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Windows7 Media Center has some very nice features. It also adds some complications due to the recorded file formats being non-standard.

Good Stuff Working

So, the TV guide data is connected to ClearQAM channels now. Some shows have been setup to record every instance, and the media files are being dumped to a directory that I can live with, not the default. Finally, the Hauppauge 950Q remote is working and fully controlling MCE. Sometimes the system locks up, for no apparent reason. Connecting guide data with a specific QAM channel has been the most troublesome for lockups.

WTV Format? WTF?

MCE has used DVR-MS files for years now. External programs to deal with this format have been created and 3rd party media extenders that understand MCE work with this format. Not ideal, but workable if you drink all the MS koolaid. So, obviously, Microsoft has to change the format to something new and different.

Personally, I like to remove commercials from TV shows and have a fairly automatic method for accomplishing this. WTV files are completely unusable for this method, but MS provides an easy converter to change WTV into DVR-MS files. Some 3rd parties have created watcher programs to automatically perform the conversion. In the meantime, just right-click on the WTV file in Windows-Explorer and select convert to dvr-ms… as the blog states. The wtvconverter.exe program was included in Win7 32-bit Ultimate.