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Adding strips and tiles to the Windows Media Center Start menu in Windows Vista

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As those of you who have seen Windows Media Center in Windows Vista already know, there has been a redesign of the Start menu. Windows Media Center now has the concept of strips and tiles on the Start menu as well as horizontal and vertical navigation.

A strip is a top-level menu on the Windows Media Center Start menu that can be reached by scrolling vertically. Examples include Music, Pictures + Videos, etc. A tile is an item in a strip. Each tile invokes a single action or entry point within Windows Media Center.

With the redesign of the Start menu, Windows Media Center for Windows Vista also includes a new way of registering applications and entry points to appear on the Start menu. It is possible to add up to 2 new strips to the Start menu using existing extensibility mechanisms in Windows Media Center, and each of those 2 strips can contain up to 5 tiles.

The following steps provide a high-level overview of how to create a custom strip on the Windows Media Center Start menu in Windows Vista:

  1. Create an XML file that can be used by the RegisterApplication or RegisterMceApp.exe to register an application and one or more entry points
  2. Associate the entry points that you want to appear in the custom strip on the Start menu with a specific category name of your choosing
  3. Register the application and entry points using RegisterApplication or RegisterMceApp.exe
  4. Create a registry sub-key named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Start Menu\Applications\{APPLICATION GUID} where APPLICATION GUID is the one provided in the XML file in step 1 above
  5. Create the following values under this sub-key:
    Category (REG_SZ) - the name of the category name that you used in step 2 above
    OnStartMenu (REG_SZ) - set this to true
    Title (REG_SZ) - the display name for the custom strip on the Start menu

The above steps are fairly abstract, so I have posted a set of example files on my file server to illustrate how to create custom strips. The files in this ZIP package will allow you to register 2 custom strips with 5 tiles each on the Windows Media Center Start menu in Windows Vista. To accomplish this, use these steps:

  1. Download the ZIP file and extract the contents to a Windows Vista Home Premium or Ultimate system
  2. Click on the Start menu, choose All Programs, then Accessories
  3. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator, then click Allow
  4. Run %windir%\ehome\registermceapp.exe TestApp1.xml to register the first application and 5 entry points
  5. Run %windir%\ehome\registermceapp.exe TestApp2.xml to register the second application and 5 entry points
  6. Run regedit.exe /s TestApp1.reg to add the first application to the Windows Media Center Start menu
  7. Run regedit.exe /s TestApp2.reg to add the second application to the Windows Media Center Start menu

To remove these applications from the Windows Media Center Start menu, you will need to use these steps:

  1. Click on the Start menu, choose All Programs, then Accessories
  2. Right-click on Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator, then click Allow
  3. Run %windir%\ehome\registermceapp.exe /u TestApp1.xml
  4. Run %windir%\ehome\registermceapp.exe /u TestApp2.xml
  5. Run regedit.exe and remove the sub-key named HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Media Center\Start Menu\Applications

Please note that I have only provided these XML and REG files as an example. They are not real applications. Each tile that is added to the 2 custom strips on the Start menu in this scenario launches the same Windows Media Center Presentation Layer Web Application for simplicity's sake. If you want to create your own custom strip and tiles, you will want to make the following modifications to the sample files:

  • Update each entry point to launch a unique task
  • Change all of the GUIDs listed in the XML and REG files to be specific to your scenarios. You can use guidgen.exe in Visual Studio or a website such as this to generate new GUIDs

<update date="1/20/2011"> Fixed broken link to the sample referenced in this blog post. </update>

Comments

  • Anonymous
    August 04, 2006
    Aaron Stebner comes through again with a tip on how to add items to MCE's &quot;strips&quot; and &quot;tiles&quot; (the new...

  • Anonymous
    August 09, 2006
    PingBack from http://mediacenter.thepodcastnetwork.com/2006/08/10/the-media-center-show-70-home-automation/

  • Anonymous
    August 27, 2006
    I have previously posted topics about creating custom strips on the Windows Media Center Start menu in...

