WDTV Live - Not Compatible with XP ~ So What!

[Mortymoose]

Whilst on a recent excursion to the Big City, Head Office purchased me a WDTV Live Media sharing thingy.... Turns out, it ain't compatible with XP...... Now my home network consists of three XP Pc's and I am not in the mood for upgrading to higher versions......

As I got to thinking about this scenario, it dawned apon me, that somebody in this here forum must have managed to get this device running and is able to access media files on their XP machines.... surely this cannot be that difficult of a challenge.......

 

[Bona Botse]

Just download a media server like Serviio or Plex (my personal favourite) and install it on your XP PC that has your media. Then set up the server by pointing it to all your media folders and you should be able to see the server from your WDTV.

 

[Romito]

Yes, what he^^ said. Use plex myself on my phone, tab, ps3 and every other smart device in the house. It's flawless.

 

[themank]

As these two clever members have stated, that this the approach I would take except I would use XBMC.

 

[Mortymoose]

I have Zune installed on my XP, used it to stream to xbox at a stage, that should do the trick..... Thanks again for the help...

 

[Sonic2k]

Sorry to say this, that media player is a piece of crap.
I used to have one, it was binned a while ago already.

 

[ITCynic]

Not sure how you configured the device.

Prior to upgrading from XP I sucessfully used the device reading files from XP and displaying on TV. In fact I have not watched commercial TV for about 5 years since I got the WD Live.

Try the following setup. (you can fine-tune it later)

1. Make sure your router has DHCP running. WD Live gets its IP address from DHCP running on the router.

2. Go to the WD Live settings and under Network Settings :-
a) Change the workgroup name to the workgroup name of your PC network ie WORKGROUP
b) Change 'auto login to network share' to off. - Will get back to this later.
c) Select 'clear login info for network share' to clear any previously saved passwords.
d) Go to Network settings -> Network setup and select 'Automatic'

3. On your XP machine set sharing for the media folder(s) that you want streaming to the WD Live.

If you now go and try playing Video it show connect to the share on your XP machine. If your XP machine has a password a login box should appear. Type in the appropriate info and see if your media files appear.

4. If so, perfect. Now go back to Network settings under setup and the step described under 2. (b) change to on. This will save the login info.

I have a WD HD Live and this is what has worked for me for many years. The tricky bit is the networking setup but once you have gone through it initially it is no longer difficult.

Good luck!

 

[Mortymoose]

I have it running, Yes! I know it is outdated, but does the job for me.... Whilst installing Plesk onto the XP machine with SP3, I got a failed install, Bit this was quickly remedied by installing a hotfix from MS.

For what it is worth, I am enjoying the WD, does what I wanted....

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

Sorry to say this, that media player is a piece of crap.
I used to have one, it was binned a while ago already.

That's great and everything, but it doesn't exactly help him...