HTPC - Home Theater PC - part2

So I had some parts I liked, and software I liked...but it just wasn't working.

So I looked at the processor I was using...I knew I could play BD rips (MKV files) on my quad core machine easily with all sorts of other programs running in the background, so I thought a dual core could do the trick.

Unfortunately my choice of Small Form Factor computers (GX280) could not take a dual core...it already had all the processor it could hold.

So more checking specs I found that the Dell 745 SFF computer could take dual core processors in fact it could take the processor I had in my junk box every since I upgraded my main machine to a quad core.

So back to Ebay and waited till I found one at a cheap enough price, put my ATI HD4550 graphics card in it, loaded up XP Pro (it had the product key for it) then installed Win7.

Plugged in my Media Center Remote (MCE Remote) (another Ebay grab) and fired up XBMC.

Plugged it into my TV and started watching the BD rips. XBMC has a debugging setting that will show you how much processor power is being used...it never gets above 50%.

The MCE works fine out of the box with XBMC and is plug and play with Win7...but outside XBMC it will only work Windows Media Center...won't actually work in windows as a mouse.

So while wondering how to do it...I found this thread at The Green Button a Windows Media Center forum...and specifically the files linked in this blog The Digital lifestyle and the program RemoteKC. (The last link has the direct links to the Win7 compatible files)

Program is simple...one file is the executable, the other is the commands (.ahk file) . With this program (RemoteKC) your remote has three settings selected by pressing the * button on the remote- mouse mode, keyboard mode, suspended. So in mouse mode, when you press the arrow keys on the remote, the cursor moves, OK is left click (and I haven't found right click yet). I haven't used keyboard mode. But when you are running XBMC or WMC then you need to suspend the RemoteKC...that is what the suspend mode is...now the remote acts like a MCE remote.

So, right now, everything works as I hoped it would!