[W2IRT]

I have just built a HTPC on the Win7 platform and would like to find a way to play all my video content with Windows Media Player. Most of what I have are ISO files of DVDs that I've stored on my local HDD. Is there a CODEC I can load which will allow such playback seamlessly?


I am aware of VLC (it does a great job) and other similar software but the problem is, I want to control everything with my universal remote, with no keyboard/mouse in the room. I don't think VLC Player or anything else will work that way. I bought an MCE remote control & USB receiver and would like to use this as the only interface device for the PC.


If WMP isn't the answer, is there any EASY TO USE/UNDERSTAND software that I can use instead of WMP? This is to be for my un-tech-savvy wife and the rest of the family. I do not wish to use a mouse or keyboard to control this PC from the viewing room. I do all software patches and updates remotely from my home-office.


Until I built this box I was using a Popcorn Hour A110 NMT with a jukebox function. It worked pretty well and I'd like to re-create some of its features on this Windows7 box if possible. Specifically aggregating all my content, downloading info and artwork for each movie off the Web, etc. Is this possible? Thanks in advance!

 

[olyteddy]

I use Virtual Clone Drive to mount ISOs. It then looks like a normal DVD (or BD) drive to any program that can play it.

 

[W2IRT]

I just tried this and it tried to work. It said it mounted the ISO files but all that displayed was a black screen. There didn't seem to be any way to get the file to play. Are there any settings I need to configure?


Also, what about jukebox functionality, like I get on the PCH with YAMJ. Is this possible to achieve on the Windows platform?

 

[olyteddy]

Don't use WMP, but you might be able to set it to autoplay DVD. That's how I have MPC-HC set up on my front room PC. Double click an ISO, it mounts and auto plays.

 

[W2IRT]

Without Virtual Clone Drive, double-clicking an ISO yielded an error. With VCD installed it looks like it's loading but never plays. The only way I can get an ISO to play on my system (Win7/64 with 8GB RAM) is to use VLC player. As I mentioned above, that's not something that works particularly well with only a universal remote and I'm eager to find an alternate solution if possible.

 

[olyteddy]



Quote:
With VCD installed it looks like it's loading but never plays.

This is correct. VCD opens the ISO and it appears to your Windows File System as a DVD. You can then play that DVD in any standard Windows DVD player. As I said, for me that is MPC-HC, which I have set to automatically play DVD movies. This allows me to play a movie ISO by double clicking it.

 

[W2IRT]

hmmm. Not quite what I was hoping for. Is there any way to install a codec or other helper app in WMP (anybody???) so I can treat ISOs just like MKVs, AVIs or other native files?