Getting Windows Media Center to Work with Windows 10

One of the big complaints for those moving to Windows 10 is the lack of support for Windows Media Center (WMC). WMC isn't widely used, but for those that do use it, it's become a valuable staple for watching and recording TV, playing DVDs, and providing an organized experience for managing media.

However, Microsoft has said it will allow WMC to fade into history, providing no support going forward. The company has promised a replacement, but so far a viable replacement has not emerged. I surmised a while back that Microsoft's possible direction is to push users to Xbox One's live TV and streaming capabilities to supply the needed functions.

However, the WMC community isn't sitting still or waiting. WindowsBlogItalia has put together a .CMD file and some instructions for getting WMC to work on Windows 10.

The download and instructions are here: How to install Windows Media Center on Windows 10

For those English speaking (or other languages) users, you can use Bing Translator to convert the page to your language.

The steps include downloading a .rar (WindowsMediaCenter_10.0.10134.0v2.1.rar) file, extracting it and running a couple commands contained within the compressed file.

First word of warning: The download comes from the Mega site. I recommend (no, I entreat) not downloading the Megasync app that the site wants you to download. Instead, you can tap or click the "Download through your browser" option. This option just downloads the file to your PC and skips the Mega madness.

Additionally, if you want to express your thanks or participate in the testing of this automated solution, there's a big thread about it in the My Digital Life forums (you have to be a member to read replies).

Second word of warning: This is an unofficial and unsupported fix. Use at your own risk. You're probably better off waiting to see what Microsoft will provide.