Hidden Windows 7 Media Center Options

Everton | Nov 30, 2009 | Comments

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I’ve been using Windows Media Center ever since the initial XP version, and I currently have 3 machines running the Windows 7 Media Center. If you’re a serious W7MC user like me then one site you should subscribe to is Hacking Windows 7 Media Center, which has almost daily tips on getting the most out of W7MC. One example post is a list of W7MC switches you can add to customise the way W7MC behaves. My favourites are:

/mediamode – start in “media only mode” with no minimize/close buttons, which is great if you are using a dedicated media center PC like me
/playfavmusic – Play favorite music at startup, which gives you something to listen to while you decide what to watch

Other Windows 7 Media Center Switches include:

/nostartupanimation – disables the startup animation
/noshutdownui – removes the shutdown item from Tasks
/widescreen – force widescreen mode
/nochrome – launch windowed mode without the containing window
/playallmusic – Play all music at startup
/playfavslideshow – Play favorite slideshow at startup
/playfavslideshowwithmusic – Same as above with music
/playslideshow – Play all slideshows
/playslideshowwithmusic – Same as above with music
/screensaver – Start media center in screensaver mode
/configuress – Start media center at configuring screen saver menu

To activate any of these switches just add the chosen argument to the end of the ‘target’ field for your Media Center shortcut and add a space between each option: