Rich Fiscus
16 Jan 2008 3:38
As we reported on Monday, in addition to removing limits on the use of their Watch Instantly Streaming video service, Netflix has also "upgraded" their system to require Windows Media Player 11 on subscribers' computers. This unfortunately leaves people with Windows XP Media Center Edition computers with a version from 2004 or earlier out in the cold as WMP 11 can't normally be installed on this operating system.
Being a Windows MCE user myself, I don't have any interest in paying a minimum of $150 essentially for an update to the Media Center application, which is the component that Microsoft hasn't updated for MCE 2004. This left me with two options, either stop streaming video from Netflix or find an alternative to a new version of Windows.
As it turns out there is an alternative, and although it's not free, you shouldn't have to buy any new hardware, including the remote control. A product called SageTV provides all the functionality of Media Center, and in fact appears to have many more features than were available in the older Windows XP MCE versions. By using it, or another Media Center alternative like BeyondTV, you can also safely install Windows Media Player 11 using a new guide.
The guide, titled Installing Windows Media Player 11 on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004, will take you step by step through the relatively simple process of installing Windows Media Player 11 on a computer running Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004. Do not use this guide if you intend to continue to use the Media Center application. It will not function properly after this, and Windows Media Player has no uninstaller.
The guide is based on my own experience installing WMP 11, and after following these steps I was able to stream movies from Netflix again. I can also personally verify that you'll need to replace Media Center with another program as it won't work any longer. If you have any questions or problems please post anything you find here so I can update the guide if necessary.