MS Windows Home Server

Between thises forums, wegetserved.co.uk and dare i say it the official MS forums, most issues seem to get resolved, apart from those that MS have to release fixes for.

So thanks to all who contribute and support myself and others on this site.

My WHS is still slightly buggy, and I will next week paste on the MS forums, but on the whole it seems to be working well...

The next stage is to install a redundant DVB-T card and possibly using DVB-viewer see if I can get it to record TV programs.

Out of interest, those who record TV, ho do youmanage your TV files?

Do youkeep them on the PC, or move them to WHS system? Do youuse that TV add in?

Currnetly my TV programs are dottted around my network, I need to sit down and clear the shite before placing them onto WHS. One reason I havent is that most of them, to be honest I would not be so upset if I were to lose them, more rather Ive been to lazy to tidy up and delete.

My Hi-Def recordings is another matter.

Adrian

We've got two MCE05 boxes, both had their 'RecordedTV' folders and a share on our old Win2K server shared/linked to each other.
This allowed them to see and play all the MS-DVR files on the network and allowed the 360 to access them via the MCE blade.

If theres any programs we want to keep, they are converted to DivX and stored in a server share.
This has now got even better with the lastest 360 update adding DivX support, as it means we don't need trancoder software on the MCE05's any more.

The reasons for converting the files to DivX is, same basic quailty but far smaller file size, plus we have four Xbox v1's all of which have XBMC installed and are used as media extenders all around the house. Even though XBMC plays MS-DVR's it puts alot more strain on both the Xbox and the network than the DivX's do.

I haven't fully inegrated the MCE05's or the 360 with WHS yet.
We've got a Vista Premium box here which I might replace one of the MCE05's with. So all file conversion and movement is done manually.

What equipment are you using to record HD content here in the UK ?

Interesting post, How do you compress/convert your MCE recordings into DIvx please, could be useful tool.

Recording Satellite is not for the fient hearted, and I am a mere novice.

However I have a Techno-Trend Sat card connected to a freview sky dish.

But Tehre ar enow better tools on the market for satellite capature, I can give you a link to a more appopaite forum if you like.

However a full run down of my HTPC can be viewed here. Unfortuantely I cant link to the relevant post.

I am tempted to try and move my some of my PVR duties from the media box to my WHS box, but there are two issues that concern me, 2003 drivers for the satellite cards, and re-routing the satellite and TV feeds into the study.

As I mentioend in another posts, I will be seeking your guidance and 'know how' on a couple of issues, starting with how to compress recordings.

At soem point I need to compress my HD recordings as well as they eat disc space, and Id like to ease the space they take.

Two utilities that I have come across have not worked- but not had the time (or inclination) to determine whats going wrong. I am wondering if its soemthing pertinant to my system/settings...

Adrian

Interesting post, How do you compress/convert your MCE recordings into DIvx please, could be useful tool.

There are a number of ways to convert files from MS-DVR to DivX, most the automated ones either don;t work or annoy me.
[sideeffect of being a control freak ]
Heres my three step method.
1. Use 'DVRMSToolbox' to convert from MS-DVR to MPEG
[I only use it to convert although it can do more]
2. Convert MPEG to AVI with 'Dr DivX v1.5'
[The older the version the more control you have on the settings]
3. Edit out any adverts, titles, etc with 'VirtualDub'

Recording Satellite is not for the fient hearted

OK, I should have guessed it would be Satellite.
I was kind of hoping you had an OTA or Cable compatible card that worked over here.

I am tempted to try and move my some of my PVR duties from the media box to my WHS box, but there are two issues that concern me, 2003 drivers for the satellite cards, and re-routing the satellite and TV feeds into the study.

My advice 'Don't bother' you'll end up spending months trying to solve problems, instead of enjoying the equipment you've spent alot of money on.

Two utilities that I have come across have not worked- but not had the time (or inclination) to determine whats going wrong. I am wondering if its soemthing pertinant to my system/settings...

I've no experience with HD files [I'm still trying to workout the best way to play them on my equipment ]
But, I don't see why my method of converting MS-DVR to DivX wouldn't work, assuming your recording the HD content with MCE.

Cheers very useul, I may have to download your stuff as well as try out the two utilities that I have...

As for HD recordings, MCE does not support HD TV files..

So to record I use DVBViewer which records HD conent into transprot stream files (.ts)

However MCE has been tweaked to play back HD files that I have recorded.

Adrian