View pictures and videos in Windows Media Center
With Windows Media Center, you can play home videos and view your digital photos in a number of fun ways.
Access your pictures in Windows Media Center
To troubleshoot problems with pictures and videos in Media Center, see Working with pictures in Windows Media Center: frequently asked questions
and Playing videos in Windows Media Center: frequently asked questions.
Media Center is best experienced using a compatible Media Center remote control. If you don't have a Media Center remote control, you can scroll left or right through your pictures and videos by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen, or by using the left and right arrow buttons on your keyboard.
Show all
If you can't find a particular picture, try changing the way Media Center groups your pictures.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Picture library.
-
Click Folders to sort your folders and files alphabetically, click Date taken to sort folders and files by date, or click Tags to sort files by tags that have been applied. (To learn more about tags and how to use them, see Tag pictures so they're easier to find.)
-
Click the picture that you want to view.
If you have pictures on a removable device, such as a USB flash drive or a digital camera, you can view the pictures in Media Center or import them directly to your computer.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
If Media Center is not in full-screen mode, click the
Maximize button
.
-
Connect your removable device to your computer. (Cameras and most other removable devices are usually connected to a USB port.)
-
In the dialog that appears, do one of the following:
-
Click Import pictures and videos, and then follow the instructions to copy all the pictures and videos on your device to the My Pictures folder on your computer. (To see imported videos in Media Center, you'll need to manually move them to the My Videos or Public Videos folder in Windows Explorer. For more information, see Managing your videos.)
-
Click View pictures or View videos to access the pictures or videos on the device without copying them to your computer.
Note
-
If you store media on certain types of removable drives (such as external USB hard drives), you'll need to add them manually to see them in Media Center. To learn how, see Add media files to Windows Media Center.
A slide show is a way to view a group of photos one-by-one at full screen. You can create your own slide show complete with pictures and music of your choice, and then save it for easy access later.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Picture library.
-
Click Slide shows, click Create Slide Show, and then follow the instructions to add pictures and music to your slide show.
-
On the Review & Edit Slide Show page, click Add More to add additional pictures and music, and when you're finished, click Create.
-
On the Picture library page, click the slide show you want to play, and then click Play slide show.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Picture library.
-
On the Picture library page, click Slide shows, click the slide show you want to play, and then click Play slide show.
-
While your slide show is playing, move the mouse to make the playback controls appear, and then do any of the following:
-
Click the
Left arrow button
or the
Right arrow button
to go back or forward one picture in the slide show.
-
Click the
Pause button
to pause the music and the slide show.
-
Click the
Skip Forward button
or the
Skip Backward button
to go ahead to the next song or go back to the previous song.
-
Click the
Mute button
to mute the sound.
-
Click the
Volume Increase button
or the
Volume Decrease button
to change the volume.
-
Click the
Stop button
to stop the slide show. (The music will continue playing, but the pictures won't appear.)
There are many options for customizing the presentation of your slide shows. You can specify the order in which pictures are shown, the duration of the transitions, and other aspects of a slide show presentation.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click Pictures, and then click Slide Shows. You can customize your slide show using the options on this screen.
-
Click Save to save the new settings.
You can rate individual pictures so you can keep track of your favorites, and then play a special presentation of only your favorite pictures.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Pictures library.
-
Right-click a picture that you want to rate, and then click the Rating button (five stars in a row) multiple times until it displays the desired rating.
-
Click the green Start button
to return to the
Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to
Pictures + Videos, and then click
Play favorites.
By default, Media Center uses ratings to determine which pictures are your favorites. To change the Favorite Picture settings, from the Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click Pictures, click Favorite Pictures, make any adjustments you like, and then click Save.
If you're having trouble finding a particular video file, try changing the way that Media Center groups your videos.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Video library.
-
Click Folders to sort your folders and files alphabetically, or click Date taken to sort them by date.
-
Find the video that you want to watch, and then click the video file to play it.
Note
-
If you can't find the video you're looking for, you might need to tell Media Center where the file is located. For more information, see File types supported by Windows Media Center to make sure Media Center supports the format that you're trying to play.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Pictures + Videos, and then click Video library.
-
Find the video that you want to watch, and then click the video file to play it.
-
Click the
Pause
button
, and then do one of the following:
-
Click the Fast Forward button once to play the video in slow motion.
-
Click the Fast Forward button four times to speed up playback of the video.
-
Click the Rewind button one, two, three, or four times to play the video backwards at different speeds.
-
Click the
Play button
to resume playback at normal speed.
If an unchanging image stays on the screen for too long, sometimes a faint remnant of the image will stay on the screen even after a new image has replaced it. This is called screen burn. To avoid screen burn during video playback in Media Center, you can change the shade of black that might appear on the left and right or on the top and bottom of your video.
-
Click the
Start button
, click
All Programs, and then click
Windows Media Center.
-
On the Windows Media Center start screen, scroll to Tasks, click Settings, click General, and then click Visual and Sound Effects.
-
Under
Video background color, click the
Plus
or
Minus
button to change the color. The default color is black—you can change it to different shades of gray, or to solid white.
-
Click Save.
