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[Marty3d]

Hi!
I'm a new happy owner of a laptop and a wireless network and have a question about it...

I would like to control MC on my stationary computer through my laptop since I have the stationary connected to my stereo. Is this possible without for example PCAnywhere?

Just to clarify; I don't wan't to stream the sound to my laptop, just remote control MC on the stationary computer...

Thanks!
/Martin

[Shadowen]

There is no way that I know of to do this with Media Center.  You would need to use a remote control software program like VNC.  You can get a free copy at http://www.realvnc.com/

[Mike Noe]

Options include:

NetRemote  (http://www.netremote.org)
WebRemote (built into MC)
MusicLobby

Probably other ways as well, these above are the easiest.

[Marty3d]

Thanks, I'll try one of the above!

/Martin

[Soundman]

There are several ways to control Media Center without having to remote control the whole machine.

With the WebRemote plugin in the DevZone, you can control MC through a web browswer from anywhere.  The control is somewhat limited, but it may work for you.

Alternatively, you can use the freeware Girder to send MC_COMMAND messages to MC9 or to access its Automation SDK.  Then, you can trigger Girder events remotely from your laptop.  This requires much more setup, but it may give you control of some things that WebRemote doesn't.

A third party tool called Glissando also can control MC9 from a remote machine, with a flash-based UI, I believe.  I don't know much more about it, but it seem like it is or was hosted at AVSForum.com.

Finaly, the NetRemote project allows you to control MC9 from a network-attached Pocket PC.  I don't think they have a desktop Windows client, but you could experiment with running it in a Pocket PC simulator if you are very motivated.

For remote control of the whole PC, nothing beats Remote Desktop Connection, built into Windows XP Professional.  Otherwise, WinVNC works perfectly, but performance is lousy unless the machine being controlled is running at a low resolution and at a video bit depth of no more than 16.

[kiwi]

I believe that there is acutally a windows desktop client for net remote that is availabe.  

kiwi

[marketability]

I use a few methods one of which may work 4 u

I mainly use a WiFi laptop with XP's remote desktop onto my HTPC which runs MC this gives the maximum control of MC and allows me to control the music and also different zones wherever my laptop is.

I use an iPAQ with WiFi card to run NetRemote if I primarily want next/back/pause type control as I find NetRemote on an iPAQ a biut of a pain to control a large library

[Marty3d]

Thanks for all the tips!

I went for the Remote Desktop solution (acutally before I read the reply about it!). That way I don't have to bother with anything else than connecting to the stationary! Nice!

One problem I ran into was that when not using AC power on my laptop, the network connection got kind of unstable, so I had to reconnect ALOT! But as soon as I plugged in the AC again, it worked like a charm. I also ran into the RD bug that apparently showed up with XPSP1, namely that the music program has to be started before the connection, otherwise windows cannot find the sound drivers...crazy, but confirmed from several sources.

Thanks again all!
/Martin