My Movies Knowledge Base

Why can't I change external player confirmation for image files?

Administrator — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:25:32 GMT

Question:

In the external player configuration, settings for DVD Image Files, Blu-ray Image Files and HD DVD Image Files is set to "Windows Media Center Default", why can't I change it to my preferred player?

Answer:

My Movies does not control playback of image files - it mounts the image file through Virtual CloneDrive or Daemon Tools, which lets Windows Media Center see it as if it was an original inserted DVD. This means that Windows Media Center's autoplay feature is starting the playback, out of My Movies' control.

Therefore your image files will be played with the player that is registered to play the media type in Windows Media Center, and therefore the only optional setting is called "Windows Media Center Default".

ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre and Cyberlink PowerDVD both register themselves as players for Blu-ray, and will therefore when installed correctly play Blu-ray image files when mount - DVD image files when mounted will by default be played with Windows Media Center's internal player, but ArcSoft TotalMedia Theatre and Cyberlink PowerDVD registers itself as player also for DVD's, and therefore you can get a player choice when mounting DVD images.

Stopping playback returns me to Windows Media Center's movie library and not My Movies

Administrator — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:05:32 GMT

Issue:

If you are playing a mounted ISO file, or an original DVD, when playback is stopped, you are returned to the built-in "movie library" in Windows Media Center, and not to My Movies where the playback was started.

Cause:

This is unfortunately due to what we see as a bug in Windows Media Center, but Microsoft sees as a "by design" functionality. Windows Media Center's default behavior is to return a stopped DVD playback to the "movie library", despite the fact that the playback was started when positioned in another location of Windows Media Center, while we believe it would be most logical to return to the user to where he was when playback was started. As ISO files are mounted, they are picked up and played by Windows Media Center's auto-play functionality and seen as original inserted DVD's, and therefore affected by this problem.

Solution:

If you are using ISO files, we recommend switching to VIDEO_TS folders, which is officially recommended by My Movies - VIDEO_TS files gives us better options for handling of playback, and gives much better control over the playback during it. Besides switching to VIDEO_TS folder playback rather than ISO files, there is not a solution to this problem at this time. We hope that Microsoft at some point will accept this as a bug, and resolve the problem.

TV Series on DVD pops up disc selector instead of playing episode

Administrator — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 21:33:40 GMT

Symptoms:

Having added a Disc Title containing a TV Series, you receive a disc selection dialog when pressing "Play" on one of the TV Series episodes.

Cause:

Your titles are stored as another media type than the required VIDEO_TS folder structure, or your title is not pointed correct to the path. The format you have your media stored in could be ISO files or individual files, both of which is not supported for TV Series on DVD.

Solution:

You must store your titles in VIDEO_TS folders for the TV Series on DVD functionality to work. Notice also that the location must be pointed to the folder above the VIDEO_TS folder as "Online (Folder)" type, and not the VIDEO_TS folder itself, and not as the "Online (File)" option pointing to a specific VOB file.

How do I play image (ISO) files with My Movies?

Administrator — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 11:34:40 GMT

Question:

How can I play image (ISO) files with My Movies for Windows Media Center?

Answer:

My Movies allows for playback of image files though a third party image mounter. You must install either SlySoft Virtual CloneDrive (recommended) or Daemon Tools Lite, which is used to mount the image files as a drive on your system. The software will automatically detect the presence of the image mounter software (Daemon Tools Lite must be installed in the default directory), and no further configuration is needed.

On playback, My Movies will mount the image file using the mounter software, and the image will then be seen as if it was an original disc, and Windows Media Center will launch playback, either directly for DVD image files, or though an integrated Blu-ray player if installed for Blu-ray image files.