Windows Media Player
is the native media player for the Microsoft operating system. It enables users to play a variety of digital media, including video and audio. It also allows users to view photos, rip, purchase and burn CDs, and sync to a number of portable music devices. As of June 2010, the latest release of the program, Windows Media Player 12, and the older Windows Media Player 11 currently support network sharing.
Function
Windows Media Player allows you to share media across your network. Not only can you share various files with other computers, you can also incorporate other media devices, including video game consoles such as the Xbox 360. Media sharing enables you to stream video, music and pictures to any capable device on your network. This feature is useful if you want to play media files on another PC on your network or access another user's MP3 library.
Requirements
To use network sharing, you need a wired or wireless home network and network sharing-capable devices. Most popular routers today--such as the DLink DI634 FW2.0 B1, Linksys WRT54GR, Belkin FSD8230 V1002 and Zyxel X-550--work with Windows media sharing. However, Microsoft warns that having more than one router on the same network could result in multiple subnets, which could incur connection issues. If you are using multiple routers and are having sharing difficulties, try connecting all of your devices to the same router to which the host computer is connected.
Types of Media
According to Microsoft.com, you can share nearly any digital media file in your Player library, including protected Windows Media files that you have downloaded from online stores. Specific supported file types include WMA, MP3, WAV, MPEG-1, MPEG-2 JPEG, PNG, WPD and AVI. In addition, you can also share Windows Media playlists (WPL) and M3U files.
Turn On Media Sharing
Open Windows Media Player and click the Library tab. Select Media Sharing from the menu that appears. The Media Sharing window will open. Click the Share my media to checkbox to enable the option and select the device(s) that will be allowed to share your media library.
Some capable devices include the Xbox 360, the HP MediaSmart LCD HDTV, the D-Link DSM-520 and the Pioneer PRO-1140 HD.
For best results, make sure the device you are sharing to has the latest driver updates and firmware installed.
Considerations
While Windows Media Player network sharing is a convenient and efficient way to share media throughout your home, users should take care to manage files and folders on the host computer that might contain private information.
If you are using a wired network connection, the device(s) you choose to share files with will need to be connected to your router with an Ethernet cable, even if the device has wireless capabilities.
Tags: Windows Media, Windows Media Player, Media Player, Media Player, network sharing, your network, digital media