advanced button shows what AutoCopy rules are currently active, as well as creating and editing of AutoCopy rules.
Creation of new rules is done within an easy to use rules wizard to guide you through the process. Rules control how Recorded TV Manager copies or moves recorded TV onto the WHS. Also used to manage series recordings.
AutoCopy Activity log for monitoring activity, useful to trace if the rules you have set for AutoCopy are working as they should.
Control Auto Delete Functions.
Automatically deletes duplicates. With this feature activated if any duplicate episode of a TV program is transferred to the WHS it is automatically deleted from the WHS folder.
Automatically Delete checked episodes. If a recorded TV program is watched it can be automatically deleted from the WHS folder.
Notifications
Turn off popup message via WHS connector when Recorded TV Manager is transferring files to the WHS.
Using Recorded TV Manager
Ok now we have had a look through the various functions of Recorded TV Manager let’s take a step by step walk through using the Collections wizard to start moving episodes of The Simpsons on to the WHS and then watching them in order on an MCE computer. This walkthrough will use an Elonex Exentia MCE on which TV is recorded. A folder has been created on the home server called Simpsons. This folder is in the home server’s Videos shared folder and is within a folder called Moved Recordings from Exentia. All these folders have been added to Recorded TV Manager using the Add function.
1. Within the WHS Console click on Recorded TV Manager.
2. Select Collections then select The Simpsons and click on Next .
3. As we are making a collection the “Collect this series” box is ticked. Now we choose where the recordings will be moved to, in this case a folder named Simpsons. the full path of the folder is also displayed as well as any existing recordings within the folder that have been manually added.
4. Watch this series. This window controls the feature to move or copy the next episode of Simpsons from the WHS back onto the Exentia MCE once the most recent episode has been watched and deleted.
5. This window confirms the series collected and on which MCE it will be watched and then will move the first episode across for viewing.
6. The Collections rules can be viewed or modified by using the Advanced button in the AutoCopy section of Recorded TV Manager settings.
7. Here is the full AutoCopy rule for moving The Simpsons.onto the WHS.
8. And rules for moving the next episode of The Simpsons when the current episode is deleted from the MCE.
A Must
In conclusion Recorded TV Manager is a must for anyone recording using MCE. XP MCE revolutionised the way my family watched TV by making “time shifting” programs so easy. WHS Recorded TV Manager will revolutionise the way you manage your TV recordings both by automating the movement of recorded TV programs to your home server, and by the way the rules wizard can be quickly used to manage and deliver program series back through to the media center machine.
Niggles?
Only one, considering the scope of the Add-In, and that is the use of the WHS connector icon to indicate when AutoCopy rules are fired up. When Recorded TV Manager is doing an AutoCopy the connector turns orange, which to most WHS users is a cause for investigation. This happens on every machine on your network, although a popup window does tell you what recorded TV manager is doing at the time.
However this popup is only visible for a short time and if you hover your mouse pointer over the orange connector icon you just get a home server at risk popup. It is only then by going into the WHS Console and looking at Network health that you can see that AutoCopy is active. Now if the connector icon stayed green and a popup appeared that might not be so alarming.
Well Finished
Rick’s experience from Recorded TV Manager 2 has paid off in producing a very well finished and welcome WHS Add-In which helps to better integrate Windows Home Server and Windoes Media Center. My request for any future development would be the ability for individual family members to indicate when they have watched a recorded program, or don’t want to watch it, so that it can be deleted without causing a family row!!
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
I still would prefer a WHS that could have a few tuners, store the content till i want it and then stream to thin clients at all TVs. Repurpose the Tivos with smaller HDs just for caching or better CF cards for caching.