  • Anonymous
    October 13, 2006
    I have previously written blog posts describing how to add up to 2 custom strips to the Windows Media

  • Anonymous
    October 31, 2006
    This article will serve as a central repository for topics that I have written about Windows Media Center

  • Anonymous
    February 04, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 08, 2007
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 18, 2007
    Hi Navjo - Creating "shortcut" tiles that link to other strips like you describe is not supported.  However, the Media Center start menu is relatively small so it should be easy enough for users to just scroll up and down to get to the other Media Center strips.

  • Anonymous
    October 23, 2007
    Hi and thanks for the info. I was wondering if there was an easy way to add a remote control direct link to a new tile? Exmaple: on the Microsoft remote control - you have buttons that start the Recorded TV, Live TV, Music, Videos and Pictures. I would like to be able to have buttons for the additional strips so I can start an app without the need to scroll. I hope this is clear enough. Thanks, Eytan

  • Anonymous
    October 23, 2007
    Hi Eytan - I'm not positive if this is a supported scenario or not, and it is not something I've had experience with in the past.  I don't see anything about this exact scenario in the Media Center SDK documentation but I might be missing something.  I'd suggest posting a question on the Media Center Sandbox discussion forum (http://discuss.mediacentersandbox.com) to see if someone in the Media Center development community can help advise you about this scenario.

  • Anonymous
    January 29, 2008
    PingBack from http://www.mh-lounge.de/?p=12

  • Anonymous
    June 30, 2008
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    July 01, 2008
    Hi Sharrisct25 - I'm not sure what you mean by "context" in your question.  What exactly are you changing in your registry and/or in your registration XML files? Also, please note that the information in this blog post has been enhanced since the time I originally wrote it, and it is now included as a sample with documentation in the Media Center SDK (which can be downloaded from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=A43EA0B7-B85F-4612-AA08-3BF128C5873E).  You can find the sample in the directory C:Program FilesMicrosoft SDKsWindows Media Centerv5.0SamplesRegister Application after installing the SDK. There is also a set of forums specifically focused on Media Center development that might be helpful to you as you work on your Media Center application.  You can find them at http://discuss.mediacentersandbox.com/forums/default.aspx.

  • Anonymous
    July 01, 2008
    That should help me get this working.  Thank you.

  • Anonymous
    January 19, 2011
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    January 19, 2011
    Hi Olivialee - It has been a while since I've worked on the Windows Media Center team, but I think you can only add an application to one custom tile.  Are A, B, C, and D all different applications in your scenario?  Can you post the registration information you're using for these tiles to a file server such as http://skydrive.live.com and reply here with a link so I can take a quick look and see if I can spot any problems? You may also have better luck posting this question on the Media Center Sandbox forums at discuss.mediacentersandbox.com.

  • Anonymous
    January 19, 2011
    Hi astebner,thanks for your reply.Please do me the favor to send the example zip file which you mentioned in this article,because i tried but i can't download them. My email is xinq009@hotmail.com  Thank you very much !

  • Anonymous
    January 20, 2011
    Hi Olivialee - I've fixed the broken link in this blog post.  You can download the sample from cid-27e6a35d1a492af7.office.live.com/.../mce%5E_start%5E_menu%5E_example.zip. Also, please note that in the time after this blog post was written, there was a much more comprehensive sample added to the Windows Media Center SDK to demonstrate how to customize the start menu.  I'd encourage you to look at that as well.  You can download the Media Center SDK from www.microsoft.com/.../details.aspx.

  • Anonymous
    January 21, 2011
    Hi astebner-I've settled the problem with your help.Thank you very much!O(∩_∩)O~

  • Anonymous
    January 29, 2011
    hi astebner!Thanks for your help last time.Now i meet another question.How to add more tiles beneath one tile

  • Anonymous
    January 30, 2011
    HI astebner!I am sorry to bother you again.Please do me the favour to tell me how to add custom options beneath tiles.The first level is strips,the second level is tiles, options is the third level i mean. Thank you very much!

  • Anonymous
    January 31, 2011
    The comment has been removed