Get Your Xbox360 to Play HD Files or Play HDTV From Vista via Windows Media Center

17. Jan, 2007 15 Comments

That title probably took 5 minutes to write, but it explains exactly what I wanted to do and I’m sure what you want to do as well. There a a lot of sites that explain this, but I want to make it as SIMPLE as possible. So here we go!

overview:
Get your xbox 360 to play High Definition files (.tc, .dvr-ms, .x264, .avi, .mpeg, .mpeg2, .mkv, etc.) from Windows Vista using Windows Media center (WMC).

Quick Steps:
This assumes the following:

  • Your xbox 360 and your computer running vista are on the same network.

1) First, inside of Windows Media Center, add your Xbox 360 as an extender. To do that, do the following:

  • Open Windows Media Center and click on “Add Extender”

Windows media Center - Add Extender

  • Turn On your Xbox 360 and Click on the “Media Center” icon. This should now connect you to your Vista WMC. Click next until you see an 8 digit key.
  • Enter that 8 digit key into your WMC on vista.

Windows media Center - Setup Key

  • Follow the steps on your computer.
  • That’s it, it is added.

2) Now you can try and play a video file. But, they will not work! That is because Vista comes with only a few codecs. So here is where we split up, if you want to watch HDTV with your HD tuner card, go to step 2a, if you want to play torrented or I mean other video files, go to step 2b.

2a) If you want to watch HDTV on your Xbox 360, here is all you have to do.

  • Make sure you already have an HD tuner card for your computer, if you do not, I would reccommend the AverMedia A180.
  • If you have already done that, and you are trying to watch tv or hdtv, chances are that you are getting a “decoder error” or some other error type. Well the answer is very simple. Codecs, And all the ones you need are found in one place. Read on…
  • Download your Codecs Here – From the CCCP Combined Community Codec Pack. Don’t worry, they work in Vista Just fine.
  • Now just install it as you would anything else. And that is it! Now you can play high-definition tv on your xbox 360. Sweet!

2b) Read the post in this blog on transcode 360.

That is it! If you have any questions, feel free to post a comment.

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HDTV, Windows 7, Vista & Windows Media Center, Xbox360

15 Responses to “Get Your Xbox360 to Play HD Files or Play HDTV From Vista via Windows Media Center”

  1. Jitu Reply 21. Jan, 2007 at 8:42 am

    thanks for your great post
    but can u tell me how can i run .ts .mkv file on xbox 360 through my pc using transcode 360
    plz

  2. J.J. Reply 21. Jan, 2007 at 9:59 pm

    Jitu,

    Actually, that will be a post comin up here real soon. We just figured it out and will post it here within 1-4 days. Keep checkin back!

  3. Wasim Reply 25. Jan, 2007 at 5:28 pm

    Hi there, I really appreciate your website and think it is very helpful to everyone out there having trouble with problems big companies dont want everyone to find out!

    I am waiting (anxiously!) for your post on how to play .mkv files with transcode 360. that will be a lifesaver!!
    Hope you guys enlighten us on that topic soon. thanks a lot in advance.

    :)

  4. J.J. Reply 25. Jan, 2007 at 6:20 pm

    Your welcome (in advance).

    Well, before we finish writing, we are going to do a version on Vista and windows xp. Which version are you running?

  5. Wasim Reply 25. Jan, 2007 at 6:42 pm

    Hi J.J,
    I am running Windows XP. I have tackled several problems with xbox360 before with files and lack of support for avi files.. how to play internet streams etc.. but this one is driving me nuts. I was even tempted to put a computer behind my 51″ HDTV to play .mkv files! On a screen that beautiful, its a shame to watch non-HD content. My gf keeps complaining non-stop about my addiction for tech stuff, particularly games (i have the 360, wii & PS3) and HD content. Wii looks pretty bad on HDTV, dont u agree?!

    thanks again.

  6. Mick Reply 29. Jan, 2007 at 6:53 am

    Hi,

    Cheers for this great information. I am running Vista and would love to know when the information on how to run .mkv files on xbox360 through media center will be ready?

    Thanks

  7. J.J. Reply 31. Jan, 2007 at 3:15 pm

    Just wanted to let you guys know the post that you have been waiting for is up. The version for vista is similar and is coming soon.

  8. Mack Reply 12. Feb, 2007 at 4:16 am

    Could you please post a working giude how to play HD ts and other formats files using vista and media center on xbox 360? Thanks a lot in advance.
    Best regards.
    Mack.

  9. Steve Reply 17. Jul, 2007 at 8:38 am

    Hi
    could you please email me a guide on how to play media files( xvid, mkv, h264 etc) using your reg hack on vista.
    Thanks Steve

  10. a charlie brown Reply 01. Aug, 2007 at 2:53 pm

    hi,
    what can you do with an xbox 360, hdtv, windows sista and no hd dvd?
    any one?
    i havant got a clue cheers

  11. Ryan Reply 05. Aug, 2007 at 3:07 pm

    So where the heck is “the post in this blog on transcode 360.”?

    Maybe I’m just dense, but I don’t see anything about it anywhere. I thought this was supposed to be the “simple” guide, not the “cryptic” guide.

  12. Ryan Reply 05. Aug, 2007 at 3:50 pm

    Alright, for those looking here’s what he was referring to:

    http://www.vanillahd.com/index.php/playing-non-native-video-files-in-windows-media-center-windows-media-player-11/#comment-3075

    How hard would it have been to add the link to the blog?

  13. Alexander Reply 03. Apr, 2008 at 3:23 pm

    hi, just hooked up my computer to my 360. Im using WMC to stream my media, and streaming videos like divx & avi works fine. But NOT mkv. Ive tried everything said and written here. One strange thing though, I have about 10 mkv movies shared, none om them worked, exept one. the movie 300 buy the way:P but it still didnt play accurate. picture was all weird, and every 3 seconds the picture dissapears. could this be because im trying this on a 22″ old ass tv (not even flatscreen) , and it cant handle highdef videos

    I do exactly as im directed to do.

    choose what videofile i wanna watch, press more, then open with transcode. and like i said, 300 played,
    but the others didnt. Media center tells me ,unable to “cue” videofile for transcoding and streaming

    I already have CCCP codec and Core AVC installed.

    Someone please help! Going NUTS!!!

  14. Mukond Reply 29. Jun, 2008 at 12:58 am

    HI

    I am also trying to play .mkv on Xbox 360…
    I can play it on my vista on normal media player and on media centre.
    I made this work by installing a codec software called “VistaCodecs” from google.
    I did try that CCC codec software but it unafortunatly did not work for me – THE AUDIO WORKED BUT THE VIDEO DIDNT.
    So “Vistacodecs” worked 4 me best. It even works on Media canter on the PC.
    But the problem is the codec for .mkv does not work on the xbox – Finds it but can play it.
    Can anyone help me?

  15. Steina Reply 17. Nov, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    I know this is a old post, but I hope there still is someone there that can answear me.
    I am using Windows Vista Ultimate 32bit, and have set up WMC with my Xbox360.
    The Xbox 360 finds all my video, included .mkv, but it doesn’t play it.
    Get an error about missing codecs.

    All the movies is played on the WMC on Vista, so the codecs here is allright.

    The other guide linked in another comment here didn’t work either then, since the strings already existed in my registry.

    How do I get the Xbox 360 to use from the codecs on Vista? (playing video from Vista-computer)